Robert H. Horner

The Use of Single-Subject Research to Identify Evidence-Based Practice in Special Education:

Single-subject research plays an important role in the development of evidence-based practice in special education. The defining features of single-subject research are presented, the contributions of single-subject research for special education are reviewed, and a specific proposal is offered for using single-subject research to document evidence-based practice. This article allows readers to determine if a specific study is a credible example of single-subject research and if a specific practice or procedure has been validated as “evidence-based” via single-subject research.

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.

Research in Special Education: Scientific Methods and Evidence-Based Practices

This article sets the context for the development of research quality indicators and guidelines for evidence of effective practices provided by different methodologies. The current conceptualization of scientific research in education and the complexity of conducting research in special education settings underlie the development of quality indicators. Programs of research in special education may be viewed as occurring in stages: moving from initial descriptive research, to experimental causal research, to finally research that examines the processes that might affect wide-scale adoption and use of a practice. At each stage, different research questions are relevant, and different research methodologies to address the research questions are needed.

Integrated Approaches to Preventing Antisocial Behavior Patterns among School-Age Children and Youth

This article provides a reconceptualization of the role of schools in preventing antisocial behavior problems among children and youth. The U.S. Public Health Services conceptual model of prevention, involving primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention approaches, is used as an organizing framework to illustrate how schools can deliver interventions more effectively and improve outcomes. Traditional school approaches to coping with students who are at risk and antisocial are reviewed, and the following major topics are addressed: (a) A case is made that schools can play a central, coordinating role in collaboration with families and social service agencies in addressing the challenging problems presented by antisocial students; (b) a generic intervention approach is suggested that involves reducing risk factors for antisocial behavior and enhancing protective factors; (c) a three-level approach to organizing specific interventions for achieving prevention goals and outcomes is described; and (d) recommended interventions or approaches are suggested for each prevention level (i.e., primary, secondary, tertiary). The article concludes with a discussion of some factors associated with a revised mission for schools in this domain and how these factors may impair or enhance the necessary changes required to achieve this goal.

The evolution of discipline practices: School-wide positive behavior supports

SUMMARY In response to public requests to improve the purpose and structure of discipline systems, schools have increased their emphases on “school-wide” positive behavior support. The thesis of this paper is that the current problem behavior of students in elementary and middle schools requires a preventive, whole-school approach. The foundation for such an approach lies in the emerging technology of positive behavior support. The features of positive behavior support are defined, and their application to whole-school intervention articulated. Finally, the steps that have been used to implement school-wide positive behavior support in over 500 schools across the nation are described.

Interpreting Outcomes of Social Skills Training for Students with High-Incidence Disabilities

Social competence is particularly salient for students who are classified into one of the high-incidence disability groups such as specific learning disabilities, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Among the most popular of the instructional approaches for these students has been social skills training (SST). Various meta-analyses of the literature suggest that SST has not produced large, socially important, long-term, or generalized changes in social competence of students with high-incidence disabilities. Probable explanations for the weak effects in some meta-analyses are discussed and specific recommendations are offered for designing and producing more effective SST interventions.

A Randomized, Wait-List Controlled Effectiveness Trial Assessing School-Wide Positive Behavior Support in Elementary Schools

We report a randomized, wait-list controlled trial assessing the effects of school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS). An effectiveness analysis was conducted with elementary schools in Hawaii and Illinois where training and technical assistance in SWPBS was provided by regular state personnel over a 3-year period. Results document that the training and technical assistance were functionally related to improved implementation of universal-level SWPBS practices. Improved use of SWPBS was functionally related to improvements in the perceived safety of the school setting and the proportion of third graders meeting or exceeding state reading assessment standards. Results also document that levels of office discipline referrals were comparatively low, but the absence of experimental control for this variable precludes inference about the impact of SWPBS. Implications for future research directions are offered.

The School-Wide Evaluation Tool (SET): A Research Instrument for Assessing School-Wide Positive Behavior Support.

Schools throughout the country are now encouraged to implement school-wide positive behavior support (PBS) procedures as a way to improve their behavioral climate, safety, and social culture. Research is needed to determine (a) the extent to which schools already use school-wide PBS, (b) if training and technical assistance efforts result in change in the use of school-wide PBS procedures, and (c) if use of these procedures is related to valued change in safety, social culture, and behavior within schools. To address these questions, researchers need a metric for assessing implementation of school-wide PBS practices. The School-Wide Evaluation Tool (SET; Sugai, Lewis-Palmer, Todd, & Horner, 2001) was created to provide a rigorous measure of primary prevention practices within school-wide behavior support. In this article, the authors describe the SET and document its psychometric characteristics. The results of their study suggest that the SET is a valid, reliable measure that can be used to assess the impact of school-wide training and technical assistance efforts. The SET should also be useful in formal analyses of the relationship between use of school-wide PBS and changes in social and academic outcomes.

Problem Behavior Interventions for Young Children with Autism: A Research Synthesis.

This paper provides a summary of research on behavioral interventions for children with autism 8 years of age or younger published between 1996 and 2000. The analysis is divided into four sections: (1) emerging themes in the technology of behavior support, (2) a review of existing research syntheses focusing on behavioral interventions, (3) a new literature review of current pertinent research, and (4) an evaluative discussion of the synthesis results and the fields future needs to develop effective behavioral interventions for young children with autism. The authors offer recommendations for strengthening the existing research base and advancing behavioral technology to meet the needs of the defined target population.