Intervention in School and Clinic

Early identification of student behavioral needs allows educators the opportunity to apply appropriate interventions before negative behaviors become more intensive and persistent. A variety of screening tools are available to identify which students are at risk for persistent behavior problems in school. This article provides two examples in which the Emotional and Behavioral Screener (EBS) was used to identify students at risk of emotional or behavioral problems. Example 1 demonstrates how the EBS can be used within a schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports framework to inform decision making. Example 2 demonstrates how the EBS can be used to inform behavioral intervention decisions in an individual teacher’s classroom. Finally, suggestions for using the EBS across various school formats are provided.

Academic expectations are often antecedents for various types of inappropriate classroom behavior for students with challenging behavior. Effective interventions for managing these behaviors must involve techniques that combat academic refusal. Addressing the underlying issues of resistance or refusal to perform academically in school using research-based, antecedent strategies can successfully prevent many passive or disruptive classroom misbehaviors. This column provides specific examples of applying research-proven practices of differentiated instruction, mediated scaffolding, opportunities to respond, choice making, Premack’s principle, and behavioral momentum to improve academic participation.

Implementing evidenced-based interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the educational setting is of utmost importance for their long-term success. Unfortunately, interventions often are not implemented with efficacy due to the overwhelming demands on educators attempting to meet the individualized needs of each student. Video self-modeling (VSM) is an intervention technique with a strong research base that can support the social and behavioral needs of students with ASD. This review describes the utility of VSM and illustrates how this intervention can be implemented in the classroom with efficacy. Practical suggestions and illustrative examples are provided.

This column provides an example method for improving the consistency and quality of daily behavioral feedback provided to students in an alternative high school setting. Often, homeroom or advisory periods are prime points in the day for students to review their behavior from the previous day and set goals for a successful day to come. The method described outlines a planning process and strategy for building teams and teachers to use to establish a behavioral feedback routine, and a case example of the implementation of the routine.

Many educators across the country are implementing positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) in their schools and classrooms. While PBIS primarily focuses on proactive and preventative approaches to improve behavior, one of the essential elements of PBIS is the consistent use of consequences when students do not meet behavioral expectations. Most teachers view consequences as punitive reactions to misbehavior. However, there are ways to deliver consequences that are supportive in nature and result in positively redirecting students to engaging in desirable behavior, thereby eliminating the necessity of punitive responses. This column discusses the problems associated with commonly used punitive consequences to address challenging behaviors in classrooms and provides an alternative approach that is more in line with PBIS frameworks. This entails the use of a hierarchy of supportive consequences, which is explained in detail.

The process of learning to read is difficult for many children, and this is especially true for students with learning disabilities (LD). Reading in English becomes even more difficult when a student’s home language is not English. For English language learner (ELL) students with LD, acquiring the necessary skills to read fluently is an even greater challenge. The process of repeated reading has been beneficial for many students with LD, yet there is little information regarding its effect on ELL students. This column discusses the use of a fluency-based reading intervention with elementary-level, Spanish-speaking ELL students with specific LD.

Students with behavioral and emotional disabilities spend less time on academic instruction due to their behavioral disruptions, contributing to the academic difficulties these students face. Classroom management strategies, in the form of positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS), incorporate principles of applied behavior analysis to shape student behaviors through the use of motivation and positively reinforce good behaviors. A strategy often used in PBIS systems is a token economy. This column provides practitioners with a strategy for implementing a token economy using ClassDojo, a web-based classroom management program available for computers and mobile devices.

Collaboration between special educators and transition coordinators is important to lower recidivism rates among juvenile offenders with disabilities. This column provides best practice transition guidelines and urges special education teachers, special education coordinators, and transition coordinators in juvenile correctional facilities to communicate among themselves and other professionals to collaborate during the transition period from the community to confinement and when juveniles with disabilities reenter the community.

In South Korea, there is no consensus on the definition of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). This column focuses on how the definition has affected the prevalence rates and services available for students with EBDs. Of the legal, clinical, and educational definitions, the legal definition of EBDs is currently in common use, which raises two issues: First, using this definition results in limitations in terms of interventions for and understanding of EBDs. Second, the definition represents a departure from how EBDs have been used to classify children and adolescents for the purposes of prevention. In short, it was found that administrative adjustments of the legal agents are required and that mutual cooperation is needed between service professionals and reformers. The role of each expert is stressed in the establishment of a concrete definition and service delivery system.

Richard Simpson is professor of special education at the University of Kansas (KU). Dr. Simpson’s duties at KU have included roles of staff psychologist, teaching associate, assistant professor, project director, associate professor, professor, and chairperson for the Department of Special Education. He has directed numerous University of Kansas and University of Kansas Medical Center demonstration programs for students with autism and other disabilities. He has authored numerous books, articles, and assessment instruments on a variety of topics related to students with disabilities.