NCJ Number
87926
Journal
Behavioral Disorders Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: (1980) Pages: 223-234
Date Published
1980
Length
12 pages
Annotation
A literacy training program based on active student response, reinforcement, and corrective feedback using the Visual Response System successfully taught mildly retarded juvenile delinquents to complete a sample job application.
Abstract
Subjects were seven male students ranging in age from 15 to 18 who were enrolled in a class for the educable mentally retarded at a residential correctional facility for juvenile offenders. The experiment was conducted in a Visual Response Classroom where a built-in overhead projector in each desk gives teachers immediate and continuous visual access to each student's work. The study first created a Master Employment Application (MEA), based on 30 employment applications, which required 35 items of biographic information. The nine-step training program progressed from matching items projected by the teacher to writing responses to biographic items on overhead projector transparencies of the MEA. Each step was repeated until all students responded with 100 percent accuracy except for step seven, the first step which required writing, where 90-percent accuracy was required. Rewards were given for correct responses and completing the course. All subjects increased their scores on the MEA as a result of the training, maintaining this progress in a 2-week followup evaluation. Students also improved their performances on three real job applications given before and after the training, although not as much as on the MEA. The Visual Response System offered several advantages to this training format, such as enabling the teacher to respond quickly to students and enhancing student-student interactions. Tables, graphs, and 16 references are provided.