Kristy Lee Park

The Social Validity of Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support.

In preschool settings, the majority of interventions are individualized for children at high risk for challenging behavior. However, a few early childhood sites have begun to conceptualize and implement prevention and intervention initiatives modeled after the principles and key features associated with school-wide positive behavior support. In preschool settings, these efforts are referred to as program-wide positive behavior support (PWPBS). This article presents the findings of a descriptive evaluation in which 62 key stakeholders participated in focus group interviews to assess the social validity of a PWPBS initiative in the 1st year of implementation and to provide recommendations for how to improve the implementation effort. Other data sources included teacher surveys and classroom observations related to PWPBS goals and procedures, conducted intentionally to contextualize the social validity data gathered through the interviews. Results suggest that key stakeholders enthusiastically support the goals of the approach; perspectives about the procedures and outcomes varied considerably. Classroom observation and teacher survey data augment the qualitative data. Implications for model conceptualization and technical assistance efforts are discussed.

Functional Behavioral Assessment and Students at Risk for or with Emotional Disabilities: Current Issues and Considerations

The use of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is an effective tool to address a wide range of severe behavior problems of students at risk for or with emotional disabilities (ED). However, the transformation of a procedure proven effective under highly-controlled clinical conditions to a practical and effective strategy for use in applied settings has posed a number of challenges. We critically examine several of the most prominent of those challenges and related research. We concede that there is more to learn about FBA in applied settings, including how best to establish a goodness-of-fit between “necessity and sufficiency,” as described by Scott and Kamps (2007). Lastly, we assert that all school personnel should, at the very least, “think functionally” about pupil behavior.

An Examination of Social Skills Instruction in the Context of Small-Group Reading

Students who are socially competent are more likely to experience school success than those who are not. Students with social deficits experience frequent failures with both peers and adults and often require explicit social skills instruction. Because social skills instruction programs taught in isolation rarely result in successful skill generalization, many researchers have supported incorporating social instruction into the academic curriculum. This study evaluated the effects of providing social skills instruction during small-group guided reading instruction to three students identified as experiencing social skills deficits. Results showed positive changes in trend and level across all three students from baseline to intervention. Limitations, suggestions for teachers, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Trends in Autism Research: A Systematic Journal Analysis

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong disability for which prevalence rates continue to increase. Persons with ASD vary widely in both severity of disability and services required. Therefore it is important to identify trends in research and evaluate progress in the field. The current study uses a journal analysis to evaluate research over a 12 year period in three prominent autism focused research journals: Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, and Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Findings include identification of trends in research designs, sample characteristics, and interventions.

Teacher-Mediated Instructional Strategies for Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders.

S tudents with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) may exhibit both learning and behavioral needs that affect the teacher’s ability to provide effective instruction. Extending beyond simple academic content knowledge, effective teacher-based interventions include preventive and predictive actions that manage the disruptive behaviors often exhibited by these students. The degree to which teachers are able to create environments to effectively manage these behaviors is directly related to the probability of student success in the classroom (Bos & Vaughn, 2002). This article describes teacher-based environmental and instructional strategies for use in typical classroom settings with students exhibiting E/BD and challenging behaviors. Examples are provided to show how teacher-mediated interventions (i.e., antecedent and consequence strategies) are integrated for better inclusionary practices for students with behavioral concerns. Students with E/BD exhibit behavioral excesses or deficits that adversely affect educational performance (Kauffman & Landrum, 2006). Problematic behaviors such as noncompliance, disruption, disrespect, lack of motivation, and aggression significantly impact satisfactory interpersonal relationships with their peers as well as teachers. In fact, the degree to which students’ social deficits interfere with teacher relationships is of particular concern when considering the connection between academic failure and problematic behaviors (Gable, Hendrickson, Tonelson, & Van Acker, 2002; McIntosh, Horner, Chard, Boland, & Good, 2006; Miles & Stipek, 2006). Consider a scenario in which Joe, a kindergarten student, is playing with blocks. The teacher requests that he stops playing with the blocks and put them into the bucket, as it is time for table work. Joe ignores the teacher and continues playing with the blocks, resulting in avoidance of the table work activity. The teacher raises her voice and reprimands Joe for noncompliance. In this example, if the student complies after this reprimand, the teacher is reinforced for yelling. On the other hand, if the teacher ignores Joe’s noncompliance, he is reinforced for engaging in problem behaviors by avoiding work. Over time, patterns emerge in the management of disruptive behaviors, escape of aversive situations, and teacher instructions to students who are disruptive. The pattern may reflect a coercive cycle of negative interactions between the student and teacher and result in decreased frequency of student interaction to the point that the teacher limits proximity with the student (Gunter, Shores, Jack, Rasmussen, & Flowers, 1995). In either case, the use of an ineffective strategy typically has the effect of perpetuating similar ineffective strategies. Because of this, our focus must be on the planning and delivery of effective management strategies as the primary means of affecting student behavior. While responding with a raised voice is seldom effective, teachers also may choose to ignore lack of engagement, remove the student, or avoid interactions with the student—resulting in fewer learning opportunities. As a result, these students have limited opportunities to respond during instruction, receive less feedback, and are generally provided with less instruction compared to other students who are more compliant (Stichter et al., 2009; Zabel & Zabel, 2002). The longer-term result of such negative teacher–student interactions is an increased probability of student failure with both academics and behavior. Effective management begins with teacher behaviors that focus on classwide environmental antecedents (e.g., curriculum planning, rules, routines) to establish structure and predictability during classroom routines. Once the foundation is set, effective instructional and behavior management strategies can be integrated within instructional procedures. Academic strategies are incorporated before, during, and after instruction. For example, before teaching academic subject areas like language arts or mathematics, classroom rules, routines, and procedures are established, taught, and reinforced. During instruction, the teacher provides explicit instruction of key rules with precorrects, frequent opportunities to respond, and specific praise. Based on lesson objectives, guided practice may include peer mediated evidencebased teaching strategies (e.g., classwide peer tutoring, peer-assisted learning strategies), while independent practice may include self-mediated instruction (e.g., strategy instruction, self-monitoring) to support instruction (Ryan, Pierce, & Mooney, 2008). After instructional delivery, the teacher facilitates organization of materials and TEACHER-MEDIATED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

