Douglas Cheney

Schoolwide Screening and Positive Behavior Supports Identifying and Supporting Students at Risk for School Failure

As schoolwide positive behavior supports (PBS) become more commonplace in public schools, efficiently and effectively identifying and supporting students who are at risk for school failure has become increasingly important. This descriptive study examines the functioning of 72 students identified as at risk in 3 elementary schools with established PBS systems, using schoolwide screening, rating scale instruments, and office discipline referrals. The students were identified through the use of the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (Walker & Severson, 1992) administered in the fall. School teams matched the identified students to existing supports and tracked their functioning twice monthly. Teachers completed the Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliot, 1990) on each of the students in the following spring. The number of office discipline referrals for each student was monitored, as was the number of students referred to school-based support teams—such as a Student Study Team, a Functional Behavior Assessment Team—and the number of students who qualified for special education that year. Results suggest that students at risk for school failure are best identified by monitoring office discipline referrals and the use of a systematic schoolwide screening process.

The Miner’s Canary: A Review of Overrepresentation Research and Explanations

The authors reviewed the overrepresentation research published between 1968 and 2006 to answer two questions: (a) What are the characteristics of overrepresentation studies? (b) How do studies frame the problem? Systematic procedures were used to search four international databases, and criteria were applied to identify relevant studies. Findings suggest that overrepresentation research has been mostly published in special education journals, the number of studies has increased over time (particularly since 2000), most overrepresentation research focused on the learning disabilities category and on African Americans, and most studies used quantitative designs. Overrepresentation research has been framed in three ways: a sociodemographic model in which characteristics of individuals and contexts are examined, a critical perspective in which power issues related to race are addressed, and a framework that examines the role of various professional practices in the creation and maintenance of overrepresentation . Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.

Applying Response to Intervention Metrics in the Social Domain for Students at Risk of Developing Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

Response to Intervention (RtI) has become an important element of policy, practice, and research since the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In this article, five metrics recommended by Gresham (2005) were used to evaluate the progress of 127 students who were at risk of developing emotional disturbance and enrolled in a Tier 2 targeted group intervention. Student progress on a daily behavior report card was used to identify responders and nonresponders. Results suggest that percentage of change and effect size were the most useful metrics and identified 67% of the students as responders to the intervention. Additionally, 91% of the responders were not identified for special education, and over 50% reduced their problem behavior ratings on the Social Skills Rating System Teacher Form. These findings suggest that the intervention reduced the students at-risk status and helped prevent the development of emotional and behavioral disabilities.

A 2-Year Outcome Study of the Check, Connect, and Expect Intervention for Students at Risk for Severe Behavior Problems.

Two hundred seven students in Grades 1 through 5 who were at risk for severe behavior problems participated in a 2-year study of the effects of the Check, Connect, and Expect (CCE) program. The CCE program combined the essential intervention procedures of the Check & Connect Program and the Behavior Education Program . A stratified random sample of students based on school assignment was used to compare the outcomes of 121 CCE program students with 86 comparison students. Sixty percent of the CCE students (n = 73) graduated from the program and 40% (n = 48) did not. Linear growth analyses of eight different outcome measures found that three standardized problem behavior measures significantly decreased to normative levels for CCE graduates. Social skills and academic measures did not significantly change over time. The discussion focuses on the comparative efficacy of CCE as a targeted intervention for students at risk for severe behavior problems.

An Investigation of the Language Skills of Students With Emotional Disturbance Served in Public School Settings

The purpose of this cross-sectional study, conducted with a random sample of 166 students with emotional disturbance (ED), was to establish, with attention to age and gender differences, the extent to which students with ED served in public school settings experience language skill deficits. This study also examined particular types of problem behaviors related to language skills. Students with ED showed moderate to large language deficits, which appeared to be more pronounced in the expressive language domain. The language deficits of a majority of the students were clinically significant. These language deficits appeared to be relatively stable across age and gender. Furthermore, externalizing behaviors were related to receptive and expressive language skills, whereas internalizing ones were not.

