This study sought to evaluate the effect of participation in the Student-Guided Supports (SGS) curriculum on student behavior. The SGS curriculum was designed to teach students a set of simple behaviors to prompt and reinforce supportive teacher behavior. Student use of the SGS behaviors was hypothesized to initiate a constructive cycle of student-teacher interactions that increase teacher display of supportive behaviors and student display of SGS behaviors and academic engagement. Results of the study provided evidence of a functional relation between participation in the SGS curriculum and increased student use of requests for teacher feedback. They also provided evidence of a functional relation between student requests for feedback and teacher provision of feedback. While this study did not provide evidence of the establishment of constructive cycles of support it did offer the following: a) high school teachers typically engaged in low levels of the identified support behaviors, and b) students were able to reliably elicit these supportive behaviors by engaging in relatively simple prompting behaviors. Potential implications of the results and future research are discussed.

Unlock the power of positive behavior intervention supports for your students Behavior Management: Principles and Practices of Positive Behavior Supports provides readers with a thorough overview of behavior analysis and PBIS theory and applications. Using vignettes and student examples, the book shows teachers how to achieve optimal behavioral and learning outcomes for their students–regardless of the challenging behavior exhibited. Chapters address universal tools such as reinforcement, meaningful instruction, and student progress monitoring. Behavior support plans demonstrate how to implement techniques for students at all levels and abilities across learning environments Referencing the latest research in the field, the 4th Edition expands its coverage of prevention, schoolwide PBIS, and student progress monitoring. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1187/thumbnail.jpg

Nonemergency transportation drivers play a critical role in helping individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) gain access to community integration opportunities. Challenging behaviors can limit access to enrichment opportunities and possibly increase the likelihood that individuals with ID will be isolated from community enrichment activities. The purpose of this study was to determine if positive behavior support training improved nonemergency transportation drivers' perceptions of challenging behaviors displayed by individuals with ID. For purposes of this study, perception was defined as staff (driver) beliefs about the causes of challenging behavior. A convenience sample of 52 nonemergency transportation drivers was chosen from a Logisticare provider list using local zip codes. Data were collected using the Challenging Behavior Attribution Scale (CHABA) before and after training using the Positive Behavior Support Curriculum 2nd Edition. A 2-way ANOVA revealed no statistically significant differences in perception before or after training. Analysis of the data indicated that training had no impact on driver perception of challenging behavior. The drivers who participated in this study appeared to have positive perceptions of challenging behavior, and, as a result, no statistically significant results were found. Perhaps the results of this study might lead community organizations that support individuals with ID to include transportation drivers in team meetings when there are concerns regarding challenging behavior. The drivers' positive perceptions regarding challenging behaviors may be an asset to support teams in developing positive behavior support strategies that improve the quantity of life for persons with ID.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a difference between the implementation of positive behavior supports and teacher stress? Previous research conducted by Ross, Romer, and Horner (2011) reported that teachers who work in schools that effectively implement Positive Behavior Supports (PBIS) had lower levels of stress and higher levels of efficacy. The current study investigated the difference between the PBIS and teacher stress. Additionally, this study sought to determine if teachers age, years of teaching experience, and gender had an impact on teacher stress. Data collection strategies included two surveys, Effective Behavior Support and the Teacher Stress Inventory. The survey instrument consisted of 65 statements that asked respondents to indicate their degree of agreement on a 7-point Likert scale. Using two ANOVA’s and two independent sample t-test, 104 participant surveys across three school district groups were analyzed. Results revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in positive behavior supports and interventions and teacher stress. Additionally, there were no statistically significant difference in teachers age, years of teaching, and gender and teacher stress.

