Students who exhibit disruptive and inappropriate behaviors are a challenge for schools, as teachers and administrators are most often held responsible for managing these behaviors. This study was designed to evaluate School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) when used in a rural middle school setting. Research indicates that using SWPBS in an individual school over a period of time can decrease the amount of disruptive behaviors in the school while also increasing attendance and academic scores. However, little longitudinal research exists concerning the use of SWPBS within middle school settings across a system. Through the use of quantitative methods, this study included examining overall effect on office disciplinary referrals (ODRs), suspensions, and expulsions under the 3 categories of schools as well as faculty and student perceptions (current year only) of SWPBS. While there was no significant difference found among ODRs, expulsions, or suspensions among the 3 school categories through ANOVA analysis, the study did highlight the need for further evaluation of how schools implement SWPBS. A one-way, chi-square analysis of faculty perceptions did not show a significance among the three school categories, while student perceptions did show significance and a follow-up pairwise comparison was conducted. The student survey analysis suggests that students in either a school with the SWPBS plan or without a plan are 3 times more likely to have a negative attitude toward the behavioral school policies than schools with a partial SWPBS plan. The analysis on perceptions indicates the need for further faculty and student questioning in future research. The primary significance of this study is that it addresses the use of SWPBS in various middle school settings and in various stages of use (full plan, partial plan, or no plan). This study also evaluates data from two years before the SWPBS implementation as opposed to just one year. The study highlights issues related to middle school students and how school systems might better serve those students.

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.

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There was a problem regarding students' antisocial behavior in a small rural school district in Washington State. Public data within the district indicated increasing incidents of students' antisocial behaviors. However, perceptions of school leaders regarding this problem were not known. As a result, there was a need to gain an understanding about school leaders' perceptions of students' antisocial behaviors in order to suggest potential solutions to reduce students' antisocial behaviors, as these perceptions are closely associated with their intent to address the problem. Bandura's theory of self-regulation provided the conceptual framework for collecting and analyzing data. Using an instrumental case study, the research questions explored school leaders' experiences in working with students who failed to manage their behavior and who exhibited antisocial behavior. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 13 school leaders in the district, and an iterative, inductive process of data collection, open coding, and thematic analysis was used. The themes that emerged from analysis of the data indicated a gap in the school leaders' practice regarding participation in ongoing, job-embedded professional development and an absence of a systematic school-wide positive behavior support approach to prevention and intervention. The findings indicated the need for professional development training to address these issues related to school leaders' practice. The suggested training could create positive social change by reducing students' antisocial behaviors, thus leading to an improvement in academic achievement. The recommended job-embedded professional development training resulting from exploring school leaders' perceptions can increase the capacity of the school leaders to manage students' antisocial behaviors.

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.

Decisions to refer students for disciplinary consequences (Hyman & Perone, 1998), eligibility for special services referrals (Smart, Wilton, & Keeling, 1980), and even suspension or expulsion (Brooks, Schiraldi, & Zeidenberg, 2000), are all likely to be driven by teacher perceptions of student behavior. Yet though there is a wealth of research investigating the mechanisms and consequences of teacher perceptions of student behavior, the accuracy of these perceptions has not been addressed in the literature. This study contrasted staff responses on questionnaires about student behavior by infraction category, school locations, and times with the actual referral counts from each setting to achieve a measure of perceptive accuracy for each participant. The results presented in this study extend the research literature on teacher perceptions by providing strong support for data sharing as a perception-changing mechanism among participants working in schools implementing school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS). Participants assigned to conditions in which school-wide discipline data were shared had accuracy scores which were statistically higher than those in non-data sharing conditions. However, asking participants to report their perceptions more than once did not increase the accuracy of their responses in a statistically significant way. The application of an experimental research design and the use of appropriate statistical significance tests draw attention to effects which are statistically real. Additionally, the random assignment of participants within schools to one of four conditions provides us with confidence that the intervention, and not some factor, caused the change in accuracy scores among participants.

Education for Sustainable Living (ESL) requires a whole-system pedagogical shift that changes the discourse from a positivistic worldview into one founded on ecological principles. The emerging environmental and sociopolitical challenges of the 21st century are complex, and schools present an important platform embracing sustainable changes. This participatory action research surveyed staff attitudes and student values from one Manitoban urban high school, to better understand the school culture of sustainability. In addition, a school wide Equity Conference was profiled for contributions to ESL through student exit slips; and a focus group with teachers where survey data was discussed also became part of the data corpus. The intent of this research was to understand on a deeper level how sustainability projects and initiatives are related to a culture of sustainability school wide. From these findings, recommendations to improve a whole-school approach to sustainability are provided. / February 2016

This study demonstrates a fully Bayesian approach to multilevel/hierarchical linear growth modeling using freely available software. Further, the study incorporates informative prior distributions for fixed effect estimates using an objective approach. The objective approach uses previous sample results to form prior distributions included in subsequent samples analyses, a process referred to as Bayesian updating. Further, a method for model checking is outlined based on fit indices including information criteria (i.e., Akaike information criterion, Bayesian information criterion, and deviance information criterion) and approximate Bayes factor calculations. For this demonstration, five distinct samples of schools in the process of implementing School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) collected from 2008 to 2013 were used with the unit of analysis being the school. First, the within-year SWPBIS fidelity growth was modeled as a function of time measured in months from initial measurement occasion. Uninformative priors were used to estimate growth parameters for the 2008-09 sample, and both uninformative and informative priors based on previous years' samples were used to model data from the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 samples. Bayesian estimates were also compared to maximum likelihood (ML) estimates, and reliability information is provided. Second, an additional three examples demonstrated how to include predictors into the growth model with demonstrations for: (a) the inclusion of one school-level predictor (years implementing) of SWPBIS fidelity growth, (b) several school-level predictors (relative socio-economic status, size, and geographic location), and (c) school and district predictors (sustainability factors hypothesized to be related to implementation processes) in a three-level growth model. Interestingly, Bayesian models estimated with informative prior distributions in all cases resulted in more optimal fit indices than models estimated with uninformative prior distributions.

Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (SWPBIS) is an approach designed to improve the correct implementation, consistent use, and maintenance of evidence-based practices related to behavior, classroom management and school discipline systems. Check-in/Check-out (CICO) is often recognized as a successful intervention in SWPBIS. However, most of the research on the use of CICO has focused on the school setting. This study provided an extension to the literature by examining the effects of the CICO program with homeless children attending an afterschool program. A non-concurrent multiple baseline across participants design was used to evaluate the CICO program effects. Students were exposed to a CICO intervention in which problem behaviors were targeted for reduction and task engagement was targeted for acquisition. Of the five participants selected for the study four participants were exposed to a CICO intervention. Results demonstrated a decrease in problem behaviors and an increase in task engagement for all four participants.