Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is a classroom management system using a group contingency involving direct teaching of classroom rules/skills, differential reinforcement of appropriate behaviors, and minimized social attention to inappropriate behaviors. We investigated elementary school teachers' implementation of CW-FIT…

Traumatic experiences in children are pervasive, and trauma has been correlated with adverse academic outcomes, including school dropout. This research study aimed to answer the following question: According to selected educators in specialized programs in Ontario, in what ways are trauma-informed frameworks used to support the social-emotional…

Ample scientific research has documented that exclusionary discipline practices are both ineffective for reducing unwanted behaviors and harmful to the long-term social and academic outcomes of students. Further, exclusionary discipline practices are especially harmful given their disproportionate use with students of color, students with…

This research examined the risk and protective factors of responders and nonresponders to a schoolwide implementation of positive behavioral interventions and supports (SW-PBIS) within an alternative school. Students completed self-perception measures of individual, school, community, and home systems. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated a…

The purpose of this study was to establish empirical benchmarks for the rate of student discipline in public alternative schools in the United States and to identify normative rates of disciplinary infractions across different grade levels, gender, and racial groups. Participants included 15,846 students attending 108 alternative schools in 73…

Finding new ways to serve youth at risk is critical to the field of education. A model alternative school-university partnership was created in concert with youth-mentoring evidence-based practices. The current study evaluates student outcomes from the program's first six years. Data on students' grades, credits earned, and behavior are reported.…

The zero tolerance policy movement across most of this country's school districts significantly limited school personnel's disciplinary alternatives for students who break rules on campus. This has resulted in millions of primary and secondary age students who have experienced suspension, arrests, and for some, expulsion. Within the student…

Prior research has documented that classroom-level variables have a significant effect on student outcomes; however, previous findings have typically focused on average student outcomes and have only recently begun to use hierarchical linear modeling techniques. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of classroom-level variables on the…

Students with emotional disturbances present with behavioral and academic deficits that often limit their participation in general education settings. As an antecedent intervention, academic choice provides multiple choices surrounding academic work promoting academic and behavioral gains. The authors examined the effects of assignment choice with…

Student behavior problems contribute to poor academic achievement and poor teacher retention. This study investigated preservice teachers' dispositions to implement positive and proactive strategies for managing behavior in the general education elementary urban classroom. The author interviewed 19 preservice teachers in a large urban school…

A growing number of children are entering kindergarten without the skills that enable them to be successful in an academic setting. However, it is not children's cognitive skills that concern educators; it is their social and emotional skill deficits that are most troublesome. This article discusses how family and community risk factors can…

Involvement in bullying is a contributor to student failure. The author describes a bullying intervention system that has been developed and implemented in a high school that aimed to interrupt bullying, conflict, and aggression before it escalates. A high school tried to reduce student involvement with the school's disciplinary system and…