Students need to be engaged in learning in order to have a successful school career. If attendance and discipline become an issue, instruction tends to be relegated to lesser importance. In order for students to be a contributor to society, education is important. As schools are held more accountable, the results of this study could encourage better practices to hold students more accountable. The Students Taking Appropriate Responsibility (STAR) Program was implemented in 2004 in one school in a school division in southwestern Virginia to address problems in student behavior. The other three elementary schools did not implement this program. The program is a four year series of sequential activities designed to provide positive behavior supports to all students. This program uses tenets of positive behavioral supports and effective school wide discipline programs. The first students who enrolled in 2004 had four years of instruction in the program and graduated from high school in 2013. Therefore, a study was undertaken to compare the behavior of the students in the treatment school with students in a control population. The purpose of this study was to track data at a student level and compare one treated population with a random sample from three control populations who attended the same high school. All schools were located in a rural county in Virginia with similar demographics. The main research question was whether high school students who had received instruction in a program for four years show more self-regulation on selected measures of student behavior than students who had not received such instruction. The variables used were attendance, discipline incidents, and drop-out status. Research on positive behavior supports demonstrated the effectiveness in the short term. However, there were no longitudinal studies found that tracked positive behavior support programs by student. The expectation of this study was that students would take the information learned from the program and continue to use the knowledge to make better choices about school. Students should have been more willing to attend school, avoid behaviors that result in discipline referrals, and stay in school until graduation. Using independent samples t-tests, data were analyzed using the entire treatment population and a randomly selected control population. The results of the study showed a significant difference in attendance for twelfth graders. Those students that had been instructed in the STAR program missed significantly fewer days than those students that had not been instructed. Overall, the ninth and eleventh graders in the treatment population had fewer missed days and ninth graders had fewer disciplinary incidents. Tenth grade students did not show the expected results, nor did any of the drop-out status statistics. All results other than twelfth grade were not significant. Overall, the program could be useful for helping with attendance in future grades. More research would be needed before this study could be generalized. Other possible research venues would be to increase the grade levels or the variables studied. / Ed. D.

This study sought to measure the current status and priorities of high school staff around effective behavior supports. The school district studied includes nine comprehensive high schools and one alternative education site. The use of effective behavior supports in the areas of school-wide supports, classroom supports, non-instructional supports, and individual student supports are the foundations for school-wide positive behavior supports, SWPBS, a tiered system of interventions designed to address the behavioral needs of all students within a school building. The study was designed as a mixed methods investigation. An online survey was created from the Effective Behavior Supports, Self-Assessment Scale, EBSSAS, which was administered to a random sample of teachers, school administrators and school counselors. Ten high school principals also participated in direct interviews. The study found that school-wide, classroom and non-instructional supports are partially in place across the district, while individual student supports are rated as not in place. School-wide, classroom and non-instructional supports status varied from correlating priorities in statistically significant ways, with the schools systemically reporting these areas as low priority for improvement. However, in the area of individual student supports, there was no statistical difference between the status and priority rating (not in place, and low, respectively), indicating less confidence in those types of behavioral supports district wide. Implications of these findings include a need for systematic address of individual student support structures, and the usefulness of developing a district-wide manner of coordinating of individual school efforts to meet the needs of students with habitual problem behaviors. Through a district wide support structure, each school should use the data gleaned from the survey responses to develop their own tiered system of support for addressing students with more significant behavioral needs, through means other than suspension.

This study investigated time lost to office discipline referrals (ODRs), systematically replicating a prior study (Church, 2015) in rural school districts. An on-line survey asked administrators, general education, and special education teachers in four county districts for: a) demographic information; 2) estimated minutes lost to ODRs generally, specific ODR types, and for students with (SWD) or without disabilities (not SWD); and, 3) whether the respondent’s school implemented School-wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS). ODRs generally took 16.9 minutes. Special Education teachers’ time (mean 23.6 min.), was Lost time was affected by ODR type (aggression, noncompliance, disruption mean 23 min.; not finishing work, inappropriate language, cell phone use mean 12.33 min.) and disability (SWD mean 20.2 min; Not SWD mean 15.17 min). Respondents reporting SWPBs had longer ODR times (mean 19.13 min.) than respondents without SWPBS (mean 16.77 min.). Implications for future research and the evaluation of SWPBS programs were discussed.

