It is well documented that youth with or at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) have severe deficits in their academic functioning. To begin to address these deficits, we focus on the need to close the opportunity gap by providing access to multi-tiered systems of academic prevention, maximizing academic learning time, and providing…

Students in alternative, residential, and correctional settings present challenges in the classroom and facility due to the complexity and intensity of their behaviors. In addition, the factors typically associated with these settings including crowding, inconsistency, and conflicting staff perspectives on education and discipline present…

Coaching is one component used to facilitate implementation of positive behavior intervention and supports (PBIS) with fidelity, and to help bridge the gap between training and implementation in real-world settings. This exploratory survey examined elements related to PBIS coaching as support for developing and implementing a statewide PBIS…

Self-regulated strategy development is an evidence-based practice for use with students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD). This study adds to the current research base by conducting the first investigation in a residential facility for students with E/BD and the first classwide investigation at the elementary level with students with…

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…

Many public schools are experiencing improved student, staff, and school outcomes with the adoption of a positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework, which organizes evidence-based practices into an integrated continuum of supports. Although alternative programs are often more restrictive and specialized because of the…

One of the main purposes of alternative education, residential facilities and our nation's juvenile justice restrictive settings is to provide the youth who find themselves in these settings an opportunity to redirect their lives and receive the supports and skills they need to have successful and productive futures. While this has not always…

The positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) framework is currently implemented in over 18,000 schools in the United States. Schools implementing PBIS with fidelity report school level benefits including decreases in problem behavior, increases in academic engaged time, and improved perceptions of school safety. While potential benefits…

The scant data available suggest there is a critical need for improving service delivery within alternative education (AE) settings for children and youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD). A promising approach for improving student outcomes in AE settings is school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS), an…

This study evaluated the effects of a Tier II positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) intervention, Check-in/Check-out (CICO), on the off-task behavior of 4 students with behavioral challenges and special needs in a residential facility. In addition, the study examined the effects of additional mentor contact (i.e., mid-day check-up;…

School-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SW-PBIS) is a framework for creating safe and effective learning environments and cultivating a positive educational climate. Researchers show that SW-PBIS can improve behavioral outcomes, while demonstrations of a causal relationship between improvements in students' academic…

The use of SWPBS has increased quite rapidly across schools. This is happening against a backdrop of enthusiasm among policymakers, researchers and practitioners about the use of evidence-based practices in school settings. As SWPBS continues to attract the interest of school personnel it is necessary to look at this approach and examine its…

Many schools have problem-solving teams that support teachers by helping identify and resolve students' academic and social problems. Although research is limited, it has been found that teams sometimes fail to implement problem-solving processes with fidelity, which may hinder the resolution of problems. We developed the Team-Initiated Problem…

In this study we examine the impact of the Behavior Education Program (BEP; Hawken, MacLeod, & Rawlings, 2007) with four middle school students who were not responsive to a comprehensive primary prevention program including academic, behavioral and social components. To extend this line of inquiry we (a) conducted a functional behavioral…