The project was designed to develop, implement, and evaluate an effective management system to modify and reduce inappropriate behaviors exhibited by preschool handicapped children. The writer (1) provided in-service training to school personnel to increase their expertise and skills in changing behavior, (2) encouraged parent education and…

A motivational plan to reduce bus discipline referrals in a K-5 elementary school is presented in this practicum paper. Methodology involved observation of student behavior on 13 buses, pre- and post-tests administered to third- through fifth-graders, and document analysis of student misconduct citations and bus conduct reports. Referral…

This practicum attempted to modify the antisocial behavior of 25 early adolescent children classified as having emotional disturbances by a training program to facilitate the development of affective skills in their mothers. The 8-month training program involved discussion groups, social activities, and individual and/or small group meetings with…

Cooperative learning lessons in mathematics were instituted in 6 learning disability elementary classrooms serving a total of 47 students. Verbal rehearsal and collaboration were intended to reinforce the internalization and generalization of skills. Structured social interaction was intended to facilitate peer acceptance. Although two of the…

This practicum addressed the problem of eighth grade students repeatedly being referred to the school administration because of their disruptive behavior. The maladaptive behavior resulted in diminished student academic performance and adversely affected the students' self-esteem. A group counseling program was implemented which focused on values,…

Counselors at one middle school would see the same students repeatedly for disruptive behavior in the classroom. The counselors' efforts did not appear to reduce these repetitive referrals. This study used group counseling to address the maladaptive behavior of the students and to improve their self-esteem. Students were selected by six teachers…

This practicum was designed to give parents of preschool children with autism an understanding of the disorder and appropriate skills to manage their children's challenging behaviors. A curriculum-based training series involving weekly 2-hour sessions was implemented during a 12-week period for 25 participants. Goals included increasing the…

This practicum involved development and implementation of an inservice training workshop on behavior management in the high school setting. Participants were five teachers with students who exhibited challenging behaviors. Prior to the workshop, a needs assessment was conducted which found that the school had a high rate of referral and placement…

This practicum report describes a program in which strategies for improving self-managing behavior skills of second graders were designed and implemented. The goals of the Self-Management and Responsibility Training (SMART) Program were to improve students' behavior and encourage development of students' critical thinking skills. The four basic…

The martial art of Aikido was used as an intervention with 15 middle and high school students with severe emotional disturbances in an alternative educational setting. Students with an extensive history of violently disruptive and assaultive behaviors were trained for 12 weeks in this nonviolent Japanese martial art in order to achieve the…

A practicum project implemented a program designed to reduce negative behavior in the hallways and cafeteria of an urban middle school. The objectives of this program were to reduce by 15% the number of infractions in the cafeteria and in the hallway and to reduce by 15% the number of students suspended out of school. The target population was a…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a 12-week program using cooperative learning and Multiple Intelligences to increase student motivation for learning. The targeted population consisted of elementary and middle school students in a low-socioeconomic community in northern Illinois. The problem of motivation was documented in the…

A kindergarten teacher working at a school on a military base located on an island in the North Atlantic used improved methods of communication to design a practicum intervention to improve the behavior of kindergarten children who resided on the base. The goal of the practicum was to improve the behavior of the children through: (1) frequent…

A practicum project was developed and implemented to reduce the incidents of aggressive behavior and impulsive actions among kindergarten students by means of win-win situations for conflict resolution. The objectives for the program were to achieve: (1) a 25 percent decrease of impulsive and aggressive behavior; (2) 50 percent of the target group…

This practicum project addressed the need to improve antisocial behavior in disruptive elementary school children, using a skill deficit perspective. Six student participants were selected on the basis of a high number of school suspensions and their identification as disrespectful, confrontational, and self-absorbed, as well as behaviors that…