More than 20,000 primary- and secondary-level schools, which represent 20% of all schools in the United States, are implementing school-wide positive behavior supports (SWPBS) to enhance socially desirable behavior and promote a decline of problematic behavior among students. The overall efficacy of the 3-tier SWPBS framework is well documented. However, a paucity of empirical research addresses the use of check in/check out (CICO), a Tier 2 intervention, for youth who present as quiet and withdrawn, and who are at risk of academic and social disengagement. Accordingly, this quasi-experimental, nonequivalent groups study assessed the overall effectiveness of CICO and considered the differential effects of conducting a functional behavior assessment (FBA) at the secondary level of SWPBS. Twelve students from 1 middle school formed the convenience sample. Analysis of covariance repeated across time, with the preintervention scores being the covariate, was used to assess between group differences in the students' internalizing behaviors on the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Second Edition (BASC-2) Self-Report, teachers' BASC-2 ratings of adaptive skills, and office discipline referrals. Paired sample t tests were conducted to assess within-group effects. Findings indicate that CICO was an effective intervention for students presenting with a pattern of internalizing behaviors. For participants in the experimental group, a significant effect was found on the functional communication scale. Social change implications include educators having a better understanding of how Tier 2 interventions can be enhanced to meet diverse needs and that inclusion of youth's self-reports is needed when determining effects of supports.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine a problem of practice present in an actual school district. The study examined School-Wide Positive Behavior Support Implementation as it relates to the recidivism rates of students of color in the in-school suspension setting. Over the course of one school year, the perceptions of seven middle school teachers, three parents, and two administrators were explored in a suburban middle school in Southeast Texas. Although In-school suspension programs exist in every American public school to some degree, little research has been done in regards to the academic outcomes associated with those who are frequently placed in this campus based disciplinary alternative educational placement. In many of these "placement" many of the students assigned are not afforded access to instructional materials, supplies, or a certified teacher. Since the enactment of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (2001), the achievement gap has been discussed and studied. However, few studies have been done to understand how the current practices in in-school suspension contribute to the achievement gap specifically among students of color. This study examined key stakeholder's perceptions of School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports, and In-school suspension as a vehicle for referral reduction and removal of middle school students from their academic setting. The participants were "key-stakeholder" parents, teachers, and administrators who educate students at Caden Middle School. Findings from this problem of practice indicated that not only was the campus not imploring consistent practices and interventions related to and promoted by the SWPBS system in the in-school suspension setting, many of the staff members teachers and administrators alike did not adhere to the philosophical tenants of the SWPBS within the general classroom setting. The research presented in the record of study, identified gaps in both perceptions and understanding among key stakeholders in regards both in-school suspension and the school-wide positive behavior support systems at Caden Middle School. Results of this from this problem of practice found a severe disconnect in understanding the purpose and rationale of SWPBS among the administrators, teachers, and parents that participated in this study. Furthermore, the variance in the "self-sense making" done by each of the stakeholder groups after campus leadership failed to communicate, support, and sustain district expectations for program implementation with fidelity. Initiatives implemented through the investigation of the questions related to this problem of practice assisted in providing relevant professional development to re-solicit teacher and staff buy-in, prioritization of organization goals, and engaging teacher leadership to re-implement SWPBS to countermand system practices that were contrary to the district's original expectations.

Students with persistent challenging behaviors are associated with negative school, community, and transition outcomes. The presence of challenging behavior is due in part to social skills deficits that are in need of remediation. Although social skills interventions are commonly provided to this student population, they are often ineffective at promoting behavior generalization and maintenance, which is necessary for improving social outcomes and developing social competency. Social skills interventions also fail to consider the individual characteristics of social skills deficits when they are conceptualized. Function-based social skills and replacement behavior interventions may be effective at addressing these concerns. This dissertation study investigated the effects of function-based social skills and replacement behavior interventions on the problem behavior of three students who attended a public elementary school in rural Central Texas. Results show an experimental effect for two of the three participants when observation data on challenging behaviors for baseline and treatment phases were compared. Generalization of behavior change was also measured for all three participants, with analysis of observation data indicating a positive effect for two of the three participants. vi Maintenance of behavior change was strong for two participants. The limited effectiveness of the intervention for one participant may be explained in part by the absence of intervention components that may have been critical to student success. Lower levels of implementation fidelity also may explain the limited effectiveness of the intervention. A social validity measure indicated that participating teachers and an assistant teacher viewed the interventions positively. A comparison of pre and post intervention scores on the teacher report form of the Behavior Assessment Scale for Children show some improvement in student composite scores, particularly Externalizing Behaviors. However, student composite scores still fell in the Clinically Significant or At-Risk range. / text