Embedding Interventions and
Monitoring Progress
Kristie Pretti-Frontczak (kprettif@kent.edu)
Kent State University
September 2007
Embedding as a Process
• Children's goals and objectives are addressed
in activities by providing multiple and varied
learning opportunities that are
– integral to the activity
– expand the activity in a relevant or meaningful
way
– modify the activity to accommodate the child in
such a way that it continues to capture the
meaningfulness of the activity and interest of the
child
Embedding as a Verb
• “To make something an integral part of …”
• “Embed” is a transitive verb—one requiring a
direct object to complete its meaning.
• Must ask, “What is the direct object?” or “What
is being embedded?”
– Answer: Learning opportunities across tiers of
instruction
Activities and Instruction
III
Instruction
Targeted
Instruction
Universal
Instruction
Type of activities and
instructional
strategies vary in
frequency, intensity,
and intent
ACTIVITIES
• The context in which important concepts and
skills are addressed, guided by children’s interest
during daily routines
• Examples of daily activities include those that are
child-directed (e.g., free play or center-time),
routine (e.g., snack or arrival time), or planned
(e.g., circle time or art table)
• Daily activities are designed to integrate concepts
and skills from across developmental and content
areas
INSTRUCTION
• Refers to practices, actions, and methods used to deliver the content
• Quality instruction for young children is grounded in a responsive
developmental perspective
– Reflects a view of learning in which children create their own knowledge
through interactions with the social and physical environment
• Quality instruction entails:
– being responsive to the child as his/her needs and personal preferences which
may change across daily activities
– understanding the role of adults, peers, and the environment as influences on
children’s learning
– creating multiple and varied embedded learning opportunities
– tiering instruction to meet the needs of all young children across common
outcomes, targeted needs, and individual goals
Activity Tiers
Things in Common
Differences In
All Tiers Should
•Same concept or
skill
•Amount of
structure
•Build
understanding
•Whole class
activity
•Number of facets
•Challenge
students
•Begins where
students are
•Some activities in
the task may be
the same
•Complexity
•Pace
•Level of
Independence
•Be interesting and
engaging
•Be”respectful”
Instructional Tiers
• Common Tier Key Words: all settings, all
students, preventive, proactive, core
• Targeted Tier Key Words: some students
(at-risk), high efficiency, rapid response,
targeted
• Prioritized Tier Key Words: intense,
durable, of longer duration, high
intensity, individualized
Key Roles of the Itinerant
Provider
• Identify what is keeping the child from
accessing participating and making progress
in daily activities
• Target individual goals that belong to the
child not to particular team members
• Create embedded learning opportunities
across tiers of needs
• Monitor implementation and progress over
time and interpret changes
Can Do Process
Strengths and
Interests
Possible Solutions
Needs (all needs
including common,
targeted, individual
priorities)
Final Priority Needs
Sort “Needs” Into Tiers
Particular
Skills and
Concepts
Targeted
Needs
Common Outcomes
Observable Individual Goals
• Observable behaviors are those that can be
seen and/or heard
• Those which multiple people can agree
have occurred
• The behavior is an action that has a
beginning and end
Observable v. High Inference or
Cognitive Processes
•Avoid behaviors that are used to infer about another attribute
•Avoid cognitive processes without carrier content
•What does the child/student do to make you say that?
• Examples to avoid
–
–
–
–
–
–
Motivation
Attention
Memorization
Visual perception
Motor planning
Comprehension
• Replacements
– Motivated to do what
– Difficulty attending to
what?
– Memorizing or
remembering what?
– Interpreting which part of
what is seen?
– Motor planning to do
what?
– Comprehending what or
in what way?
Measurable Individual Goals
• Measurable behaviors ensure that a criterion
is used to determine the success of the
intervention
– Criterion or level of acceptable performance is
noted for each behavior
Behaviors: Observable and measurable targets which can be
seen or heard and which have a beginning and an end.
•
Behavior is a verb – an action word
– Examples
State
Solve
Order
Puts on
Pours
Walk
Initiate
Classify
Estimate
Name
Takes off Zip
Copy
Remain
Seek
Define
Measure
Give
Jump
Select
Answer
Maintain
Predict
Locate
Cut
Understands
Knows
Comprehends
Appreciates
Realizes
Tries
Place
Look
Reach
– Non Examples
Increases
Demonstrates
– Gray Area Examples
Manipulates (describe how they manipulate)
Participates (describe how they participate)
Uses (describe how they use)
Dimensions of Behavior
• Frequency - how often a behavior occurs
• Latency - how long it takes a child to initiate a behavior
once a cue has occurred.
• Intensity - amount of force with which the behavior
occurs.
• Duration - length of time a given behavior lasts (total
duration, duration per occurrence, percent of time)
– Endurance - length of time a given behavior can be
repeatedly performed.
• Accuracy - extent to which a child's behavior conforms to
criteria/expectations set by the team.
Recommendations
• Target the underlying patterns
• Prioritize (use filters)
• Keep focus on functional attributes
– Critical to successful participation
– High degree of impact
Embedding Schedules
• Sometimes called embedding matrixes or activity
schedules
• Designed to identify or create embedded learning
opportunities
• Matrixes can vary
–
–
–
–
Individual v. groups
Common outcomes, targeted needs, v. III needs
Single skill across activities
Single activity multiple skills
• Examples
http://textbooks.brookespublishing.com/prettifrontczak/
Consider the Intersect Boxes
Skill(s), activities/routines, children
Child
action?
Teacher
behavior?
Peer action?
Progress Monitoring
Progress
Toward
Specific
Skills and
Concepts
Used to
Revise
Activities and
Instruction
Progress
Toward
Targeted
Needs
.
Directly
Linked to
S&S and A&I
Progress Toward
Common Outcomes
Progress monitoring
practices vary in
frequency, intensity,
and intent
Skill Set for Interpreting
• Gather
– Implementation and child data
• Summarize
– Narratives, visuals, nummerically
• Reconcile
– Multiple sources = multiple perspectives
• Examine
– Trends and patterns
• Compare
– Child development, age expectations, child
attributes