Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], ix, 137 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 108-113).

This study reports long-term evaluation of school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) in a rurally-located K – 8 and a middle school. With assistance from a university-based PBS project, these schools developed and implemented a SWPBS program. Target positive behaviors (respect, responsibility, cooperation) were operationally defined and directly taught to students. A reward ticket system was used to reinforce students’ positive behaviors. Office discipline referrals (ODRs) and reward tickets were recorded. At the end of each grading period, students with at least 1 ticket attended a school-wide celebration. An A-B case study design analyzed results for five-years for the K-8 and four years for the middle school. Following the first year of SWPBS, ODR rates decreased substantially, correlating moderately with reinforcement tickets given. Compared to two similar schools without SWPBS in the same district, the K-8 school’s had substantially fewer overall ODRs and fewer students with high-risk levels of referrals. ODR reductions resulted in recovering an average 5.25 and 10 student class hours and 11.75 and 25 administrative hours in the elementary and middle schools, respectively. These results replicated and extended effects reported by others. Issues regarding consistent SWPBS implementation and measurement of its effects as well as future research are addressed. [Abstract is from a repeated presentation at the Annual Conference of the Association for Bheavior Analysis International San Antonio, TX]

The aim of this qualitative study was to description and interpretation of experiences and perceptions of teachers working with students who have challenging behaviours in various types of school settings in Poland. Teachers’ experiences and perceptions provided insights and understandings into action strategies, in the case of the teachers who were interviewed, their assessing student difficulties and the effectiveness of various behavioural interventions. The data obtained from teacher interviews revealed their classroom management practices as well as their perceptions on the efficacy of their respective schoolwide practices for supporting students with behaviour support needs.