Choosing Effective Behavioral Supportsfor Students with Disabilities

Darren Woodruff, Stephanie Jackson, & Muna Shami

EMS C Elemen tary & Midd le Schools Technical Ass is tance Cen ter

www.emstac.org

TA

EMSTAC has 64 Local District Partners across 28

States

Our Goal: Positive Outcomes For All Children

Identify and Team with Local Advocates

Maintain Effective Communication Networks

Promote Research-based Practices

Outcomes for Students with disabilities

EMSTAC Operating Principles

Form Complementary Partnerships

Promote Research-Based Practices in Schools

Focus on Helping and Learning

Develop School District Capacity

Use Research-Based TA Methods

EMSTAC Model:Insider – Outsider Approach

TA Support

School District

TA Liaisonoutside the district

Linking Agentinside the district

EMSTAC’s Conceptual Model

RelateExamine

Care

Extend

Try

Acquire

Renew

Cycle of Change

Strategy I

Strategy II

Strategy III

Training Modalities

Linking Agent Roles

Catalysts Process Helpers

Resource Linkers Solution Givers

Linking Agent Roles

EMSTAC Provides Training to Local School Staff

Ten Training Modules

Online Discussion Boards

Resource & Product Library

Access to Support from EMSTAC TA Liaisons

EMSTAC Supports Schools Across Multiple Topics

Academic & Instructional Topics Student Behavior, Discipline &

Social Skills Minority Student Disproportionality Inclusion in the General Curriculum Low Incidence Disabilities

Common School Problems in Addressing Behavior

Lack of Classroom Consistency

No Teacher and Administrative Support

Reactionary Policies

No Support for Positive Student Behavior

Lack of Parent/Family Involvement

No School-Wide Strategy

Implementing Positive Behavioral Supports

Elements of Effective Programs

Every child in the school is the responsibility of every adult in the school

Assumes that many children need to be taught appropriate behaviors for success in school

Provides building staff with strategic plan for meeting academic and behavioral needs of all students

Reinforcement consistently provided for positive behavior

Grade level and building committees formed to decide on specific behaviors to be taught and reinforced

Elements of Effective Programs

Teachers and other staff provide direct instruction, modeling, and reinforcement to students

Implementation across classrooms and throughout building leads to consistency in student behaviors

The school discipline process should be linked to parent training and involvement groups

Data should be collected to continually monitor effectiveness

Popular skills for Instruction: Listening, Asking for help, Following Instructions, Ignoring Distractions, Responding to Teasing

Factors to Consider:Agreement on the Problem

Needs identified by central administration are not always the same as those identified by principals, teachers, and families

Hot topics are often identified locally and confirmed nationally

Factors to Consider:Agreement on the Solution

Choosing an Intervention Solutions identified by central

administration should be agreed upon by all other stakeholders.

All stakeholders should be able to effectively represent and advocate for the chosen solution, strategy, or intervention.

Factors to Consider:Strong Leadership Needed

Effective Collaborations Need: Dept. Level Leadership Central Office Leadership Building Level Leadership Consistency in Leadership Flexibility and Creativity

Factors to Consider: Attitudes and Beliefs

Special and general education staff should accept shared responsibility for the learning outcomes of children and adolescents with disabilities.

School staff, family members and students should be prepared to receive assistance from outside sources.

Parents should be fully informed of all program goals and activities.

Factors to Consider: School Support The principal (and other leaders)

understands the needs of students with disabilities.

Adequate numbers of personnel, including aides and support staff, are available.

Appropriate procedures for monitoring individual student progress, including grading and testing, are in place.

Factors to Consider:Collaboration

General education teachers, special education teachers, and other specialists should collaborate (e.g. co-teaching, team teaching, teacher assistance teams). These teaming approaches should be used for problem-solving and program implementation.

Effective Behavioral Supports:Character Education

Character education encompasses various aspects of moral education, civic education, and character development. Character education seeks to foster in students a commitment to living and acting in accordance with core ethical values such as caring, honesty, fairness, responsibility, and respect.

Implementation of character education programs encourages positive student interactions, increased academic success, reduced incidents of violence, and improved teacher communications.

Contact Information:

The Character Education Partnership

1-800- 988-8081 www.character.org

National Character Education Center

www.ethicsusa.com

Effective Behavioral Supports:PBIS

Schoolwide approach to addressing student behavior challenges and to increasing the development and display of pro-social behaviors.

All school personnel must be aware of school’s behavioral expectations.

All students need to know behavioral expectations.

