Addressing the challenging behavior of students requires evidence-based interventions that can be implemented in school settings; however, there is a relative lack of literature investigating effective strategies for high school students in secondary settings. Behavior contracts have been used to address challenging behavior in elementary and…

Preventing and responding to student misbehavior is an integral part of classroom management and one of the most important skills an educator can have. Despite its importance, many educators receive inadequate training in this area. Many leave their pre-service training lacking confidence in addressing behavior and do not receive training once…

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. It is estimated that 1 in 54 children has been diagnosed with ASD (Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2020). One area of concern for some parents is food selectivity which can be a common problem…

It's well-known that motivation is essential for learning and how well students do in school. Research also suggests that a student's motivation is likely connected to their behavior in the classroom. This study was particularly interested in understanding how different types of student motivation (e.g., wanting to learn vs. wanting to look good)…

This dissertation studies several key issues related to teacher turnover, mentorship, and discrimination. The first chapter examines the impact of misbehaving students on the likelihood of novice teachers leaving their positions within the first five years. Utilizing data from North Carolina between 2007 and 2015, the study employs quasi-random…

Although there is a wealth of research supporting the effectiveness of using functional behavior assessment (FBA) to inform development of behavior intervention plans (BIPs), schools continue to find the FBA and BIP process challenging for implementation, particularly for students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders (EBDs) in high school…

Research supports the role of teacher-student relationships (TSRs) in supporting adaptive behavioral and emotional outcomes for students. The present study considered achievement goals (mastery and performance) as mediators between the TSR and behavioral/emotional risk (BER) to further understand the process by which this relationship exists.…

We investigated whether the associations between involvement in bullying and emotional and behavioral symptoms among adolescents differ according to sexual orientation. Respondents were 25 147 boys and 25 257 girls in comprehensive school (M[subscript age] 15.4, SD 0.6), and 33 231 males and 36 765 females in upper secondary education (M[subscript…

This study aimed to investigate students' perceptions of classroom interaction and goal orientation in association with academic achievement, school non-attendance, and disobedience among students in lower-secondary schools. The sample contained 1975 students from grades 8-10 (age 14-16) in 11 Norwegian lower-secondary schools. The results…

This study examined the cross-lagged relationships between students' autonomous motivations (intrinsic motivation and identified regulations) and approach goals (mastery and performance) in school. The sample included 449 students (52% girls) in Grades 7 and 8 (secondary 1 and 2). Results showed that intrinsic motivation (IM) positively predicted…

This study investigated how two aspects of the classroom environment (teachers' emphasis on mastery goals and descriptive norms (i.e., the average student disruptive, prosocial, and achievement-related behavior in a classroom), moderated the relationship between student behaviors and coolness. The sample included 976 students nested in 54 fifth-…

To improve reading achievement, teachers must ensure students actively engage in productive and meaningful reading tasks. Students with an established history of reading difficulty--including those with reading disabilities--may, over time, develop behaviors for passive and active avoidance of reading tasks. The current study explored the effects…

Check-in/check-out (CICO) is a Tier 2 behavioral intervention that has demonstrated effectiveness for students with challenging behavior in a variety of educational settings. Existing research has focused primarily on testing the intervention's effectiveness and the role of behavioral function in moderating response to intervention. Only a handful…

The present study investigated the mediating role of motivational self-talk strategies (i.e., mastery self-talk, extrinsic self-talk, and efficacy enhancement self-talk) in the relationships between achievement goals and academic engagement (i.e., involvement, withdrawal in the face of difficulties, avoidance of challenges, and disruptive…

The present study examined the effects of the Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Team (CW-FIT) program, a group contingency intervention addressing the on-task and disruptive behavior of students with or at risk for emotional behavior disorders (EBD). Twenty-one elementary schools, 155 general education teachers, and 324 students…