Extending classwide social skills interventions to at-risk minority students: A preliminary application of randomization tests combined with single-subject design methodology

Disproportionate representation of minority students in special education programs is a continuing issue of concern. A social emotional curriculum, the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS), was implemented in a classwide and curricular-integrated format with initial effects evaluated for 3 third-grade African American children identified as at risk for special education referral. Effects were examined using direct observations of each target child's cooperative play in a multiple-baseline design across subjects with intervention onset randomized. Visual and randomization test analyses showed increased cooperative play associated with the PATHS intervention. The combined design and analysis may serve as a viable response-tointervention approach for reducing referral assessment bias of at-risk minority students. Benefits and limitations of the analysis methods and the PATHS intervention are discussed.