Rachel L. Freeman

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.

Building Inclusive School Cultures Using School-Wide Positive Behavior Support: Designing Effective Individual Support Systems for Students with Significant Disabilities

School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) is a systematic and effective approach for broadly improving student behavior across school environments. SWPBS includes data-based strategies for supporting all students along a continuum of need and intensity based on a three-tiered model of prevention. Students with the most significant behavioral challenges are provided with assessment-based, individualized supports. To date, considerable evaluation research has demonstrated the benefits of SWPBS, documenting behavioral improvements using the whole school as the unit of analysis. Notably, less evaluation research has focused on the effects of SWPBS on the behavior of individual students with the most significant disabilities. In this paper, we describe SWPBS with an emphasis on the conceptual and procedural elements that are intended to benefit the full range of students within a school, with a particular focus on those students with the most intense needs. We discuss the SWPBS process, provide case illustrations, and call for additional research on the inclusion of students with significant disabilities with all applications of SWPBS.

Relation between Heart Rate and Problem Behaviors.

A new methodological approach for understanding self-injury, aggression, and property destruction exhibited by individuals with severe developmental disabilities was evaluated in this descriptive study. Measures of heart-rate changes before, during, and after episodes of problem behavior were obtained in real time. Unique patterns of heart rate and problem behavior were documented for each participant. Heart rate, identified as an indicator of negative arousal, was reliably associated with higher scores of perceived distress. These results indicate that further research is needed to examine the link between problem behavior and physiology. The study also suggests that physiological measurement can be included in the functional assessment process to further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying problem behavior.

Building a Statewide Plan for Embedding Positive Behavior Support in Human Service Organizations

Staff development efforts are being designed to have a greater impact on the systems in which professionals work to increase the likelihood that individual positive behavior support (PBS) plans will be effective. Statewide efforts aimed at embedding PBS into developmental disability organizations and other agencies must include longitudinal training using a systems approach to provide the best climate in which professionals can learn new skills. Although the majority of research on the development of “host” environments has been conducted within school settings, many of the strategies used in schoolwide PBS can be adapted to address other organizations supporting children and adults with disabilities. This article will introduce one statewide project created to build capacity by (a) training in PBS and person-centered planning for professionals who can access fiscal incentives after completing the program, (b) disseminating online instructional materials for awareness and expert-level training across the state, and (c) facilitating organizationwide and statewide PBS planning processes that emphasize data-based decision making.

Using Continuous System Level Assessment to Build School Capacity

Abstract The purpose of this article is to introduce a conceptual model for internal assessment and professional development planning. The continuous systems-level assessment (CSLA) is a model that can provide school and other professionals with a method for making data-based decisions, and is intended to foster local expertise by utilizing assessment information to design effective professional development strategies. The CSLA model includes three phases: needs assessment and problem identification; designing interventions and building staff capacity; and implementing and evaluating interventions. The authors outline the values associated with the CSLA model, the major phases involved in the process, and provide an example of how the process is currently being implemented in an urban school in Kansas. School-based programs are complex, dynamic, and usually involve long-term commitments from a variety of partners. In addition, program implementation often occurs within the context of organic, changing organizations and therefore, requires a flexible model of evaluation. Several bottom-up program evaluation models have been developed that can be used to guide an assessment of the commitments, values, and capacities of schools and other organizations ( Fawcett et al., 1996 , Fetterman, 1996 ; Greenwood, Whyte, & Harkavy, 1993 ; Knoff, 1996 , Levin, 1996 , Millett, 1996 , Scriven, 1967 , Stake, 1967 , Stake, 1976 ). The approach described here is similar to these bottom-up program evaluation models, and is being used to assess ongoing improvement efforts and identify professional development needs for schools.

Using Information Technology To Prepare Personnel To Implement Functional Behavioral Assessment and Positive Behavioral Support

Reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (1997) produced new language concerned with placement and instruction of students who present challenging behaviors and for whom there is risk of disability determination. The result is an immediate need for preservice personnel preparation as well as staff and professional development practices and procedures concerned with functional behavioral assessment and positive behavioral support (PBS). Recent advances in information technologies are creating new opportunities for advancing this training agenda. This article examines some of the impediments to effective dissemination of training in PBS such as philosophical barriers, school discipline policies, and the inadequacy of present professional and staff training models. It suggests ways that new information technologies can overcome these obstacles and reviews some new approaches using CD-ROM and online instructional methodologies to advance the training agenda.

Promoting Implementation Success Through the Use of Continuous Systems-Level Assessment Strategies

Successful implementation of school-wide positive behavior support requires a continuous evaluation of program data. It also requires an ongoing review of how those data relate to organizational strengths, needs, professional development concerns, and the larger community. Accomplishing these tasks can be a formidable undertaking, particularly when school staff members have limited training in data-based decision making. This article will describe how a continuous systems-level assessment process is being implemented in one urban middle school to address behavioral and academic objectives.

Systems Change and the Complementary Roles of In-Service and Preservice Training in Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support

Over the years, a growing number of states have adopted schoolwide positive behavior support (SW-PBS) as part of school improvement and reform efforts and, more recently, as part of the federally mandated State Performance Plan process. The essential features of the SW-PBS approach have been well described in previous chapters in this book and in the professional and academic literature (Crone, Horner, & Hawken, 2004; Horner, Sugai, Todd, & Lewis-Palmer, 2005; Liaupsin, Jolivette, & Scott, 2004; Taylor-Greene et al., 1997; Sugai et al., 2000; Todd, Horner, Sugai, & Colvin, 1999). Thus, this chapter focuses on the professional development (PD) needs related to sustainable SW-PBS implementation.

Analyzing the relation between heart rate, problem behavior, and environmental events using data mining system LERS

The relation between physiological events, environmental factors and the occurrence of problem behavior in natural settings was analyzed using the data mining system LERS (Learning from Examples based on Rough Sets). Heart-rate data were linked to environmental and behavioral data coded from videotapes of one adult subject diagnosed with severe mental retardation and who engaged in problem behavior. The results of the analysis suggest that using data mining system LERS will be a valuable strategy for exploring large data sets that include heart rate, environmental and behavioral measures.

Functional Behavioral Assessment Using the LERS Data Mining System—Strategies for Understanding Complex Physiological and Behavioral Patterns

Many individuals with mental retardation, autism, and other related disabilities lead lives that are significantly restricted because of problem behaviors such as self-injury and aggression. We processed two data sets, one describing heart rate patterns and the other describing the behavioral events of one subject diagnosed with severe mental retardation, visual impairments, and severe problem behavior. From these data sets the LERS data mining system induced certain and possible rule sets. In our research these rule sets were successfully used for interpretation, or, more specifically, to discover mechanisms of triggering specific physiological and behavioral patterns.