Part One of this series begins with a general introduction describing important issues to consider before conducting a self-assessment of your organization's staff development process

When children or adults engage in problem behaviors, a common response is to set up a one or two day workshop to teach staff members how to prevent and respond to difficulties that arise. Sometimes training sessions are carried out by a staff development professional within an organization or an outside expert. A date is scheduled for training and as many staff members as possible are asked to attend the training. Unfortunately, research has shown that these "one shot workshops" are not very effective. One reason why this approach does not work well is because there are a number of variables that need to be considered. These variables are graphically illustrated below.

Thomas Gilbert's 1978 Behavior Engineering Model

A workshop is usually intended to provide staff with the skills necessary for decreasing problem behavior. However, a number of other variables have an impact on whether real change will occur within an organization. As you can see from the graph, there are both system variables and person variables that must be considered when making changes in an organization. The workshop that has been scheduled to teach new skills (box number 4) will not be effective if the systems variables are not considered.

To make substantial changes, it is important to start in the first box under system variables called valued outcomes. A clear group vision that describes the outcomes valued by the individuals within an organization provides meaning and importance to the skills that are being taught. Workshops and training efforts will not be effective if staff members are not clear about why they need to learn new skills or how the activities will result in socially valued outcomes. Once valued outcomes are identified and shared, it is important to make sure everyone has the tools necessary to implement changes and that incentives needed to encourage participation are available. Staff development may still be unsuccessful if a staff member does not have the ability to make the necessary changes. Finally, individual motivational issues among each staff member also must be considered when making changes in an organization. The events and variables that reinforce one person may not be reinforcing for someone else. Considering how to recognize and reward staff members for their hard work requires a variety of strategies to make sure all individuals receive powerful reinforcement that can ensure the success of a systems change effort.

There are different types of staff development strategies that can be used to teach positive behavior support:

Awareness Level Training- This level of training is intended to introduce new information without providing details necessary for implementing new strategies. Awareness level training is often the first stage of staff development to create interest and enthusiasm.

Universal Training- Some types of PBS interventions are useful for all children and adults with disabilities. Universal interventions can be taught to prevent the occurrence of more serious problem behaviors.

Team Training- Teams that form around a child or adult with a disability can learn to implement PBS together as a group. Training materials are designed to teach each element of the PBS implementation, allow team members to spend time collecting data and implementing interventions with the assistance of a person with behavioral expertise facilitating the process.

Mentoring Individual Facilitators- Becoming a skilled PBS facilitator requires intensive time and training. An effective strategy for teaching to mastery includes the use of mentor who already has expertise in PBS to provide ongoing support and guidance over a period of time.

An important part of the organization-wide planning process is the development of a longitudinal staff training plan. New skills are learned best over a period of time. Individuals need to have the opportunity to learn about concepts and apply these skills with support and mentorship from experienced staff members. During the initial self-assessment period, the planning team should spend time evaluating the skill level of staff members, review current pre-service and in-service training strategies, and make a list of the types of training that will be needed to implement organization-wide planning.

Staff development systems that include the active involvement of key management-level staff members who supervise, maintain, and support training efforts can increase communication, facilitate the change process, and have a positive impact on an organization's culture. Important features of staff development in disability services involve identifying staff members with the skills to provide hands-on coaching and demonstrate how to implement behavioral interventions. Internal processes for ongoing training, monitoring, and evaluation will ensure that the planning team's efforts to implement changes are successful. More information about the team self-assessment process will be available in Part 2 of the KIPBS Newsletter Series. The next section of this newsletter article describes different types of staff development approaches that can be considered.

One strategy that is commonly used to train staff members who are learning new information is called the "Trainer of Trainers" method. The "Trainer of Trainers" approach is based on the idea that a small number of individuals will learn techniques and pass the information on to their peers. There may be a number of individuals who could provide more intensive training within an organization. In some situations there is already someone facilitating positive behavior support planning, while in other settings you may need to find a staff person who can take a lead role training others. Sometimes management level staff members take a lead training role as well.

