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.

The purpose of this quantitative research was to examine the level of implementation of School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) in the State of Florida. The relationship between the fidelity of implementation of SWPBS as measured by the Benchmarks of Quality tool to academic and behavioral outcomes for middle and elementary schools was then analyzed. The academic outcomes for this study included FCAT Reading and Mathematics subtest scores. The behavioral outcomes were measured using the number of Office Discipline Referrals per 100 students and the number of days for Out of School Suspensions per 100 students. The literature review suggests that many outcomes have been associated with implementation of SWPBS. These include a reduction in ODRs and OSS days, increased academic achievement, increased instructional time, decreased administrative time addressing discipline, increased teacher satisfaction, improved peer relationships, and an increase in perceived school safety (Muscott, Mann,& LeBrun, 2008; Lassen, 2006; Landers, 2006; Lassen, Steele, & Sailor,2006; & Luiselli, Putnam, Handler, & Feinberg, 2005). The results of this study found that SWPBS is being implemented with fidelity in the majority of schools in one year and that these schools maintain or increase fidelity over time. Findings also suggest that there may be a relationship between greater implementation and lower ODR and OSS rates and to a lesser extent, academic outcomes. This research adds to the knowledge base regarding SWPBS implementation fidelity and its relationship to academic and behavioral outcomes and may be of use to policy makers, practitioners, and future researchers.

The literature shows that school attendance matters. Time engaged with instruction is highly correlated to student achievement (Brophy, 1988; Fisher et al., 2015; Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2001). However, students who are suspended and expelled from school lose instructional time in the classroom (Belway, Hodson, Losen, Keith II, and Morrison, 2015; Scott and Barrett, 2004). Suspensions result in decreased student attendance by removing the student from the learning environment (Noltemeyer, Ward, and Mcloughlin, 2015). The use of in-school suspension (ISS), out-of-school suspension (OSS), and expulsion are referred to as exclusionary discipline (Belway et al., 2015). Educational leaders are unintentionally contributing to the achievement gaps that the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation intended to close by not addressing student suspensions and expulsions (Belway et al., 2015). This study used quantitative data with an ex post facto design to determine if the implementation of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) resulted in a change in student absences, office discipline referrals, and suspensions in one middle school and to determine what difference, if any, was there in student absences, office discipline referrals, and suspensions between a school implementing PBIS and a school not implementing PBIS. Two suburban middle schools in one Virginia school division were included in this study. Following the conceptual framework for this study, it was anticipated that implementation of PBIS would decrease student absences, office discipline referrals, and suspensions. The results of the study revealed that there was a reduction in office discipline referrals following the first year of implementation in the PBIS Middle School. When comparing a school that implemented PBIS to one that did not, this study found that student suspensions decreased by the second year of implementation in the school that implemented PBIS. This study also yielded other findings that were inconsistent with existing research. The results of this study are of significance for education leaders who want to decrease student office discipline referrals and suspensions / 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.

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.

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.