Academic Interventions

The term academic interventions covers a broad topic area and is used to refer to interventions for specific academic behaviors as well as broad educational interventions that occur in academic settings.

The “education crisis” in America is well founded and extensively publicized. In 2003, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that nearly 40% of fourth graders nationwide do not demonstrate basic reading skills. The U.S. Department of Education, the Institute of Education Sciences, and the National Center for Education Statistics report similar discouraging scores in their joint 2002 report National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). They found that only one third of fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders performed at or above the Proficient level in reading. In math, the percentage of students performing at or above Proficient was only 26% at grade 4, 27% at grade 8, and 17% at grade 12. Similarly, the scores for science showed the percentage of students performing at or above Proficient were only 29% at grade 4, 32% at grade 8, and 18% at grade 12. Less than 28% of our nation's students are scoring at the minimally desired level in reading, math, and science. In other words, more than 70% of our nation's schoolchildren are performing at or below basic levels.

Schools and teachers are often blamed in the face of failing scores, and endless arrays of minimally effective (or worse, detrimental) “solutions” are offered. Many of these programs are not empirically developed or rigorously tested and offer little lasting benefit to schools. In an attempt to bring more empirical data and accountability for outcomes to the educational arena, the U.S. Congress enacted the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 into federal law. NCLB is based on four basic principles: stronger accountability for results, increased flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents, and an emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work.

Effective solutions to the problems of education exist and have been documented. For more than half a century, behavior analysts have been presenting effective solutions to some of the most pressing educational problems in America. Behavioral interventions have been successful in seemingly all academic domains, including reading, writing, mathematics, spelling, problem solving, reasoning, study and organizational skills, and computer use. These interventions also have [Page 1124]been successful with myriad learners, from “typical learners” (normal neurological development) to students with developmental delays, learning disabilities, language delays, autism spectrum disorders, neurological dysfunctions, and genetic disturbances. Successful academic interventions have been shown in a variety of settings, from public schools to private institutions (regular, alternative, and special education settings) and from early intervention to adult education. Even behaviors related to activities outside of traditional academic contexts but relevant to education settings have been changed successfully, from truancy, violence, and vandalism in schools to socially withdrawn behavior, bullying behavior, and the group behavior of gangs or cliques.

The research literature is clear: Academic and socially important education behavior can be changed, and the field of behavior analysis offers an array of robust solutions, academic interventions, to help resolve the education crisis.

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