Ann P. Turnbull

Applying Positive Behavior Support and Functional Behavioral Assessment in Schools

Positive behavior support (PBS) and functional behavioral assessment (FBA) are two significant concepts of the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. These two concepts are not new, but they are important for improving the quality of efforts to educate children and youth with disabilities. The purposes of this article are to describe (a) the context in which PBS and FBA are needed and (b) definitions and features of PBS and FBA. An important message is that positive behavioral interventions and supports involve the whole school, and successful implementation emphasizes the identification, adoption, and sustained use of effective policies, systems, data-based decision making, and practices. Systems-level challenges are also discussed.

Positive Behavior Support Evolution of an Applied Science

Positive behavior support (PBS) is an applied science that uses educational and systems change methods (environmental redesign) to enhance quality of life and minimize problem behavior. PBS initially evolved within the field of developmental disabilities and emerged from three major sources: applied behavior analysis, the normalization/inclusion movement, and person-centered values. Although elements of PBS can be found in other approaches, its uniqueness lies in the fact that it integrates the following critical features into a cohesive whole: comprehensive lifestyle change, a lifespan perspective, ecological validity, stakeholder participation, social validity, systems change and multicomponent intervention, emphasis on prevention, flexibility in scientific practices, and multiple theoretical perspectives. These characteristics are likely to produce future evolution of PBS with respect to assessment practices, intervention strategies, training, and extension to new populations. The approach reflects a more general trend in the social sciences and education away from pathology-based models to a new positive model that stresses personal competence and environmental integrity.

Impacts of Poverty on Quality of Life in Families of Children with Disabilities

This review of the literature examines the impact of poverty on the quality of life in families of children with disabilities. Twenty-eight percent of children with disabilities, ages 3 to 21, are living in families whose total income is less than the income threshold set by the U.S. Census Bureau. This review found a variety of impacts of poverty on the five dimensions of family, including health (e.g., hunger, limited health care access); productivity (e.g., delayed cognitive development, limited leisure opportunities); physical environment (e.g., overcrowded and unclean homes, unsafe neighborhoods); emotional well-being (e.g., increased stress, low self-esteem); and family interaction (e.g., inconsistent parenting, marital conflict over money). Implications of the findings for policy, research, and practices are suggested.

What Do Students with Disabilities Tell Us about the Importance of Family Involvement in the Transition from School to Adult Life

This qualitative study used focus groups to explore student perspectives on family involvement in the transition from school to adult life. Four focus groups, including students with learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, and mild mental retardation, identified pertinent issues concerning how families influence the development of a personal vision for the future, how students with disabilities perceive family involvement in transition planning, and how families influence the development of student self-determination. Results showed the importance to students of family input and support. Implications for transition planning, family roles for support during adulthood, and family-student-school partnership models are discussed.

An Observational Analysis of the IEP Conference

Through naturalistic observational procedures, this study examined the dynamics of individualized education program (IEP) conferences. Participants present, the nature and frequency of topics discussed, and the length of conferences were considered. A followup questionnaire was administered to all conference participants to measure satisfaction. Results indicated that the IEP conferences studied generally involved the resource teacher, who was found to be the most dominant speaker, reviewing an already developed IEP with the parents, who were the primary recipients of the comments made at the conference. Implications point to the need to train parents in procedures and responsibilities associated with the IEP process and to train professionals to involve parents as active decision makers in defining an appropriate education for their child.

Participatory Action Research as a Model for Conducting Family Research

We discuss a participatory action research (PAR) approach to conducting family research. We conceptualize participatory action research as a collaborative process among researchers and stakeholders throughout the entire research sequence. Based on our five years of implementing PAR, we describe potential PAR advantages and challenges that need to be documented in future research. We propose a model of PAR implementation levels including the options of family members as research leaders and researchers as ongoing advisors, researchers and family members as coresearchers, and researchers as leaders, and family members as ongoing advisors. Finally, we discuss key implementation issues (i.e., defining stakeholders to include in the PAR process, maximizing benefits and minimizing drawbacks of diverse expertise, and addressing logistical considerations) with suggestions for effectively addressing them.

A Blueprint for Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support: Implementation of Three Components

This article provides a case study (focus on an eighth-grader with autism) within a case study (focus on an urban middle school) in terms of the implementation of positive behavior support (PBS). Information is provided on the characteristics of three key components of schoolwide PBS-universal support, group support, and individual support. For each component, information is presented on policy, assessment, and intervention in terms of an evolving approach to schoolwide PBS with descriptions of how the components were implemented at the middle school with a particular emphasis on the eighth-grade student. The authors conclude with implications for practice in terms of assessing current resources, providing professional development, and intensifying universal support within urban schools to address some of the complex issues associated with poverty.

Relationship of Perceived Adequacy of Services, Family–Professional Partnerships, and Family Quality of Life in Early Childhood Service Programmes

This study applied three family measures (ratings of service adequacy or implementation, satisfaction with the family–professional partnership, and family quality of life) to a sample of families of young children in one Midwestern U.S. state. The results suggest that: (a) families more often believe they are receiving adequate amounts of services for their child, but tend to believe they are not receiving adequate amounts of services for their family; (b) respondents tend to be satisfied with their partnerships with their primary service provider, with lower satisfaction ratings for the providers ability to meet their childs individual needs and to provide information about services; and (c) respondents tended to be more satisfied with their familys material well‐being and less so with their familys emotional well‐being. Finally, we found that service adequacy ratings were a significant predictor of family quality of life, and that partnerships partially mediated this effect. We discuss the research, service, and policy implications of these findings.

A Quality of Life Framework for Special Education Outcomes

The national goals of higher expectations for all students and their emphasis on academic achievement are reviewed in light of the data on outcomes for students with disabilities. A new framework for measuring outcomes along the lines of quality of life is proposed. The framework regards academic goals as the means for achieving other outcomes, namely the four outcomes that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) declared: equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency. We propose that the underlying goal of education should be to enhance the quality of life of students with disabilities and that the four overarching IDEA goals, as implemented in part by the emphasis on academic achievement, should guide the curriculum and all assessment measures.

Promoting Independent Performance of Transition-Related Tasks Using a Palmtop PC-Based Self-Directed Visual and Auditory Prompting System

This study examined the use of a palmtop computer running a software program by transition-age students with cognitive disabilities to increase independence on vocational and independent living tasks. The purpose of this research was to test the hypotheses that a palmtop computer utilizing a Windows CE platform with touch screen capabilities and programmed with the Visual Assistant program would (a) decrease the need for external prompts from the instructor, (b) increase the number of steps completed in a given task without external prompts, and (c) decrease the duration of time spent on each task for students with intellectual disabilities. Four students from a large suburban school district who were receiving special education services under the category of mental retardation were included in this research. Research was conducted using a multiple-baseline, across-participants design. Baseline, intervention, and follow-up data were collected on vocationally-oriented or life-skill tasks in the students existing educational program. Upon completion of baseline data collection, students were taught to use the palmtop with the Visual Assistant program. In the computer-use condition, students required fewer instructor prompts to complete the tasks and increased the number of steps that they completed independently. The potential benefit of applying technology to support transition-related tasks for students with mental retardation is discussed.