Introduction to the Special Issue on Behavior Management

This special issue of Intervention in School and Clinic addresses the area of behavior management of students with disabilities. With increases in classroom size and the general education setting being the main learning environment for students with disabilities, it is crucial for school staff to focus on creating positive school experiences for all students (Wagner & Davis, 2006). Educators must plan for and provide a learning environment that is safe and supportive of the development of skills and behaviors that promote successful academic and social interaction in the classroom. However, many teachers feel that they have not received satisfactory preservice instruction in the area of managing student behavior (Jones, 2006; O’Neill & Stephenson, 2011), and feel ill prepared to adequately handle the serious and severe behavior sometimes exhibited by their students.

The 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act of 1990 (amended in 1997) promoted the establishment of a national center to provide information and assistance to schools on evidence-based practices to support students with emotional and behavior disorders. The multitiered service delivery model for student behavior known as positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS; Sugai et al., 2000) was an outcome of this effort.

Dunlap and Carr (2007) defined PBIS as “a broad approach for organizing the physical, social, educational, biomedical, and logistical supports needed to achieve basic lifestyle goals, while reducing problem behaviors that pose barriers to these goals.” (p. 470). It is not a specific practice or curriculum but rather a general approach for preventing problem behavior consisting of three levels of prevention. The primary level comprises school and classroom wide systems for all students, staff, and settings. The secondary prevention level contains specialized group systems at the classroom level for students who have been identified as being at risk behaviorally. The top, or tertiary, prevention level consists of specialized individual systems for students who have been identified as having high-risk behavior (Horner, Sugai, & Lewis, 2015).

Two very important foundations characterize PBIS: (a) data-based decision making and (b) research-based practices (Horner et al., 2015). The importance of data-based decision making in regard to schoolwide and classroom behavior management cannot be overstated. Data-based decision making allows school teams to work more efficiently through the use of ongoing data collection, analysis, and monitoring when making systemic changes (Means, Padilla, DeBarger, & Bakia, 2009).

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 sought to improve poor outcomes for students with disabilities by mandating the use of evidence-based practices in schools. Although various criteria of what makes a practice or strategy evidence-based can be found in the literature, Horner et al. (2015) claimed,

Among the most rigorous standards for documenting that a practice/procedure is “evidence-based” is demonstration of at least two peer-reviewed randomized controlled trial research studies that document experimental control. To meet this standard the practice/procedure must be operationally defined, there must be formal measures of fidelity, there must be formal outcome measures, and these elements must be used within a randomized control trial group research design. (p. 2)

The PBIS framework includes a broad range of strategies intended to build a positive environment for all students. These strategies are evidence-based, instructionally oriented, culturally responsive, and matched to individual needs (Sugai & Horner, 2009).

This special issue is intended to support teachers in the implementation of research-based practices and the use of data collection and analysis to make decisions about behavioral support for at-risk students. Rather than promoting a single type of intervention or strategy, the articles describe a variety of supports that are both research-based and fall under the umbrella of PBIS. As guest editor of this special issue, I am excited to present the work of scholars who have the passion to further research and practice in an area that is so important for all students.

This issue begins at the onset of the PBIS process, with an article about screening. Pierce, Nordness, Epstein, and Cullinan discuss the importance of early screening for students at risk of emotional behavioral disorders and how critical it is to use psychometrically sound screening instruments. They describe the Emotional and Behavioral Screener (EBS) and provide two examples of how it can be used to inform decision making within schoolwide and individual classroom PBIS systems.

In the second article, Billingsley focuses on using research-based practices to combat work refusal. She discusses how functional behavioral assessment (FBA) should be used to pinpoint the antecedents and functions of inappropriate behavior in order to design an effective behavior intervention plan. Academic expectations can be antecedents for inappropriate behaviors, and in order to manage these behaviors, work refusal must be addressed. Billingsley recommends the use of research-based antecedent strategies to prevent both passive and disruptive misbehaviors. The article describes ways to differentiate, invigorate, and structure learning activities to combat work refusal as an escape function.

The third article, by Schaeffer, Hamilton, and Bauman Johnson, also highlights an evidence-based practice while describing how technology can be used in the PBIS framework through the use of video self-modeling as a Tier 3 strategy. Although video modeling is an evidence-based practice, it is not often implemented with efficacy. The authors provide suggestions and examples to support educators in carrying out this strategy, including using data to make informed decisions for implementation and evaluations.

In the fourth article, Whitcomb, Hefter, and Barker contend that PBIS is effective in all settings, including an alternative high school setting. The authors describe how a team of teachers employed a team building strategy to establish a more efficacious feedback routine for students. The article highlights the necessity of a whole school approach and data-based decision making for Tier 1 interventions in the PBIS framework.

The final article, by Leach and Helf, emphasizes the importance of supportive consequences, rather than punishment, within the PBIS framework. Although punishment may work to extinguish some behaviors, it does little to teach appropriate replacement behaviors. The authors provide a progressive hierarchy of supportive consequences designed to redirect the student to the desired behavior quickly so that learning can continue.

This special issue supports the increasing call for the bridging of research to practice in education, specifically in the area of classroom management using evidence-based practices under the umbrella of the PBIS framework. I would like to thank the coeditors of Intervention in School and Clinic for their work in making this special issue possible. It is my hope that the important work of these scholars leads to more understanding and the implementation of evidence-based practices to support the positive behavior of students with disabilities.