School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) is a heavily promoted area that focuses on promoting pro-social behavior and preventing misbehavior. Many schools are moving towards SWPBS as the universal level of support for behavior. With Response to Intervention (RtI) being at the forefront of educational reform, this type of universal support is strongly recommended for academic needs, as well as behavioral needs. Data were collected from 25 schools in the West Region of Kentucky that collaborate with the Kentucky Center of Instructional Discipline (KYCID). A series of t-tests were completed in order to examine the relationship between Office Discipline Referrals (ODRs), Benchmark of Qualities (BoQ) scores, and the number of years a school had implemented SWPBS. Location of the ODRs as well as behaviors that led to ODRs were also examined. The findings of this study indicate that the longer a school has implemented SWPBS, the fewer ODRs it has during a school year. Also, BoQ’s were positively impacted the longer SWPBS was in place at a school. Regarding problem behavior, it was found that ODRs came primarily from a classroom environment as opposed to common areas (bathroom, hallway, cafeteria, and playground). A descriptive analysis was completed on the types of ODRs most commonly found in classroom settings, and it was discovered that the top three reasons for ODRs were defiance, fighting, and disruptive behavior. These findings can be used to guide schools on school-wide expectations and classroom management practices, as well as to affirm the continued implementation of SWPBS from year to year.

A multi-tiered system of supports offers a comprehensive model for the prevention of academic and behavior problems in schools. To date, research has emphasized the impact of universal and intensive interventions. However, the need for research on secondary or targeted group interventions (Tier 2) for those students who do not respond to the universal level of support is growing. This study evaluated CICO, a Tier 2 intervention, in improving student behavior when it is used with three elementary students from a high-need population and in conjunction with student accountability tracking, designed to promote parental involvement. Functional assessments indicated that all three students had attention-maintained problem behavior during instruction sessions. The study employed a concurrent multiple baseline design across students to assess the effects of CICO and CICO with accountability tracking on academic engagement and problem behavior. Results indicated that the team members were able to implement CICO with fidelity and their implementation of the intervention was effective in increasing academic engagement and reducing problem behavior. The CICO with accountability tracking implementation with one student contributed to further improvement of his target behaviors. These effects were shown to be maintained moderately well for two students who underwent fading. Results are discussed in terms of the study limitations and implications for practice and future research.

An educational framework known as School Wide Positive Behavior Support being implemented in school systems across the country provides the schools with three tiers of support to address both academic and behavior challenges. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of peer tutors when applied to a Tier 2 intervention known as Check-In Check-Out (CICO). Peer tutors performed the morning check-in with the tutees by setting the expectations for the day and giving the tutees their Daily Progress Report (DPR) form. Throughout the day, the tutees took the DPR form to each class where they received a score from the teacher. At the end of the class period, the peer tutors provided the tutees with feedback on the scores received on the DPR form. Once the school day finished, the peer tutees checked-out with the tutors and received a reward if they met their percentage goal. The results of this study showed that CICO implemented by peers improved classroom behavior for all three participants.

Abstract This study examined the effects of response cards (RC) on student disruptive behavior, responding, and accuracy of responding during whole-class guided-reading instruction in a first-grade classroom. The authors combined two baseline conditions with an alternating treatments design and then replicated the effects across four teacher-nominated students. The first baseline condition was the teacher's typical instruction format, where one student who raised his/her hand was called upon to respond to the teacher's question. The second baseline condition (BL') was the same as the first baseline with an additional control for the number of teacher-delivered questions to the class per session. The RC condition was the same as BL' except students were expected to write their answers on the laminated card and then display upon the teacher's cue. Response cards and BL' conditions were alternated each session. The results revealed that RC implemented by a classroom teacher did reduce students' disruptive behaviors and increased their responding and accuracy during class.

School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (SWPBIS) is an evidence- based application of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to address and prevent problem behaviors from occurring, promote pro-social behaviors, and create a positive learning environment for all students. There are many secondary interventions that have been utilized within the framework of SWPBIS that have high success rates. However, the research conducted on the use of Check-In/Check-Out (CICO), a secondary intervention, has focused its attention more on its effectiveness in public elementary schools. There is a lack of research evaluating the effectiveness of CICO in alternative school settings. This study provides an extension to the literature by examining the effects of the CICO program with school-aged children residing in a mental health treatment facility. Using a concurrent multiple baseline across participants design, students were exposed to a CICO intervention strategy in which problem behaviors were targeted for reduction and academic engagement was targeted for acquisition. All three students showed substantial decreases in problem behavior and increases in academic engagement when the CICO intervention was in place.

