Monday, May 16, 2011

Numeric Parents of Teenagers Survival Checklist

The Numeric Parents of Teenagers Survival Checklist produces an average score out of four in the following areas: prepare cooked meals, comparison shopping, geography, math, reading, home maintenance, appliances, health, personal grooming, sexuality, communication, and employment. The Parents of Teenagers Survival Checklist assesses the student in environments outside of school and is a great way to get the parent involved in the discussion on transition. The numeric version allows for comparison of scores over time and the ability to summarize for an area such as stating that a student with an average score of 2 performs, on average, the skills in the area some of the time. When an area has a low average score, the report on the IEP can list the specific skills that need to be addressed. To make a copy of the numeric version go to my google site and follow the directions. The formulas will need to be copied as new students are added.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Forced-Choice Reinforcement Menu




While using the Forced-Choice Reinforcement Menu to determine what rewards to offer my students for desired behavior I stumbled upon data which I felt was useful in assessing motivation. I have never been a fan of using external rewards and after reading Daniel Pink's book, Drive, I became convinced the the most effective motivation is the task itself. The students who were completing a higher percentage of homework and exhibiting more mature behavior had higher scores in task oriented reinforcements compared to students that scored high in external reinforcements. The Forced-Choice Reinforcement Menu produces scores for Adult Approval, Competitive Approval, Peer approval, Independent Rewards, and Consumable Rewards. The students that scored higher in Independent Rewards than Consumable Rewards also exhibit a higher positive discrepancy in performance versus ability. I am not sure how I will use and/or present this data in IEPs but I do plan to compare each individuals score across time to see if motivation is shifting more towards task and away from external rewards. If you would like to make a copy, visit my google site. After each entry, the formulas will need to be copied to the next row.