The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is an interdependent group-oriented contingency management system successfully used in school settings to promote positive student behaviors. As a classroom management intervention, there is a large body of evidence for it increasing desirable classroom behaviors and decreasing problem behaviors across a range of…

Research suggests that students are more invested in behavior interventions when they are involved in the development process. Tier 2 behavior interventions in a positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) framework can be tailored to embed student involvement and meet individual student needs. The purpose of this article is threefold.…

This article delineates the four successive dimensions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act's (IDEA) central obligation of "free appropriation public education" that the courts have developed thus far: (a) procedural, (b) substantive, (c) incomplete implementation of the last Individualized Education Program (IEP), and (d)…

School personnel implementing interventions new or unfamiliar to them need to know how to implement the intervention with fidelity. A five-step process is described that can be used to design and implement fidelity procedures with teachers using new or unfamiliar interventions.

"Augmentative and alternative communication" (AAC) refers to a wide variety of communication devices, systems, tools, and strategies that support or replace spoken language. Augmentative and alternative communication users represent a range of ages, abilities, and communication needs. Support for AAC often begins in the public school…

The availability of effective research-based interventions and practices within schools is a growing concern within the field of education. There remains a lack of interventions that have been fully evaluated for use within schools and by school personnel, particularly in the area of social skills interventions. Understanding the need for social…

Over the past 15 years, students with disabilities have been included in the general education environment at markedly higher rates; however, their achievement is not increasing at the same pace. One reason for this lack of increased achievement may be that academic standards lay the foundation for instruction in this environment, but standards…

With many states moving toward increased accountability for all teachers, special educators, who have long been held accountable through the implementation of individualized education programs and the use of evidence-based practices, have much to offer. Formative instructional practices are evidence-based techniques that are familiar to special…

This article describes a conflict resolution and peer mediation program implemented in three middle schools. The program used a school-wide conflict resolution curriculum and enlisted a core group of trained peer mediators in each school. A resolution acceptable to disputing parties was reached more than 95 percent of the time. (Contains 11…