The Trainer of Trainer approach provides a way to make sure each staff person has a chance to observe another person modeling a new skill effectively and tries out the new skill with onsite support. The sequence of events include: creating opportunities for a staff person to learn about a new strategy, observing someone with more experience demonstrating how to perform this strategy, trying out new skills with onsite support, and discussing how the session went.

Before training begins, the team can create a notebook that will help keep track of what has been taught and who has received training. The training notebook should include the names of all individuals who will receive training and notes from sessions that document what areas have been mastered. Some individuals learn new skills quickly while other people need time to practice. Create a list of all the major PBS interventions that will be taught and break each one into smaller sets of skills if necessary. Once a person has mastered the planning process or an intervention and can implement it independently, the trainer writes down the date and his or her initials.

Another important consideration is to develop a training system that can be used by the person to introduce the PBS plan and individual goals and interventions to new staff members. Creating training materials that can be introduced systematically to staff members will increase the likelihood that a PBS plan will be implemented consistently once you are gone. This training system can include videotape footage showing the critical features of planning processes or interventions, or how skilled staff respond to and prevent problem behavior. When problem behaviors are significantly reduced due to the planning process, new staff may be totally unfamiliar with the problem behaviors that occurred in the past. To prevent any future occurrence, it is important to make sure that everyone knows how an individual's preferred lifestyle is addressed on a daily basis through good person-centered planning, how problem behavior can escalate, and why the current interventions and routines are so important.

Create a Mentorship Plan For New Staff
Staff turnover is a significant issue in many organizations. One way to make sure each new staff person receives the training he or she needs is to create a list of important learning objectives and include activities that can be completed by staff independently. This list is placed in a training packet that the new staff person completes with support from a designated mentor within the organization. Examples of activities may include:

• Interviewing individuals that are being supported by an organization to find out their preferences related to living, working, recreating, and learning;
• Finding the PBS plan for an individual and describing the reasons why an individual may engage in problem behavior and what interventions are being implemented;
• Watching a videotape with an assigned mentor and identifying examples of re-direction that worked well with an individual; and
• Observing an individual at the same time as a mentor, collecting behavioral data, and comparing the results of the data collected.

Create a Plan to Increase Trainers
An organization that currently has only one or two staff members who take a lead role in providing PBS facilitation may create a systematic strategy for mentoring new staff to become leaders in training across an organization. It would be beneficial to schedule time for staff members with more experience to meet with a small group of staff members on a regular basis to mentor future PBS Facilitators. One strategy that can be used is to ask trainees to complete online modules that introduce PBS concepts and then to meet with trainers on a regular basis. Staff members in training can work with a child or adult with a disability who needs a PBS plan and apply the PBS process with direct support from an experienced staff member. The training should provide individuals with the opportunity to successfully implement PBS plans with at least 3 cases before becoming an independent Facilitator.

Incorporate Staff Development Into Meetings
Staff training does not need to occur for long periods of time outside of everyday settings and activities. One way to take advantage of time and resources is to create short, directed activities and discussions that highlight important PCP and PBS concepts and issues. Many agencies have staff meetings to discuss important issues and communicate information. These meetings can be used as a forum for ongoing training, implementing universal interventions, behavior program development, and building a culture for positive change. Use staff meetings strategically to brainstorm interventions, review data that are being collected, and problem solve as a team.

Staff Development Library
Creating a staff development library for an organization can be a powerful way to organize training materials. These materials can be organized by content area and made available to staff members seeking information about interventions that have worked well in the past or how to find assessment tools for tracking side effects of medications. Sometimes training is provided to certain groups of people because they support an individual engaging in serious problem behavior. For instance, communication interventions are now common in behavior support plans. However, other staff members may also benefit from training materials describing how to teach communication responses even though they may be working with individuals who are not in need of intensive behavior support. The planning team can use the library to create materials for awareness, universal, team training, and individual PBS Facilitator instruction.