Single Subject Design Methodology in the science of Applied Behavior Analysis:

The Plaza Academy was founded as a seed research site for The University of Kansas' Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities which is now renamed The Center for Research on Learning.

Our research mandate was to devise a learning strategy that would teach teenagers self-management skills. The subjects for this study were teenagers who had dropped out of school from gifted and learning disabled populations. I spite of their school failures these teens still sought a high school education.

As in all science, we had to control the fundamental variables of a school day so we could methodologically assess the effect of our learning strategy. Thus, the social milieu, parental involvement, classroom pedagogy, and reinforces related to daily academic performance were all variables that needed to be controlled in   Single Subject Design methodology.  

To achieve this scientific control we devised a number of curriculum components that became permanent parts of our daily operations.   These curriculum components provided us with social and pedagological stability that we need so that any changes in human behavior could be assessed with reliability and validity.

The original curriculum was designed in such a manner that we could isolate three variables that are encumbrances to learning: rebellion, deficits, and disabilities. Once clinically isolated, we developed curriculum components that helped us treat many conditions seen in each of these sub-categories.  

These permanent curriculum components emerged as: a contingency management point system to produce a stable social milieu, daily reports to parents regarding their teen's performance across 5 variables; an incentive system based at home, individual and group incentive systems based at school, a pedagogical system in the classroom, and weekly parent conferences wherein we taught our parents the principles and practices of Applied Behavior Analysis.

We collect empirical data regarding a student's attendance to class, punctuality, following teacher's instruction, lesson completion, percent correct, and a measure of classroom deportment.   These data are displayed on a card across 6 class sessions. Our students take these notes home. At home, our student's parents manage stimuli that function as reinforcers for their teens' daily performance.

To manage these variables so that we could assess the value of our self management learning strategy we employed Single Subject Design Methodology. Thus, we collect baseline data and then compare the effects of each element of the treatment model with the students' own baseline data. All other students in the school provide multiple baselines for additional comparisons and methodological control.

In the contingency point system each student can earn a maximum of 4 points per class across six classes, the criterion is 24 points per day. The point total for each teenager is grouped and divided by N to yield a group average.

These data can be displayed for each student or grouped for the entire school.   These data can also be subdivided according to age, classroom, sex, or any other variable that helps us understand the value of any component of our treatment model.

Figure 1 is facsimile data which follows a student who enters the program at the beginning of the school year.   Each treatment condition is depicted by a vertical line along a time continuum of school weeks.

Figure 2 is real data which displays the variables of: classroom attendance, punctuality, following teacher's instructions, and maintaining the civility code for the 2005, 2006 school years.   The data represent the daily record of performance that we send home to parents.