What It Is and Why It Should
Matter to Itinerant Early
Childhood Special Education
Professionals

Margie Spino, M.A.
Doctoral Student - U. Toledo

Consultation vs. One-to-One and
Small Group Instruction in Itinerant
ECSE Services: Which is More
Efficient ?
• The adoption of a consultation model as the primary mode of intervention in
IECSE services must be based on the the effectiveness of instruction vs. traditional patterns of practice

Rationale for Consultation /
Coaching in IECSE Services
 If periodic or episodic intervention (usually 60-90 minutes per week in traditional IECSE service delivery) is as efficient as distributed or spaced instruction (or practice), then there is no need to adopt a consultation model as the primary mode of intervention
• However ….. if distributed or spaced instruction or practice is a more efficient model of learning, then adoption of a consultation approach to IECSE intervention is warranted

Rationale for Consultation /
Coaching in IECSE Services
 If consultation is to be considered as a preferred alternative to 60-90 minute, one-to-one or teacher-directed small group instruction, then the research base related to efficiency of child learning must be examined

Research Support:
Distributed Instruction and Practice
Adults



Ebbinghaus, 1885/1964
Donovan & Radosevich, 1999, meta-analysis
Cepeda, Pashler, Vul, Wixted & Rohrer, 2006, meta-analysis
Children ages 3 months to 8 years old



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Childers & Tomasello, 2002 (word learning)
Rea & Modigliani, 1985 (spelling, math)
Rovee-Collier, 1995 (visual recognition)
Seabrook, Brown, & Solity, 2005 (phonics)

Massed vs. Distributed Practice
•
•
Massed Practice
Child instructed with same materials, multiple times in single session, without a break
EXAMPLE:
Identifying basic shapes for 20 minutes in one day
Distributed Practice
• Child practices with same or different materials, multiple times, with breaks between instruction/ practice
• EXAMPLE: Practice identifying basic shapes for
10 mins. during sessions scheduled several times per week

Research with Children
Rea and Modigliani,1985
 3rd graders (8.5 years) taught spelling words and math facts
 Students ranked as Level 1 (top half of class) or Level 2
(bottom half of class)
 Results :
 Better on spelling and math tests when had spaced instruction rather than massed instructions
 Spaced instruction was better for both Level 1 and 2 students (ability level didn’t matter)

Seabrook, Brown & Solity, 2005
 Experiment
 Task: 34 children (mean age 5 years.6 mos.) taught phonics over two weeks
 Schedule:


Clustered = one, 6-minute session per day within a regular classroom setting.
Distributed = three, 2-minute sessions per day within a regular classroom setting
 Results: Children in distributed condition had test scores 6 times greater than children in clustered condition

Childers and Tomasello, 2002
 How many times (and how many days) does a 2-yr old need to hear a word to learn it?

In 2 experiments, 2 yr olds were taught ‘silly’ nouns and verbs (words they had never seen) over the course of a month in sessions lasting 5 - 10 min

Childers and Tomasello, 2002
Results:
• Best learning occurred when teaching was distributed
• The more days that children heard the words, the better able they were to learn the words
 Best = 4 days, 3 days
 Worst = 1 day, 2 days
• Children learned words better if they heard the words
1x/day for 4 days rather than 8x/day for I day

Major Findings
 Spacing (distributing) instruction benefited children and adults whether the tasks were physical or cognitive.
 Spacing instruction within the day (e.g., three
2-min sessions/day) or across days (e.g.,
1x/day for 4 days) helped children learn.

Implications for
Education Practice
 Current laws state that educational practice needs to be research-based (NCLB; IDEIA, 2004)
 How should we schedule instruction for young children?
 Massed vs Spaced ? Research supports Spaced
 How should we schedule the Itinerant ECSE teacher’s time?
 Direct instruction vs. Consultation / Coaching ?
Research suggests Consultation/Coaching

Distributed
Practice
Research
Results
Better
Learning with
Distributed
Practice

Project DIRECT Web Site http://www.utoledo.edu/education/direct/
Web Site Includes:
• Training Modules related to Itinerant ECSE Services
• Articles and Links to Resources
• Professional Development Tool (P.I.E.C.E.S.)
• Information re: Training Sessions

Contact Information:
Laurie Dinnebeil, Ph.D. – laurie.dinnebeil@utoledo.edu
Bill McInerney, Ph.D. – william.mcinerney@utoledo.edu
Lyn Hale, Ph.D. – lyn.hale@utoledo.edu
Margie Spino, M.A. – margie.spino@rockets.utoledo.edu
Judith Herb College of Education - MS 954
The University of Toledo
2801 W. Bancroft St.,
Toledo, OH 43606