Early intervention supports infants and toddlers with confirmed or suspected autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in achieving optimal outcomes, and caregiver-implemented NDBIs are recommended as a developmentally appropriate intervention approach for very young children and their families. Research highlights discrepancies between early…

Recent years have seen a range of new state policies to reduce and prevent the use of suspension and expulsion in early childhood education (ECE) settings. Policymakers in some states have worked to limit disciplinary removals in public ECE programs by restricting suspension and expulsion in early grade levels and requiring or encouraging…

Student behavior within our school system has been and still is an area of concern. There are many different approaches to maintaining a healthy and safe culture for learning. Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) programs can have a powerful impact on schools. No matter the goal of the PBIS program, a school's climate and culture…

Purpose: Over the past decade, increasing attention to the negative impacts of exclusionary discipline and disparities therein has led many state educational leaders to enact school discipline reforms. This study examined the response by school district leadership to a state's revision of guidelines for student codes of conduct. Data: This study…

The goal of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and impact of brief school-nurse-administered interventions for reducing anxiety. Thirty school nurses in Connecticut and Maryland were randomly assigned to deliver the Child Anxiety Learning Modules (CALM; n= 14) or CALM--Relaxation only (CALM-R; n= 16). Students (N= 54) were ages 5-12 (M age…

The three-tiered Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework promotes the development of systems and data analysis to guide the selection and implementation of evidence-based practices across multiple tiers. The current study examined the effects of universal (tier 1) or school-wide PBIS (SW-PBIS) in one state's scale-up of…

Anxiety disorders are common in children and severely impair their functioning. Because a hallmark symptom of anxiety is somatic complaints, anxious youth often seek help from their school nurse. Thus, school nurses are in an ideal position to identify anxious children and intervene early. This study assessed the feasibility of a brief…

Although the number of schools implementing School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is increasing, and there is great demand for evidence-based Tier 2 and 3 interventions for students requiring additional support, little systematic research has examined administrator support for such programming. This article examines…

School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS; Sugai & Horner, 2006) is currently implemented in over 20,000 schools across the country with the goal of preventing disruptive behavior problems and enhancing the school climate. While previous studies have indicated significant main effects of SWPBIS on student outcomes, the…

The alarming rise of office referrals, suspensions, and expulsions among students in public schools, have been a major concern for stakeholders in learning communities throughout the country. The Individuals with Disabilities Act (2001) and The No Child Left Behind Act (2001) mandated state and local educational agencies to implement scientific…

This single subject design study (ABAB) investigated the effects of using iPads in a classwide academic intervention to increase independent task completion and basic math skills of seven students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) enrolled in a special education school. The study also examined the advantages of and challenges to using…

Objective: To assess the efficacy of a 6-week cognitive-behavioral intervention in preventing the onset of perinatal depression and reducing depressive symptoms among low-income women in home visitation programs. Method: Sixty-one women who were pregnant or who had a child less than 6 months of age and who were assessed as at risk for perinatal…

School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) has been implemented in more than 4,000 schools as a means of addressing problem behavior in a systemic fashion. Preliminary outcomes (e.g., office discipline referrals, suspensions) indicate the effectiveness of SWPBS in decreasing school-wide behavior problems and creating a positive school climate.…