The Impact of the Adult-Child Relationship on School Adjustment for Children at Risk of Serious Behavior Problems

This study investigated the effect of the adult-child relationship on students’ social outcomes, academic competence and school engagement in a two-year Tier 2 intervention, the Check, Connect and Expect program. One hundred and three students from 2nd through 5th grade, their classroom teachers, and nine school-based coaches participated in this study. Students were identified as at-risk of developing emotional and behavior problems based on Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD; Walker & Severson, 1992). Results indicated that teacher-reported social skills, academic competence and school engagement were negatively associated with SSBD maladaptive behaviors, and were positively associated with coach-student and teacher-student relationships. The teacher-student relationship had a major influence on students’ behavior outcomes, academic competence, and school engagement. However, the coach-student relationship only had unique effect on students’ social skill outcomes based on these data. These findings suggest that close teacher-student relationship can lead the developmental trajectory of children at risk toward positive school adjustment.

Instigating Fundamental Change through Experiential Inservice Development.

In this article, we call for a rethinking of inservice education for teachers of children with disabilities as well as an investment in experiential modes of teacher renewal. We present examples of two applications of short-term internships where teachers are immersed in the successful use of exemplary practices by host teachers in early education and school-to-adult life transition settings. We conclude with a description of the implications of these experiential approaches for promoting systemic change and for the redesign of inservice education formats.

Fostering SMART partnerships to develop an effective continuum of behavioral health services and supports in schools.

The education sector offers compelling opportunities to address the shortcomings of traditional mental health delivery systems and to prevent and treat youth mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) problems. Recognizing that social and emotional wellness is intrinsically related to academic success, schools are moving to adopt multi-tier frameworks based on the public health model that provide a continuum of services to all children, including services to address both academic and MEB problems. In this article, we review the potential value of multi-tier frameworks in facilitating access to, and increasing the effectiveness of, mental health services in schools, and review the empirical support for school-based mental health interventions by tier. We go on to describe a community-academic partnership between the Seattle Public Schools and the University of Washington School Mental Health Assessment, Research, and Training (SMART) Center that exemplifies how multi-tier educational frameworks, research and evidence, and purposeful collaboration can combine to improve development and implementation of a range of school-based strategies focused on MEB needs of students. Finally, we present a set of 10 recommendations that may help guide other research and practice improvement efforts to address MEB problems in youth through effective school mental health programming. (PsycINFO Database Record

Transition Services for Youth and Young Adults with Emotional Disturbance: Description and Initial Results of Project RENEW.

The transition from school to adulthood poses a major challenge for youth with emotional disturbance. This article reports the initial results of Project RENEW, a three-year demonstration project funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration, that provides comprehensive coordination of transition services for youth and young adults with emotional disturbances social/emotional development, community adjustment, education, and employment. The project uses seven major components: (a) personal futures planning, (b) interagency coordination, (c) naturally supported employment, (d) flexible high school programming, (e) social skill building, (f) mentors, and (g) flexible funding to support an individuals successful transition. Results after the first 18 months of RENEW for 16 youth and young adults (ages 16-22) indicated that 15 were successfully employed, 11 had graduated from high school or its equivalent (adult basic education diploma or GED), 3 were working on their high school diplomas, and most were satisfied with their home, work and school situations.

Social Expectations and Behavioral Indicators in School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports: A National Study of Behavior Matrices.

The three-tiered School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) model is now being implemented in more than 13,000 schools in the United States (Horner, Sugai, & Anderson, 2010). One core feature of Tier One of the SWPBIS model is the identification of social expectations and behavior indicators across all school settings. This study examined the types and frequency of schools’ social expectations and behavioral indicators as they were written into their behavior matrices. Participants from 155 schools located in 12 regionally representative states provided a sample of their behavioral matrix. Analyses of the matrices showed that three social expectations (respect, responsibility, and safety) occurred in more than 60% of behavior matrices. In addition, behavior indicators (e.g., walk to the right, quiet voices, hands to self) were identified for the four most frequent social expectations. Regional and state comparisons of social expectation frequency indicate homogeneity of categories across the country. Based on the findings, implications and suggestions for future research and practice are discussed.