This article provides a rationale and guidelines for the adoption and implementation of positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) in secure juvenile justice settings, including benefits for youth and staff members. The rationale for extending PBIS to juvenile justice settings based on the authors' collective work in numerous states…

The pace of implementation of PBIS in restrictive settings for juvenile offenders is accelerating. Recommendations for future research include the following: examine effects of PBIS on preventing entry into the school-to-prison pipeline, identify factors that influence PBIS implementation, develop the capacity of restrictive settings to engage in…

In this paper, we examine the link between evidence-based practice and social validity by describing five examples from our own research where social validity measures resulted in data that were essential to both a clinical and research agenda on evidence-based practice. Social validity data are reviewed in the context of behavioral skill training…

Critical appraisal of the research literature is an essential step in informing and implementing evidence-based practice. Quality appraisal tools that assess the methodological quality of experimental studies provide a means to identify the most rigorous research suitable for evidence-based decision-making. In single-subject experimental research,…

Evidence-based practice (EBP) represents an important approach to educating and treating individuals diagnosed with disabilities or disorders. Understanding research findings is the cornerstone of EBP. The methodology of systematic reviews, which involves carefully analyzing research findings, can result a practice guideline that recommends…

Brief functional analysis (BFA) is an abbreviated assessment methodology derived from traditional extended functional analysis methods. BFAs are often conducted when time constraints in clinics, schools or homes are of concern. While BFAs have been used extensively to identify the function of problem behavior for children with disabilities, their…

This study examined the association between school suspension rates and dropout rates in a statewide sample of 289 Virginia public high schools. The contribution of suspension rates on dropout rates was examined for both Black and White students, after controlling for school demographics (school racial composition, percentage of students eligible…

This study examined the probability of (a) being placed in a disciplinary alternative education setting for mandatory versus discretionary reasons and (b) returning within the same year among an ethnically diverse sample (African American, Caucasian, Hispanic) of middle and high school students (N=270). Participants were compared based on…

The authors used an ABCBC design to compare the effects of a single-student response strategy and unison handraising strategy on a teacher and two middle school students (a targeted student and typical achieving student) during a 7th grade health science class. During baseline the teacher had high rates of redirections and low rates of praise…

This study assessed the effects of the "Rocket Math" program on the math fluency skills of a first grade student at risk for school failure. The student received instruction in the "Rocket Math" program over 6 months. He was assessed using a pre- and posttest curriculum-based measurement (CBM) and individualized fluency checkouts within the…

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) impact all areas of a person's life resulting in deficits in language, social behavior, and intellectual abilities as well as the development of repetitive behaviors that can greatly restrict access to the community and quality of life. Intensive behavioral intervention (IBI) has repeatedly been shown to be…

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of booster sessions on the maintenance of intervention gains following an anger management prevention program: "Student Created Aggression Replacement Education Program" ("SCARE"). Participants who had completed the "SCARE" program a year earlier were randomly assigned into either a booster…

Middle school students classified with Emotional Disturbance in two levels of least restrictive environments (LRE)--self-contained classes (SCC) and a self-contained school (SCS)--were compared at the beginning and the end of a school year, using demographics, IQ and achievement testing, a teacher checklist for DSM-IV psychopathology, and standard…

A multiple baseline design across teachers was used to evaluate the effects of a systematic, response-to-intervention (RTI) approach on rates of desired teacher behavior. Specifically, teachers whose rates of specific, contingent praise were nonresponsive to typical schoolwide positive behavior support training (primary intervention tier) were…

Solution-focused brief counseling (SFBC) is an efficient and direct approach to therapy that emphasizes problem identification and solutions. A multiple-baseline-across-participants design was used to evaluate the effects of a SFBC intervention on mathematics assignment completion and accuracy across six fifth-grade students who were failing math.…