In considering classroom management strategies, understanding the environmental factors related to available reinforcement and their effect on student behavior is crucial. When teachers or school staff have access to information related to student behavior function, it can be used to design and implement more effective behavioral intervention…

Widely recognized as a gold-standard resource, this authoritative book has been revised and expanded with 50% new material. It provides a complete introduction to functional behavioral assessment (FBA), complete with procedures, forms, and tools that have been piloted and refined in both general and special education settings. Numerous vivid…

The use of interventions to create behavior change among students with disabilities has an extended and complex history (Horner et al., 2005). Practitioners involved in the field of special education often debate best practices from an immense array of available interventions (Heflin & Simpson, 1998). Service providers express concern about…

The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of the Class-Wide Function-related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) program, a group contingency intervention for whole classes, and for students with disruptive behaviors who are at risk for emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). The CW-FIT program includes four elements designed from…

With federal mandates to develop and implement programs for students with disabilities who have behavior problems that impede their educational performance, school personnel are faced with increasing responsibility for developing individualized interventions. Developing interventions that appropriately, effectively, and efficiently address the…

Discusses considerations that should be made when one chooses an intervention based on aspects of the student, the situation, and the intervention itself. Considers manipulation that involves reinforcing events and nonpreferred events. (RJC)

Guidelines are offered for dealing with noncompliant behavior in severely handicapped students. Eight steps in developing interventions for such behaviors are listed, and three are dealt with in detail: defining noncompliance, establishing causes for non compliance, and providing a number of interventions for each cause. Noncompliance is viewed…

Parents and teachers can cooperate by requiring that behavior problem children successfully complete an activity of low priority (nonpreferred) to them before participating in a high priority (preferred) one. The daily report approach documents the way in which school behavior can be linked to access to home or community activities. (CL)

The article defines punishment; describes types of punishers used with handicapped students (response cost, time out, overcorrection, contingent exercise, aversive conditioning); discusses the role of punishers; outlines policies and procedures; and gives guidelines for establishing priority levels of target behaviors and hierarchical levels of…

Differential reinforcement of low rates of responding was used to reduce the disruptive behaviors of a blind 12-year-old boy with a learning disability. The subject earned reinforcers by not exceeding the established criterion of disruptive behaviors. An overall 88 percent reduction in target behaviors was observed across a 26-day period.…

Three experiments assessed the efficacy of various reinforcers to increase correct task responding in a total of 10 autistic children, aged 6-9. Of the reinforcers used (stereotypy, delayed echolalia, perseverative behavior, and food), task performance was highest with opportunities to engage in aberrant behaviors, and lowest with edible…

This article points out the demonstrated effectiveness of behavioral interventions across a broad spectrum of school populations. The article discusses the following aspects of applying reinforcement techniques in the classroom: commonly used behavioral terminology, reinforcer selection, critical application factors, advantages and disadvantages,…

This study examined effectiveness of posted numerical feedback on disruptive hallway behavior occurring among middle school students. Posting alone was found to have little effect on student behavior, but paired with verbal praise and feedback, posting was associated with more positive effects on student behavior and noise levels. (Author/PB)

The booklet is intended to help physical educators deal with behavior problems in students. A preventive approach is advocated which involves defining expectations of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Examples are given of ways to reinforce desirable behaviors and prevent behavior violations through such actions as structuring the physical…

The usefulness of operant conditioning for the special physical educator in managing behavior problems is pointed out, and steps to follow in applying operant conditioning techniques are outlined. (SB)