Check-in/Check-out (CICO) behavioral support has been implemented in Finnish School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (SWPBIS) schools to cater to students who require personalized behavior support beyond the universal level. Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of CICO as a behavioral support method. However,…

Violence by K-12 students is disturbingly common. Ensuring that schools have effective ways to identify and prevent such incidents is becoming increasingly important. Various concerning behaviors or disturbing communications, including direct threats, can precede acts of violence. Although removing every student exhibiting such behaviors might…

Use of high-probability request sequences is a low-intensity intervention for increasing student compliance. There are several subtleties in implementing high-probability request sequences that make the process more complex. Review of supporting research raises concerns about how well the intervention translates into practice. This article…

This study used integrative data analysis to examine profiles of teacher-student relationships and teacher's use of research-based behavior management practices in early childhood and K-third-grade classrooms with students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). We also examined the association of these profiles with student…

The daily report card (DRC) is a commonly used behavioral intervention in which teachers rate child performance on target goals and parents provide home rewards based on the child's performance. The current study investigated associations between child externalizing problems, empathy, and specific components of the DRC: (1) types of DRC goals that…

Premack principle, often referred to as Grandma's law, describes how individuals will perform an arduous or undesirable activity if given access to a desirable activity after the completion of the original task. Premack discovered that highly preferred restricted activities in and of themselves can be reinforcing when preceded by activities that…

Coping Power (CP) is a preventive intervention that focuses on reducing child externalizing problems. Although it is typically delivered in a group format (GCP), individually-delivered CP (ICP) has produced greater mean reductions in externalizing problems. However, standard analysis of randomized trials loses individual-level information…

The focus of this doctoral project was to investigate the implementation of a new behavioral management system, Positive Behaviors Intervention and Support (PBIS), by the teaching staff in grades K-6 at a specific school. The aim of PBIS is to create a consistent set of behavior expectations across the entire campus, rather than just within…

Teachers feel inadequate to face pupils' behavioural problems in schools, yet teachers are expected to play significant roles in providing and supporting pupils' appropriate social behaviour. Unfortunately, teacher education in Finland and globally seems to offer little content for behavioural support, and in-service training sessions are filling…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between externalizing behavior and peer reputations of kindergarten through third-grade students (N = 35, from 18 classrooms) with or at risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBDs). We also examined the extent to which this relation varied as a function of teacher delivery of praise. A…

What do teachers perceive to be the impact of positive behavior management systems on supporting teachers, students, and families? This research investigated the implementation and impact of school-wide positive behavior support systems as a crucial approach to addressing behavior challenges and supporting both teachers and students. Recognizing…

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with severe conduct problems (CP) in youth. Causal theories for CU traits focus on emotion processing deficits that interfere with empathy development. However, though CU traits are consistently associated with deficits in affective empathy (i.e., emotional reactivity), the association between CU…

Within the context of a multi-tiered framework for behavior support, intervention intensification is warranted when a Tier II intervention fails to adequately address a targeted behavior. A traditional approach to intensification is to shift from standardized supports at Tier II to individualized and more resource-intensive supports at Tier III.…

Imitated misbehaviours as a prevalent form of interaction between children often disrupt their classroom experiences. Teachers, being the authority figure in the classroom, are expected to manage imitated misbehaviours and create a classroom climate that can positively influence the children. In line with this, this study analyses the conceptions…

Early childhood education teachers often feel underprepared for addressing behavior challenges in the classroom. This can limit a teacher's ability to teach academic and social skills and lead to interruptions in their educational experience such as suspensions or expulsions. Effective planning can help teachers create and manage positive learning…