Implementation of a culturally responsive positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework is associated with positive outcomes for secondary students when implemented schoolwide. Yet, educators often report more implementation challenges in secondary school as compared to elementary school settings. Difficulties obtaining student…

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) provides effective behavior management in many schools, yet such systematic approaches to behavior management are generally not implemented aboard school buses. This article describes guidance for the expansion of PBIS onto school buses. Research supporting the use of PBIS in school and…

Learning "how to be a Haut Gap student" is one of the basics at Charleston's Haut Gap Middle School. Along with reading, science, and mathematics classes, every student at Haut Gap Middle School takes a course in how to be a Haut Gap student. For most students, the class is 40 minutes a day for nine weeks. But it can last 18 weeks for…

Five years ago, Excelsior Springs (MO) Middle School set a new vision for its future. That marked the beginning of the school's work as a professional learning community (PLC) and has changed its focus and how it measures success. One component of Excelsior Springs's vision is safety: "developing and maintaining a welcoming, orderly, and…

Students who display the most challenging behaviors are more likely to be excluded from the general education learning environment and placed in more restrictive environments such as residential or juvenile justice (JJ) settings. Historically, the approaches used to address the needs of these students have been rooted in reactionary and punitive…

Teachers are a combination of who they are and what they've learned--with a bit more emphasis on what they've learned. It helps to be a born comedian or a motivational speaker, but it isn't necessary. What is necessary is a great desire to teach children and knowledge of how to manage student behavior to keep students engaged academically and…

"MCPS School Safety and Security at a Glance" provides, in a single document, information about the reporting of incidents related to school safety and security, school climate, local school safety program descriptions, and serious incidents in all Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. The information is presented for each school.…

This article features Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), a systems-based method that offers a schoolwide approach to improving student behavior. PBIS was developed at the University of Oregon and has been shown to work at all grade levels and be effective in districts with greater concentrations of poverty and higher…

Middle school interdisciplinary teams developed a student behavioral management plan that aims to identify, develop, and coordinate appropriate school responses to the behavior of a specific student that will enable the youngster to become a successful, contributing member of the school program. Sample plan included. (Author/DCS)

Teachers can help learning and behavior disordered students in middle and secondary grades develop self control through a strategy in which students are taught to stop, look, listen, and think before carrying out a task. The final step is to reinforce themselves. (CL)

"MCPS School Safety and Security at a Glance" provides, in a single document, information about the reporting of incidents related to school safety and security, school climate, local school safety program descriptions, and serious incidents in all Montgomery County (Maryland) public schools. The information is presented for each school.…

Many school personnel are becoming increasingly frustrated with the impact of student behavior on their schools. More than ever, the public perception is that student behavior is out of control. Although isolated instances of violence (e.g., school shootings) contribute to this perception, people are most concerned with the lack of discipline and…

A peer tutoring program in which tutors were taught behavioral techniques as well as background information through a board game format was successful in promoting integration of a class of autistic adolescents in a middle school. Peer tutors helped to promote positive attitudes among students and teachers. (CL)

Although many parents and educators hesitate to involve children in a regular course of drug therapy, Ritalin often proves beneficial to Attention Deficit Disorder sufferers. Diana, an intelligent, easily distracted middle schooler, was helped by a team approach using evaluation, remediation, behavioral therapy, medication, and a supportive…

This article describes the following processes for encouraging self-management in middle-school students in inclusive classrooms: identify a problem behavior, define the target, collect baseline data, schedule a conference with the student, select self-management procedures, teach the student to use self-management procedures, implement…