Introduction
This is a research that studied the results yielded from the execution of evaluation-based behavior support plans on the participation and problem behavior of three young children with behavioral difficulties in a community early childhood program. The research relied on recent studies on the early involvement to young children with difficult behavior control, for example, Dunlap et al found out in 2007 that if not treated, behavior control in young children might continue to affect the child’s growth and development negatively. Other studies by Peth-Pierce and Arnold et al conducted in 2000 and 2006 respectively came up with the same conclusion. Other studies done earlier on this topic included those by Hemmeter and her partners in 2006 and they studied the prevention approaches for tackling the social emotional instructional needs of children in danger of challenging behavior, and the execution of evaluation-based behavior support programs (Blair et al, 2010, p. 69).
Discussion
Positive Behavior Support (PBS) is the process used to establish evaluation-based behavior support plans for the personalized involvement in constant challenging behavior. Carr et al (2002) assert that the use of personalized PBS is globally recognized as an affective method for carrying out a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and creating behavioral support plans necessary for application by caregivers and professional within natural settings that lead to lessening in challenging behavior and acquisition of new abilities and lifestyle changes by the person with challenging behavior.
The research questions answered by the study included the following; is the personalized PBS successful in improving child behavior? Will the improved child conduct be upheld in new settings? This study was instigated by classroom teachers who discovered that many students were not responding to universal methods of curbing challenging behavior. Hence, the researchers propose the use of a personalized PBS in managing the social problem under research, however, this should be used after the universal methods have been applied and children who are nonresponsive to these methods identified (Blair et al, 2010, p. 76). Personalized PBS can be used on children who are at their early stages of school development, probably from two and a half months to four years old.
The researcher presented their findings in graphs and percentage values. The three children who were involved in the study registered related results, or example, the initial average percentages of problem behavior among the children involved in the study were 34.2%, 72.5%, and 77.3%. After application of the personalized PBS, the values dropped to 4.2%, 27.6%, and 7.3% respectively (Blair et al, 2010, p. 74).
Although successful, this research had some limitations that should be addressed in future studies; the study did not look on the changes in personal problem and engagement conduct, instead, it reported on the existence and non-existence of any conduct that might be defined as a problem behavior or engagement. Secondly, the study was confined to one classroom hence the variations between classrooms such as those related to staff were not adequately covered. Finally, just one probe session among the children was collected and this is not enough to draw conclusive evidence about the use of personalized PBS.
Conclusion
An important finding from this research indicates that adoption of a personalized PBS for children with extreme problem behavior is highly recommended as teachers who participated in the study reported its success, feasibility, and usability.
The results from this study are highly motivating, they not only give further information on PBS for young children, they present an effective strategy for aiding young children with developmental and behavioral difficulties (Blair et al, 2010, p. 78). This study was successful as it corroborated results obtained from other experiments on the same topic. The most interesting part of this study was the extent to which a personalized PBS could assist in curbing challenging behavior control.
Reference List
Blair, K. C., Fox, L., & Lentini, R. (2010). Use of Positive Behavior Support to Address.
the Challenging Behavior of Young Children within a Community Early Childhood Program. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 30(2) 68–79.