Functional assessment of the effects of escape and attention on students' compliance during instruction

This study examined three strategies for assessing compliance in students w hose speech and language development were delayed. The effects of attention versus escape from instruction following compliance were examined through a descriptive assessment in the classroom, an out-of-class experimental ana lysis conducted by a consultant, and an in-class experimental analysis impl emented by the teacher. The in-class analysis supported an attention-based intervention for all participants. The descriptive assessment data for comp liance yielded ambiguous results or results that were not supported by subs equent experimental analyses. Analogue analyses supported the same hypothes es as the in-class analysis when they yielded clear results, but this asses sment procedure did not consistently yield clear results. The implications of these findings for functional assessments in education are discussed.