A Road Map to Systemically Setting up a Group Contingency

Ms. Craig is a sixth-grade science teacher. Two of her 20 students receive special education services and have behavior intervention plans (BIPs). Four additional students engage in a high rate of problem behavior and score at-risk on classwide behavioral assessments. The thought of running six BIPs is daunting. In addition, a number of other students call-out during whole-group reading. While Ms. Craig has been teaching for several years, she feels as though she needs to find another way to support all of her students during wholegroup reading instruction. She reaches out to the school’s behavior specialist to develop a plan. During the meeting she learns about group contingencies. Similar to Ms. Craig, teachers report that they are capable of addressing students’ academic needs; however, many feel underprepared to prevent and address challenging behaviors in the classroom (Wei, Darling-Hammond, Andree, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009). Specifically, teachers cite classroom management as one of their greatest concerns (Wei et al., 2009). Thus, there is a critical need for schools to address behavior management practices and student behavior at the classroom level (Epstein, Atkins, Cullinan, Kutash, & Weaver, 2008), particularly students with or at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Manifestations of EBD typically include challenging behaviors such as defiance, inappropriate outbursts, physical aggression, or painfully shy and withdrawn behaviors. Such issues may disrupt classroom instruction and the learning of other students. With students with disabilities being educated in general classroom settings, it is highly likely that general educators will be primarily responsible for delivering instruction to students manifesting behaviors associated with EBD. Therefore, it is imperative for all educators to know how to address challenging behaviors using research-based classroom management strategies (Farley, Torres, Wailehua, & Cook, 2012). One research-based classroom management strategy that can be implemented in any general education classroom is a group contingency. This article presents a step-by-step process for identifying and implementing a classroom-based group contingency program. To establish background information on group contingencies, we provide a rationale for implementation and an overview of each of the three group contingencies.

Examining the Inclusion of Students with Severe Disabilities in School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

To explore the accessibility of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) for students with severe disabilities, we conducted a survey of 179 schools implementing SWPBIS during the 2015-2016 school year. Personnel from each school reported the frequency and level of importance of SWPBIS implementation across Likert-type scale items related to the domains of systems procedures, practices, and data collection procedures applicable to students with severe disabilities. Personnel from each school also responded to open-ended items to report barriers to and strategies for including students with severe disabilities in SWPBIS. Overall, school personnel reported high levels of implementation and importance across these SWPBIS domains and a range of barriers and strategies related to SWPBIS accessibility. School characteristics related to grade level, tiers of SWPBIS implementation, and the percentage of students included in general education settings for a majority of the school day contributed to statistically significant differences in ratings of frequency and importance for some aspects of the SWPBIS domains.

Function-Based Approach to Designing an Instructional Environment:

Teachers are faced with the challenge of selecting interventions that are most likely to be effective and best matched to the function of problem behavior. This article will define aspects of the instructional environment and describe a decision-making logic to select environmental variables. A summary of commonly used function-based interventions will be provided through two students: one who engages in problem behavior to access peer attention and another who engages in problem behavior to escape work tasks.