Problem behaviors in the school setting have become more frequent as well as challenging for teachers and faculty to decrease while attempting to help their students attain their academic goals. Within the last decade, school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) has become more widespread as an evidence-based practice within the school system. SWPBS uses a multi-tiered support structure in order to affect behavior change across an entire school population. Several common secondary interventions have been utilized with high success rates. However, the research conducted thus far using the Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) program, a secondary intervention, has shown a lesser degree of success in behavior change with those students whose problem behavior is maintained by negative reinforcement or escape from aversive tasks. The current study examined the effects of the CICO program, adapted to address negative reinforcement contingencies. Using a multiple baseline across participants design, students in this study were exposed to a modified CICO intervention strategy in which problem behaviors, specifically related to the escape function as determined by a routine analysis, were targeted for reduction while academic engagement were targeted for acquisition. Results provided reductions in problem behaviors and an overall increase in academic engagement across participants with teacher implementers indicating the modified CICO program as feasible and acceptable. Implications for future research are discussed.

xiii, 126 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Given the staggering prevalence of 12-22% of school children with mental health problems and the paucity of effective mental health services available, it is essential that professionals examine alternative methods for providing social and emotional support to children (Greenberg, Bumbarger, & Domitrovich, 2001). Rather than continuing with a service delivery approach that is reactive, fragmented, and inefficient, professionals are called to consider a more preventive approach that ensures the health of all children. A public health model of intervention can provide a conceptual framework for mental health service delivery in its aim to serve an entire population and to provide multi-tiered support (universal, targeted, indicated) that increases in intensity based on the needs of individual persons (Coie et al, 2000). Members of the Oregon Resiliency Project, a research effort at the University of Oregon, have spent the last several years developing one such set of SEL curricula, appropriate for children in grades pre-k-12, the Strong Kids programs, Strong Start: K-2 , (Merrell, Parisi, & Whitcomb, 2007), is a component of Strong Kids , developmentally applicable to kindergarten through second grade students. The purpose of this study was to implement a pilot or feasibility study that examined the impact of Strong Start on first grade students' social-emotional knowledge skills, with a particular emphasis on emotion knowledge, social behavior and affect. Pretest data collection of Strong Start began in Fall 2007 in 4 classrooms in a suburban, northwestern school district. Implementation of the intervention occurred in Winter 2008 and posttest data were gathered in Spring 2008. Results indicated that Strong Start was implemented with integrity, and that significant increases in students' knowledge about emotion situations and significant decreases in students' internalizing behaviors were associated with exposure to the program. Limitations of this study as well as directions for future research are discussed. / Committee in charge: Kenneth Merrell, Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Cynthia Anderson, Member, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Elizabeth Stormshak, Member, Counseling Psychology and Human Services; John Seeley, Member, not from U of 0; Sara Hodges, Outside Member, Psychology

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There is an abundance of research on chronic absenteeism as well as the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) approach, specifically the element of positive behavior intervention strategies (PBIS), at the elementary school level. A clear understanding of MTSS and PBIS at the high school level and how those approaches may impact chronic absenteeism of high school students is lacking in the recent research. The literature review provided the reader with an overview on PBIS and chronic absenteeism through the theoretical lens of Cooper’s (1982) Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) theory and explained the influence that PBIS has on chronic absenteeism at the elementary school level. The argument supporting utilizing successful policies already in place to address chronic absenteeism at the high school level is presented. This study identifies PBIS within the current research, as a means to understand how these promising practices may support improved attendance for the chronically absent high school student. The research suggests that positive behavior intervention strategies have tangentially decreased chronic absenteeism by reducing suspension rates at the elementary school level. This study sought to understand how effective, evidence-based positive behavior intervention strategies (PBIS), which have addressed and improved challenging student behavior schoolwide, can be repurposed to combat the causes associated with chronic absenteeism at the high school level. The causes associated with chronic absenteeism at the high school level fall into four categories termed school, family, environmental and personal. The objective of this quantitative program evaluation study was to evaluate the PBIS interventions that a local, small public high school used for targeted chronically absent high school students to see if their chronically absenteeism rate decreases. This study hypothesizes that the PBIS approach to behavior intervention can successfully transfer to decrease chronic absenteeism at the high school level. Additionally, this study discusses the extent to which results may be generalized to high school students across school districts. The results of this research study affirm the research questions that PBIS strategies can be repurposed to address chronic absenteeism at the high school level and having an effective attendance intervention program can improve attendance rates between and within attendance tiers in high school students, resulting in reduced chronic absenteeism. The most effective tier in improving attendance rates and reducing chronic absenteeism was both Tier 3 and Tier 4, with each tier resulting in 50% of participants increasing their attendance rates and reducing chronic absenteeism.

This study used a phenomenological design to discover how middle school teachers in northern California perceived the effectiveness of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in improving school climate and lowering office discipline referrals. PBIS is a school-wide initiative implemented in schools across the United States as an approach for addressing discipline and promoting a positive school climate. The researcher examined teacher perceptions on effectiveness of PBIS at the middle school level. The district implemented PBIS to align with district initiatives to lower exclusionary discipline practices (office referrals, suspensions, and expulsions) for students, with an emphasis on African American males, students with disabilities, and foster youth. The study used transformative learning theory and teacher self-efficacy to guide the research. The overarching research question explored was: What are middle school teachers’ perceptions about the effectiveness of PBIS? Data were collected from individual semi-structured open-ended interviews; concern statements; and examination of the trends of suspension, expulsion, and office discipline referrals pre-PBIS and post-PBIS. Data analysis revealed that all participants used positive terms to describe their school’s climate. Participants also experienced shared benefits and barriers when discussing PBIS in their school settings. The results of this study support PBIS in middle schools and addressed barriers. The results could be used to guide the decision-making process of those responsible for PBIS at the local school district level as well as at the individual school and classroom levels.