Behavioral Skills Training and Literacy: Supporting Reading Instructors in Adult Education Centers

Providing effective reading instruction to parents with low literacy is imperative due to the significant implications of literacy for children and their families. Adult education programs that teach reading play an important role in improving literacy outcomes for parents who need support. The present study evaluated the effects of a behavioral skills training package (BST) on training adult literacy tutors to implement the steps of BST when teaching parents. Four adult literacy tutors participated in the study along with one parent with low literacy. The primary dependent variable was the percentage of steps of the BST package implemented correctly during tutor training probe measures. Secondary measures were taken on the parent’s performance of each step of the literacy activities on which they were trained. Following the BST session, tutor performance improved when implementing the steps of the BST package with parents and parent confederates during maintenance probes. Treatment acceptability measures suggested high approval for the training package. Results and practical considerations when training adult education tutors are discussed.