Faculty: Christian Sabey

This study evaluates the impact background noise has on teaching functional skills to six adults with disabilities using video prompting. A single-subject multiple probe across behaviors with an embedded alternating treatment design was used to implement this study. Two versions of the video were created and alternated during intervention: one with significant auditory distractors, and one without. The independent variable was the iPad video prompting intervention, which involved the instruction of four functional skills. The dependent variable was the percentage of steps completed by the student correctly and independently. Tau-U effect sizes showed a large effect size for the overall VP intervention with a very small difference between conditions. All six participants showed immediate and significant growth after the video intervention. Results showed the presence of audio distractions did not affect the efficacy of the intervention.

Social skill instruction and school-wide positive behavior support have been found to be effective in treating students with emotional and behavioral disorders. However, students with internalizing behavior are often overlooked for interventions that could improve academic outcomes and prevent problems that might have serious implications, including social withdrawal, social isolation, and suicidal ideation. In this study, a multiple baseline across participants design was used across two elementary school recess playgrounds to evaluate a “buddy bench” intervention, which utilized peers to help socially withdrawn students to decrease social isolation behavior. Students in Grades 1 to 6 were observed during recess. Results revealed that from baseline to intervention phases the number of students engaged in solitary recess behavior decreased between 19% and 24%. Most students reported positive attitudes towards the intervention, while teachers were more neutral.

The purpose of this article is to synthesize the existing research on classwide social, emotional, and behavioral programs for kindergarten students. The researchers identified 26 studies in peer-reviewed journals and dissertation databases to review. Each study was examined and coded in terms of study characteristics, strength of evidence, and quality of evidence. The interventions represented in the studies were grouped into four categories: social–emotional learning, behavioral, coping skills, and other. The studies of behavioral interventions demonstrated the strongest effects on increasing prosocial behavior and decreasing antisocial behavior. These studies also included the highest quality of research. The social–emotional learning intervention studies consistently demonstrated weaker effects and lower quality research. The remaining categories included too few studies to draw meaningful conclusions. Implications for practice and future research regarding classwide kindergarten social, emotional, and behavioral interventions are discussed.

Check-In Check-Out is a Tier 2 intervention designed to reduce problem behavior and increase prosocial behavior. Although the intervention has demonstrated effects in several studies, few research efforts have considered how the intervention can be modified to support students with social skill deficits. Through a multiple baseline design across five students, the current study evaluated a novel approach to blending social skill training and the Check-In Check-Out system, titled “Check-In Check-Out + Social Skills” (CICO+SS). Results indicated that implementation was functionally related to increased positive social engagement and decreased negative social engagement for four of the five participating students. In addition, a student teacher interventionist implemented the program with a high degree of fidelity, and school staff rated the program as effective and efficient. Although some design and measurement limitations warrant consideration, the results have practical implications for Tier 2 interventions, Check-In Check-Out, and social skill training.

Tier 2 interventions play an important role within the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports framework, bridging the gap between schoolwide Tier 1 interventions and individualized Tier 3 supports. Check-in check-out (CICO) is a promising Tier 2 intervention for addressing mild problem behavior and potentially preventing the need for more intensive supports. In this systematic review, we synthesize the characteristics, methodological quality, and outcomes of 15 single-subject studies and one group design study examining CICO. The results suggest that CICO can be considered an evidence-based practice for students with problem behavior maintained by adult attention. Versions of CICO that were modified to address other functions (e.g., obtain peer attention, escape from tasks) demonstrated strong effects, but there were not a sufficient number of studies for modified CICO to qualify as an evidence-based practice. We discuss the implications of this review for practitioners as well as future research on CICO.

Students in high school or secondary school face challenges that too often lead them to drop out of school. Administrators and staff in many of these schools have attempted to address this challenge by adopting a framework of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) that offers graduated tiers of intervention suited to students’ needs. One such intervention that has been used in some parts of the US, was developed by the School of Life Foundation (SOLF). The intervention consists of a life-skills curriculum that supports students by addressing factors related to increased probability of dropping out of school. This article provides a case report, from the United States, of the SOLF intervention in the context of a
PBIS framework.

For teachers who work with students with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD), noncompliance can be a serious problem by impacting their own and others’ access to the curriculum. The precision request (PR) has been recommended as effective in addressing noncompliance, but it has limited support as a sole intervention in a classroom exclusively for students with emotional disturbance. This study used an ABAB (withdrawal) single-case design to demonstrate effects of teachers’ PRs on noncompliance of eight third and fourth grade students with EBD in a self-contained class. PR was shown to increase student compliance (log response ratio effect size = 0.17) with no adverse effects on latency to compliance. Both teacher and students rated the social validity as positive. This finding was corroborated by the teacher’s continued use of PRs after study completion. Implications of the findings for practice and suggestions for future research are included.

A Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is an evidence-based framework for organizing and integrating academic and social behavior supports within a school, creating a continuum of instructional supports that match student needs. Recently, state-education agencies (SEAs) have devoted resources to the exploration, installation, and ultimately the statewide scale-up of MTSS. Our prior research into SEA MTSS scale-up projects identified key events, practices, and efforts that helped or hindered the success of MTSS scale-up in 27 states. The purpose of this paper is to re-examine our findings through the lens of implementation science to identify the linkages between the existing research on MTSS and implementation science broadly. We provide recommendations to state and national leaders and researchers. In addition, we provide commentary on the state of implementation science and areas for future research.

A safe, supportive school climate is critical for school effectiveness. Unfortunately, the research linking a positive school climate to critical student outcomes includes few systematic reviews of the school climate literature and no reviews focused on the effects of interventions to improve school climate. This review examined the methodological quality and findings from 18 experimental studies evaluating the effects of schoolwide interventions on teacher and student perceptions of school climate. Each study was rated in terms of quality of the methods and magnitude of effects on school climate. Results indicated that only three of the 25 articles were considered methodologically sound. Effect sizes estimating the differences in teacher perceptions of school climate ranged from –0.29 to 1.69, while those concerning differences in student perceptions ranged from 0.03 to 1.93. Studies examining the effects of schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) and social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions were the most methodologically sound and associated with the highest effect sizes.

State and national educational leaders encourage the use of an integrated multitiered system of supports (MTSS) to improve services to students with academic and social behavior problems. Implementing and sustaining MTSS is facilitated by support from leaders in state education agencies (SEAs). The purpose of this study was to identify the specific events, resources, and supports that help or hinder the work of scaling up an integrated MTSS approach from the perspective of MTSS leaders in SEAs. Researchers interviewed leaders in 27 U.S. states using the critical incident technique, a qualitative methodology to identify critical incidents associated with changes in practice. Eight helping incident, seven hindering incident, and nine “wish list” categories were identified. Helping categories included multidisciplinary leadership, access to professional development, consistent language and/or practices, consultation with external partners, and a focus on student outcomes in evaluation and planning. Seven hindering categories included competing philosophies, high personnel turnover, varying levels of readiness, and inadequate data systems. Participants also identified two unique categories associated with the items they wished had happened or could happen in the future including access to personnel with high-level MTSS training and access to more effective interventions.