Sidney W. and Janet R. Bijou Fellowship Recipients
2008: Sara Kupzyk, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Sara Kupzyk received her Master’s degree in Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas in 2006. Under the guidance of James Sherman and Jan Sheldon, Sara applied her knowledge of behavior analysis to various populations. Sara worked as an in-home family therapist for families with adjudicated youth or children who had been removed from the home. Sara helped the families set goals that would help them be successful in their environment. Sara also systematically taught parenting and social skills and monitored the families’ performance and skill generalization. In addition to working with families, Sara applied her skills to adults with developmental disabilities. For Sara’s Master’s thesis she developed and evaluated an exercise program for adults with developmental disabilities living in a community setting. The program included a motivational system for both the participants and teachers, along with scheduling of exercise. These varied experiences allowed Sara to see the generalizability of behavior analysis to many situations. Her focus then turned to development and implementation of interventions for children in educational settings and parent and teacher training.
To pursue these interests, Sara joined the School Psychology program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Under the guidance of Edward Daly, Sara has expanded her knowledge of behavior analysis to its applications in educational settings. Sara enjoys working in educational settings because they provide an important setting for the delivery of effective interventions for students and families that may not otherwise seek services. On a broad level, Sara has been involved in the development and refinement of Nebraska’s model for Response to Intervention. Response to Intervention provides schools with a framework for meeting the needs of students using a continuum of services and focuses on early intervention. The model encourages schools to operationally define problems, provide high quality instruction, continuously monitor progress, and make modifications to improve student success.
Specifically, Sara’s research interests include the development and implementation of academic and behavioral interventions for children in school settings. Within the Response to Intervention framework, the implementation of effective instruction for students is central to student success. Sara is interested in the refinement and application of brief experimental analysis in school and clinic settings, as well as the effects of student choice on the implementation of treatments. Additionally, Sara is interested in training parents and teachers to implement interventions and to use single-case designs to monitor and evaluate students’ performance. Sara would also like to develop teacher training in behavioral principles, procedures, and methods, enabling them to deal with problem behaviors in classrooms, and implement good teaching tactics and strategies. Furthermore, Sara and her colleagues are working to develop a revised model of behavioral consultation for use in schools that incorporates technological innovations (e.g., performance deficit analyses, stimulus preference assessments, and brief experimental analysis) and makes the process more efficient for use in schools.
Other 2008 Recipient:
Jessica Frieder, Idaho State University
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