The Fred S. Keller School (FSK), named for the behavior analyst and pioneer 'in experimental psychology, Fred Simmons Keller, has campuses in Yonkers (Westchester County) and Palisades (Rockland County), New York. FSK is an internationally recognized behavior analytic preschool and early intervention program for children from eighteen months through age five with and without disabilities. The school serves as a research and demonstration center for state of the science differentiated instruction and curriculum based assessment. Research reports children in the CABAS® systems learn 4 to 7 times more than control or baseline educational practices with which it has been compared. See references below for independent evaluations.
The school is one of several Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling or CABAS® (Selinske, Greer, '& Lodhi, 1991) accredited programs in the United States and Surry, England. CABAS® programs are characterized by the following components of quality: individualized instruction, continuous measurement of teaching and student responses or curriculum based assessment, graphic display of student learning and achievement of educational standards, the use of scientifically-tested tactics for instructional decision making, logically and empirically tested curricula and curricular sequences, educationally and socially significant goals of instruction, positive teaching environments where coercive procedures are avoided, and teachers who are strategic scientists of pedagogy (Greer, Keohane, & Healy, 2002). CABAS® applies the underlying principles of behavior analysis and advanced principles of teaching and verbal development to all components of education which include the role of the students, parents, teachers, school supervisors and administrators, and its board and university training program (Greer, 1994).
The Fred S. Keller School offers three different program options for children early intervention services, a full and half-day preschool program and our newly expanded integrated preschool program.
Early intervention is a public program funded by New York State and Westchester County governments with no cost to parents. Eligibility for early intervention services is determined by the county prior acceptance into our school program. Early intervention services provide family training and individualized instruction to toddlers with educational disabilities sixteen months to three years of age. Most students are previously identified as having one or more of the following disabilities: speech and language delays, social skills deficits, and/or characteristics of autism and pervasive developmental delays. Services are delivered in both the home and school setting by highly trained CABAS® board certified behavior analysts who are licensed special education and general education teachers. At the onset of services, supervision services are intensive as the coordinator accompanies the teachers to aide in the assessment and creation of the student’s program portfolio. Weekly meetings are held and attended by all members of the educational team to review individual student performance. Changes in students’ programs are continuously made as needed and always data driven.
The Fred S. Keller School provides a continuum of behavior analytic educational services for those students who continue to need special education after early intervention. The full-day and half-day preschool classrooms serve educationally disabled children from the ages of 3-5. We provide classrooms with either a 6:1:2 or 6:1:1 ratio contingent upon the student’s level of verbal behavior. Once our students acquire the necessary academic and self-management repertoires needed to enter a typical kindergarten, an integrated preschool program is offered. This classroom provides opportunities for these children with disabilities to be educated with their non-disabled peers. Seventy-five percent of these children do graduate into typical kindergarten classrooms with and without support.
We also accept a limited number of typically developing children on a tuition basis. These children are assured of entering kindergarten performing at first grade level in most subject areas. Some scholarships are available for these children.
Robin Nuzzolo, Ph.D., CABAS ARS
1 Odell Plaza
Yonkers, NY 10701
Jeanne Speckman, Ph.D., CABAS SBA
Reed, P. Osborne, L. A., & Corness, M. (19, December 2006). Brief report: The effectiveness of different home-based behavioral approaches to early teaching intervention. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Downloaded November 11, 2007 from www.springerlink.com/content/3q30031815t32534/fulltext.html
Waddington, E. M, & Reed, P. (2009). The impact of using the “Preschool Inventory of Repertoires for Kindergarten (PIRK® on school outcomes on children with Autism Spectrum Disorders/ Research in Autism Disorders, 3, 809-827.