The VB-MAPP tool is a system of criteria used to assess and analyze the curriculum behavior and progress of autistic students. Autistic students have symptoms of language delay. The tool helps address this issue by guiding the learners’ curriculum development. It can also be used to track the skills of the student in curriculum development. The apparatus mainly takes the approach of behavioral analysis, establishment of student milestones in events involved. The VB-MAPP mainly has five methodologies for behavioral analysis and assessment: the milestone assessment tool, barriers assessment tool, transition assessment, task analysis and supporting skills tool, and placement and IEP goals. These approaches are combined to give the overall working of the system and suggest ways of interventions during the assessment process. The components also help measure the outcomes of the system and guide in the planning process of the curriculum.
Notably, the independent skills in the VB-MAPP are balanced in both aspects of development and measurement. A balance is established across the skills related to the VB-MAPP system and the operant in the verbal abilities of the student. For example, there exist many features of an intra-verbal collection and a balance has to be attained for this collection, and the available repertoires of the listener (Robert, Courtade, & Newberry, 2016). The scales developed by the VB-MAPP aim at eliminating common traps existing in the rote development. The scarcities in the verbal repertoire mainly cause these traps.
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VB-MAPP Tools
The milestone assessment tool
The design of this tool offers a representation of the verbal potential of a child, as well as connected skills. A total of 170 milestones of language and education make up the assessment process in this tool (Dixon et al., 2015). These milestones are then formatted and balanced across three levels of development of a student. The assessed areas in this approach include such as motor imitation, linguistic structure, and skill in group and classroom participation.
The barriers assessment tool
The approach in this tool evaluates a total of twenty-four barriers in language acquisition and the learning process that children face. Some of the obstacles evaluated in this analytical tool include individual problems in behavior, difficulties in imitating, defective skills in listening, hyperactive behavior, and imperfect listening and intra-verbal skills ( Montallana, Gard, Lotfizadeh & Poling , 2019). Also, this tool identifies many other defects are identified and examined. Once a clinician identifies the weakness in the student, a unique intervention approach is determined to help the student overcome. Overcoming the issue eventually leads to effectiveness in the learning process.
Transition Assessment
This instrument comprises an examination of eighteen areas to identify existence of substantial progress and development in a child’s abilities. The results from this assessment are used to determine whether the baby can effectively learn in an environment with fewer restrictions. Assessment using this tool is fundamental as it facilitates the making of decision of the student’s development by the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team. As a result, the system can tell the education needs of the learner. Several skills and tools in the VB-MAPP are comprised in this section, and other capabilities in the student’s development (Montallana et al., 2019). The inclusive makrs on the milestone and the barriers assessment techniques of VB-MAPP are examined in this stage. Other areas evaluated in this approach are the student’s social skills, the rate of acquiring them, independence based on academic performance, and the student’s strength in adapting to the changes in the curriculum process.
Supporting skills and analysis of tasks
The VB-MAPP framework is a 35-page document about task analysis and supporting skills, which addresses 14 out of the 16 domains in the framework. The only domains not addressed are the impulsive vocal behavior and the echoic fields. The skills addressed in the task analysis are crucial to the milestone achievement, as they offer a representation of previous tools. Supporting skills focuses more on language development, student’s social skills, and learning outcomes targeted by the milestone (Robert et al., 2016). However, supporting skills are not a necessity or a condition for the milestone, but the skills used in this case form a crucial component during the intervention program.
The placement and IEP goals
This is an essential aspect of the VB-MAAP, which reflects on the four assessment and analytic tools mentioned above. The guide of this tool gives the directives for each milestone in the VB-MAPP and suggests the essential goals to be achieved for each stage. The tool is used to design different intervention plans for specific cases and ascertain their reliability (Montallana et al., 2019). The success of the placement and IEP goals depends on the targets in the curriculum growth of a child, which ought to have been closely monitored over a given period.
VB-MAPP’s Strengths
The VB-MAPP assessment tool has serval advantages in its role in curriculum development. For instance, there is ease in the identification of the barriers as well as the skills in a child’s development and growth. Additionally, objectivity is achieved through this system as it is possible to have comprehensive scores of a learner’s performance as offered in the different assessment results. The VB-MAPP gives three transparent levels (age divisions) to gauge the progress of an autistic student, and, hence, the evaluation is more specific (Dixon et al.,2015). It is also possible to identify the student’s mastery of specific skills.
Additionally, the system’s administration is secure and efficient to use. It also enables clear assessment of different transitions and, as a result, allows for appropriate decision-making processes pertaining inclusion of a student in different groups. Users of VB-MAPP have affirmed its effectiveness stating that the system offers a balance in skill development. This observation means that students can gain new skills without losing those they had learned previously.
VB-MAPP’s Weaknesses
Several limitations of the VB-MAPP assessment tool exist. For instance, the administration of the assessment program and its analysis requires an administrator to have background knowledge and exercise in
Applied Behavioral Analysis (
ABA). Additionally, when compared to other analysis methods such as
Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills
(ABLLS), interpretation of the scores is difficult for the teachers, as it requires more subtests (Fienup, 2018). Another challenge for this system is that it cannot be used to assess students with varying disabilities and profiles in learning
,
as it mainly focusses on student’s social and language skills development. Additionally, the goals of this method are sensitive to time, and hence, group testing becomes difficult.
Conclusion
In summary, VB-MAPP is a crucial behavioral assessment and analytical tool. Autistic students experience significant challenges in communication, which makes learning difficult subsequently affecting their curriculum development. However, the VB-MAPP analytical tool offers a guideline on how much students can be assessed and helped. Despite having several weaknesses, the device is useful and appropriate in a student’s curriculum development and social growth.
References
Dixon, M. R., Belisle, J., Stanley, C., Rowsey, K., Daar, J. H., & Szekely, S. (2015). Toward a behavior analysis of complex language for children with autism: Evaluating the relationship between PEAK and the VB-MAPP. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities , 27 (2), 223-233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-014-9410-4
Fienup, D. M. (2018). The future of verbal behavior: integration. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 34 (1-2), 18-23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-018-0108-z
Montallana, K. L., Gard, B. M., Lotfizadeh, A. D., & Poling, A. (2019). Inter-Rater Agreement for the Milestones and Barriers Assessments of the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 49 (5), 2015-2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-03879-4
Robert, C., Courtade, G., & Newberry Gurney, B. (2016). Preparing teachers with core content expertise to support students with moderate to severe disabilities. Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children , 3 (2), 1. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=ktej
