Most students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have challenging classroom behaviors and poor postschool outcomes. Self-determination promotes positive classroom behavior and successful postschool outcomes. By incorporating choice-making, an element of self-determination, teachers across grade levels can address behavioral issues and…

TikTok has gained in popularity across teachers. One TikTok trend related to classroom management is called "Secret Student." Secret Student aims to improve classroom behavior by rewarding an anonymous, randomly chosen student. In this article, I describe common practices and variations of the Secret Student intervention as well as…

A majority of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), particularly those served in alternative educational settings, have a history of trauma exposure before placement. Evidence-based interventions such as Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) may be more effective for these students if the interventions are systematically adapted to include…

Background: Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) provides an overarching framework for supporting quality-of-life improvements for people who use challenging behaviour. Rapport, or the lack of it, is well understood as a setting factor for some challenging behaviours. Intensive Interaction is an approach that, among other possible outcomes, can…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) generally have behavior support plans that are based on a functional behavioral assessment. This article provides educators practical guidelines for conducting a "multiple stimulus without replacement" (MSWO) preference assessment to rank order preferred activities that will align…

Catherine Bradshaw, PhD, MEd, is a professor and the senior associate dean for research and faculty development at the Curry School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia. She was previously the associate editor for the "Journal of Research on Adolescence" and is currently the editor of "Prevention…

Check-in, check-out (CICO), an intervention implemented with students at risk for behavioral disorders, addresses minor misbehaviors by providing students with a structured means of receiving positive adult attention. CICO reduces problem behaviors and improves appropriate behaviors of students with and without behavioral disorders. Research…

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…

Teachers who work with students with targeted, co-occurring academic and behavior differences require the knowledge, tools, and support for effective interventions across both domains. This article provides a research-informed, three-step process to support teachers in designing and implementing integrated targeted interventions for mathematics…

In this article, the authors discuss how the emphasis on classroom-level Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports strategies can establish a foundation for an efficient classroom management program and be utilized as a resource. The strategies described are physical classroom, procedures and rules, explicit timing, and transition (PETT…

Positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) is a widely adopted framework to support the social, emotional, and behavioral growth of all students. This article addresses two key questions related to supporting students with disabilities through PBIS: (a) Why focus on universal classroom PBIS practices?--without support, students with…

In this article, we follow up on recommendations from the Division for Emotional and Behavioral Health (DEBH) for providing school mental health (SMH) services by offering additional implementation suggestions for teachers and school staff. We highlight the need for and urgency of SMH services, particularly during and after the pandemic, and also…

Youth in juvenile justice facilities may experience symptoms of mental health disorders and trauma at a higher rate than their normative peers. As a result, juvenile justice facilities have become de facto mental health agencies, resulting in an increased need to provide interventions that can meet the various needs of their residents. Embedding…

Dr. Jeffrey Sprague is a professor of special education and the director of the University of Oregon Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior. He directs research and demonstration projects related to positive supports and youth violence prevention.

For many years, the field has struggled to provide effective supports and interventions for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs). Rarely are EBDs identified and treated early. Additionally, students with EBDs who require intensive supports often have a myriad of needs, which can be difficult to address. Thus, the long-term…