Michael Hand maintains that punishment is necessary for school children to insure compliance with the important rules -- those he calls moral and scholastic. I make three arguments against this position: First, Hand fails to separate the sorts of behaviors legitimately classified as interfering with teaching and learning from more trivial rules,…

Current behaviour policies, which focus around reward and deterrent, have only limited long-term effectiveness. They assume that students can exercise self-control and follow rules, when motivated to do so. Students with special educational needs and disabilities typically have many intrinsic challenges to self-regulation, due to executive…

Teachers' skill in fostering students' engagement and limiting disruptive behavior is important for maintaining a safe, productive, and effective learning environment. Yet, teachers lacking specific training in classroom and behavior management continue to report high levels of stress and are more likely to leave the profession (Ingersoll,…

Dr. Vern Jones shares his reflections on a career that focused on providing avenues for encouragement for youth and teachers who daily face challenges. His career is marked by an unflagging work ethic regardless of the role in which he was placed. Vern's work in enhancing the field of classroom management has resulted in approaches that have…

The current policy terrain is primed for schools to absorb new discipline strategies and address bias-based beliefs. Over the past 10 years, numerous policy changes regarding discipline have emerged at the federal and state levels. I argue these policy shifts, primarily at the state level, are using two of four value levers (quality, efficiency,…

Michael George's career has focused on children and youth with significant behavior and emotional challenge. His career has spanned experiences as a direct service provider, university professor, and teacher trainer. George has led an effort to provide competent and caring teachers to a population who greatly need such teachers. George shares his…

Reece Peterson has published widely on educational policy and the impact on children with significant behavioral challenges. He has served in many roles but always with an emphasis on providing support for children. He is recognized as a national expert on the topics of physical restraints and seclusion procedures. He shares his reflections and…

This article presents the Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) as a framework Catholic schools can utilize to provide a more equitable and inclusive learning environment for all students. In an effort to advocate for the effectiveness of this framework in the Catholic school setting, the authors define the framework, its key features, and the…

Increasing efforts have been made in the field of special education to identify positive, evidence-based practices (EBPs) to meet the needs of students who engage in problem behavior, with a major goal being to eliminate or limit the use of reactive measures such as restraint and seclusion (Snell & Walker, 2014). Various stakeholders,…

Beverly (Bev) Holden Johns shares her career as an educator and advocate for children who present challenges in the educational setting. She introduces the reader to "Sally," who illustrates the continual need for advocacy for children. Bev also offers advice for those just entering the field. Her perspective and experiences enrich us…

In this "Postcard from the Podium," Belinda Luke describes her first experience on a faculty Academic Misconduct Committee. From a personal perspective, the experience made her reconsider her own views not only on plagiarism--to which there are varying degrees ranging perhaps from students looking at a previous assignment to using it as…

Poverty has always been a problem in the United States and no doubt the condition unfortunately will always prevail. Title One schools will always have children enrolled who come from the lower socioeconomic class. This article has to do with the devastating effect of poverty, including stories from a classroom teacher of students who lived in…

Students with disabilities who engage in high rates of challenging behaviors require educators who employ function-based thinking and have a particular sensitivity to the wide range of factors that influence student behavior. In essence, educators working with special needs students need to know what makes their instruction "special"; they must…

This invited commentary includes observations about the article "Building Local Capacity for Training and Coaching Data-Based Problem Solving with Positive Behavior Interventions and Support Teams," published in the July 2011 issue of the "Journal of Applied School Psychology." In this article Newton and colleagues present an interesting field…

This paper interrogates the relationship between the social distance men have from children, fear, and the social expectation that men will be capable of managing student (mis)behaviours. Briefly, the central argument is that the social distance men, as a group, have from children, and child protection concerns of men working with children can…