A Meta-Analysis of Paraprofessional-Delivered Interventions to Address Challenging Behavior Among Students With Disabilities

• Published in: Journal of positive behavior interventions Vol. 23; no. 2; pp. 68 - 80
• Main Authors: Walker, Virginia L., Carpenter, Megan E., Lyon, Kristin J., Button, Lindsey
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2021; SAGE Publications and Hammill Institute on Disabilities; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Age Differences; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Behavior disorders; Behavior Modification; Behavior Problems; Educational Environment; Elementary Secondary Education; Functional Behavioral Assessment; Inclusion; Intellectual Disability; Intervention; Meta Analysis; Multiple Disabilities; Paraprofessional School Personnel; Paraprofessionals; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Program Effectiveness; Student Characteristics; Students with Disabilities; Systematic review; Training; Young Children; disabilities; teacher assistants; behavioral intervention; paraprofessionals
• ISSN: 1098-3007; 1538-4772
• DOI: 10.1177/1098300720911147

Paraprofessionals report spending a substantial amount of time addressing challenging behavior in a range of school environments, yet identify behavioral intervention as a high-priority training area. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to systematically review and summarize single-case intervention studies involving paraprofessional-delivered behavioral interventions for students with disabilities. Descriptive findings suggest that, among the reviewed studies, paraprofessionals primarily provided behavioral support to students with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and multiple disabilities who engage in a wide range of challenging behaviors in both inclusive and noninclusive school environments. Overall, training largely was delivered by researchers and resulted in positive paraprofessional implementation outcomes. Likewise, paraprofessional-implemented behavioral interventions contributed to desirable changes in student challenging and appropriate behavior, with effect size estimates significantly higher for interventions delivered to early childhood–age students and within inclusive school settings. Implications for practice, limitations, and future research directions are described.