Contact Information:

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) Technical Assistance Center

www.pbis.org/english/index.html

(540) 346-2505

Effective Behavioral Supports:The Good Behavior Game

The goal of this game is to reduce general classroom disruptions and student aggression. It has also been used to reduce shyness in socially withdrawn children.

Game utilizes team format whereby team members are dependent on one another to earn privileges.

Contact Information:

www.bpp.jhu.edu/publish/Manuals/gbg.pdf

Dr. Sheppard Kellam, American Institutes for Research (202) 944-5418

Effective Behavioral Supports:Peer Tutoring

Peer tutoring is an organizing learning experience in which one student serves as the teacher or tutor, and the other student is the learner or tutee.

Peer tutoring is most effective with drill and practice activities rather than with the introduction of new information.

Tutors must be trained in: Positive verbal feedback, corrective feedback, modeling by teachers, role-playing between teacher and tutors, and role-playing between students.

Effective Behavioral Supports:Project ACHIEVE

Project ACHIEVE focuses on academically and socially at-risk underachieving students.

Model emphasizes prevention, intervention, and crisis response.

Some important components of the program include school-wide social skills training, individualized behavior intervention and support strategies, referral question consultation (problem-solving) process.

Contact Information:

Dr. Howard M. Knoff, Co-Director, Department of Psychological Foundations

www.coedu.usf.edu/projectachieve

(813) 974-9498

Effective Behavioral Supports:Project PATHE

Comprehensive program to improve the school environment and thereby enhance students’ experiences and attitudes about school.

Project PATHE attempts to increase student bonding to the school, enhance students’ self-concepts, and improve educational and occupational attainment.

Contact Information:

Dr. Denise Gottfredson, University of Maryland

www.gottfredson.com/pathe

Effective Behavioral Supports:Second Step

School-wide violence prevention program aimed at decreasing problematic behavior and increasing both neutral and positive behaviors.

Three major skills areas are Empathy, Impulse Control, and Anger Management.

Contact Information:

www.cfchildren.org/resrefs.html

Committee for Children

www.cfchildren.org 1-800-643-4449

Effective Behavioral Supports:Anger Coping Program

School-based intervention that focuses on developing anger management skills through group intervention.

Aims to equip students with the social processing and behavioral skills needed to reduce impulsive and aggressive responses to anger.

Contact Information:

John Lochman, Ph.D., University of Alabama

205-348-5083 jlockman@gp.as.va.edu

Effective Behavioral Supports:First Step to Success

Early intervention program designed to address the needs of kindergarten students identified as having anti-social and/or aggressive behaviors.

Three components:

Screening process to identify children at risk

CLASS – Classroom-based skills training

Homebase – home-school intervention

Contact Information:

www.sopriswest.com 1-800-547-6747

Effective Behavioral Supports:PACT

Positive Adolescent Choices Training (PACT) aims to reduce the risk of students exhibiting violent behavior or becoming victims of violence by teaching adolescents social and anger management skills to use in conflict situations (Hammond et al, 1990).

Provides framework for conducting violence prevention groups that is specifically designed for African-American youth.

Formal evaluation of PACT found significant reduction in the physical aggression displayed at schools by students participating intensive curriculum (Dwyer and Osher, 2000).

Contact Information:

Ellis Human Development Institute, Wright State University Rodney Hammond and Betty Yung (937) 775-

4300

www.researchpress.com

Effective Behavioral Supports:School-Based Mentoring

Mentor organization partners with a school to pair students with mentors from the community.

Goals of school-based mentoring:

Increase number of children who have access to mentors and supportive adult relationships.

Forming a safety net for the child with collaboration between the mentor and school professionals.

Fostering community-school partnerships by bringing mentors into the schools (Jacovy, 2000).

Contact Information:

Contact local chapter of Big Brother Big Sisters – National Organization 215-567-7000

Effective Behavioral Supports:School-Based

Mental Health Services

Goals of school-based mental health programs vary, but may include:

Prevention: Development of prosocial and academic competencies

Early intervention: Addressing risk factors through screening procedures and targeted group or individualized services

Tertiary intervention: Ongoing management of student difficulties and crisis intervention

Effective Behavioral Supports:Functional Behavioral

Assessment (FBA) Purpose of a FBA is to (1) determine an association between environmental events that either precede or follow a student’s troublesome behavior and the troublesome behavior itself, and (2) to identify the function that the behavior is serving for the child.

Steps to conducting a FBA:

Define behavior of concern

Gather initial data

Develop and test hypotheses

Generate behavioral support plan

Implement and monitor outcomes

Contact Information:

www.pbis.org

www.air.org/cecp/fba/problembehavior/main.htm