Abstract
The goal of Beyond Behavior is to promote use of evidence-based academic and behavioral interventions for professionals who teach students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). We are delighted that this issue 33(2) provides high-quality articles that address both of these needs. The first article, by Debra McKeown and Michael Williams, addresses the essentials of writing pedagogy. It is the last article in a special series on effective writing practices that was started in 33(1). The authors provide an outline regarding what teachers need to know about writing instruction when working with students with EBD. The article includes an overview of self-regulated strategy development and provides a host of resources and ideas for advocating professional development on writing.
The second article, by Olivia Hester, Kristine Jolivette, and Nicole Swoszowski, examines how teachers can support transition-readiness skills for adolescents with EBD using Check-In, Check-Out (CICO). The CICO intervention is an evidence-based practice for addressing the behavioral needs of students with and without disabilities from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. Recently, transition skills have been targeted and integrated into CICO for adolescents with disabilities. Building upon the transition-focused applications of CICO, the article provides adaptations and intensifications that can be made to address the needs of high school students with EBD related to transition-readiness skills of self-monitoring, social skills, and vocational training.
The third article, by Christina Gushanas and S. D. Smith, addresses the importance of incorporating choice-making into instruction to improve challenging and academic behaviors for students with EBD. Research demonstrates that self-determination can promote positive classroom behavior and successful postschool outcomes. By incorporating choice-making, an element of self-determination, teachers across grade levels can address behavioral issues and promote positive postschool outcomes for students with EBD. The authors provide guidance on how to incorporate choice-making into the classroom as well as how to monitor challenging and academic behaviors.
Our fourth article, by Guofeng Shen and Tracy Gershwin, broaches the importance of culture and how to incorporate cultural responsiveness into functional communication training. Functional communication training (FCT) is an evidence-based practice that can be applied across multiple populations of students. However, FCT can be impractical and/or ineffective if utilized with students who are from culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse backgrounds. The authors provide culturally responsive strategies across each FCT intervention stage with the intent to help teachers improve the behavior of students from culturally diverse backgrounds.
The last article of this issue, by Elisabeth Malone, Jennifer Kurth, and Kathleen Zimmerman, discusses the challenges of accurately measuring noncompliant behavior. While noncompliance is a challenging behavior and commonly reported by educators, the measurement of noncompliance is likely to be invalid and inaccurate given the subjectivity of the operational definition. The authors argue that measuring engagement provides a more valid and accurate assessment of the amount of instruction accessed by students. The article discusses the limitations of noncompliance measurement and provides resources for educators to measure and support varying forms of engagement to help improve student outcomes.
We hope you find these articles beneficial. We ask that you share this issue with colleagues to improve the quality of education that students with EBD receive in schools.
