The DEC Recommended Practices provide guidance to families and professionals about the most effective ways to improve learning outcomes and promote development of young children, birth through age 5, who have, or are at-risk for, developmental delays or disabilities. "Instruction: Effective Strategies to Support Engagement, Learning, and…

Early behavioral intervention (BI), based on the methods of applied behavior analysis, has the strongest and most consistent scientific support as a means of teaching skills to young children with autism spectrum disorder and reducing their restricted and maladaptive behavior. Although individual applied behavior analysis (ABA)-based treatment…

Research shows that a child's social and behavioral skills affect the development of cognitive and physical abilities. Set students on a path to success and have fun doing it with this activity-packed second edition of "Wanna Play". The authors provide hundreds of activities that help children learn how to behave appropriately and make friends.…

School systems face the challenge of effectively and efficiently addressing the disciplinary needs of their students and providing a safe environment conducive to learning. The 1997 and 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates the use of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) for students who, because…

This guide introduces behavior management strategies within the broader context of a comprehensive early intervention program, the CO-TEACH Model. It describes practices that teach desirable alternatives to child misbehavior and that avoid opportunities for inappropriate behavior to occur. An introductory section on positive behavior management…

The Early Intervention Program of the Department of Behavioral Psychology at the Kennedy Institute and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is a demonstration, research, and training program focused on the primary and secondary prevention of serious childhood behavior problems. Four assessment and intervention protocols are described…

Ways that preschool environments can be organized to avoid behavior problems are discussed, along with the implications of these arrangements for students with disabilities who are making the transition from preschool to elementary school settings. Also noted is the relationship between environmental arrangement and direct contingency management…

Four approaches to services and intervention design for young children with learning and/or behavior problems are described, followed by a discussion of PASSKey (planned activity, systematic sampling, and keystone behavior), an ecobehavioral and naturalistic approach to intervention design. A case study illustrates the model. (Author/DB)

Examines the prevention of antisocial behavior in children. It considers which children are at risk for behavior disorders, risk factors and their effects, pressures on schools, the value of early intervention, types of interventions (primary, secondary, and tertiary), and a secondary prevention program for kindergarten students, First Steps to…

With its roots in clinical and educational psychology, school psychology is an ever-changing field that encompasses a diversity of topics. "The Oxford Handbook of School Psychology" synthesizes the most vital and relevant literature in all of these areas, producing a state-of-the-art, authoritative resource for practitioners,…

Studies have documented that schedules and routines influence children's emotional, cognitive, and social development. Predictable and consistent schedules in preschool classrooms help children feel secure and comfortable. Also, schedules and routines help children understand the expectations of the environment and reduce the frequency of behavior…

Studies that show the effectiveness of self-management have been conducted with young children who have behavior problems, children with developmental delays, children at-risk, and children with identified disabilities. This "What Works Brief" presents strategies for teaching young children to manage their own behavior. It uses a simple format…

This discussion of naturalistic interventions with young children experiencing learning and behavioral problems notes their bases in studies of competent caregivers and focuses on intervention in the child's usual environments, provision of experiences targeting functional behaviors, and caregiver skills that facilitate learning and behavior…

This brief discusses the confusion some young children feel in moving from one activity to another (e.g., bus to classroom, cubbies to book reading, art time to lunch) that often results in frustration and challenging behaviors. The paper provides practical information on a variety of strategies to help preschool children make smooth, independent…

The What Works Briefs are a series of short, easy-to-read, "how-to" information packets designed to: (1) promote practices that support young children's social and emotional development and prevent challenging behaviors; (2) highlight practices, strategies, and intervention procedures that have been found to effectively prevent and address…