The effect of preteaching reading skills on the on-task behavior of children identified with behavioral disorders

Research has consistently demonstrated that preteaching activities led to increased academic outcomes and increased academic outcomes improve behavioral variables. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a preteaching intervention on time spent on task for children identified with a behavioral disorder (BD). A single-subject multielement design found that time on task during reading instruction increased after participating in a preteaching intervention for 2 children identified with a BD. This finding suggests an effective intervention with clearly differentiated data. However, the percentage of intervals that the students were on task increased to only approximately 66%. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.