Abstract
Gaining knowledge and skills in the practice of family-centered assessment procedures is an important component of the preservice education for early intervention providers. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of systematic instruction on speech-language pathology (SLP) practicum students' implementation of family-centered interview procedures guided by ethnographic principles. A single subject modified AB design with replication across participants was used to examine the effects of the instruction, including a didactic presentation, mock interviews, brief student reflection, and e-mailed graphic feedback with verbatim examples, on each student's use of ethnographic interview strategies. Results indicated a functional relationship between the instruction and the students' implementation of the interview process. The largest gains in exemplar strategy use were demonstrated following performance feedback e-mails consisting of graphs and verbatim examples. Social validity measures were rated highly from both the student participants and the parents who were interviewed. Systematic instruction in ethnographic principles can increase students' competency in conducting family-centered, culturally responsive interviews. Additionally, the use of graphic performance feedback with verbatim examples shows promise as a way of increasing strategy use.