As school leaders continue to look for solutions to ongoing negative student behaviors, many schools have implemented the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports framework. The Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports framework supports educators and students using positive strategies for behavior, academic, social, emotional, and…

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is committed to supporting State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and partners in ensuring that schools and preschool programs have additional tools to foster safe, inclusive learning environments that increase students' engagement and sense of well-being. The Office of…

Background/Context: The administration of student discipline is one of many responsibilities under the purview of teachers and educational leaders across the country. Maintaining a safe environment with minimal disruptions is not an easy task. From existing research on student discipline, we have learned that critical examination of data and…

Restraints and other aversives continue to be an active area of legal activity, particularly for students with disabilities. The March/April 2016 issue of Communiqué provided an update of the case law specific to school district use of restraints (Zirkel, 2016). Since then, various sources have provided successive snapshots of state restraint and…

This report summarizes the bilingual and English as a second language programs implemented during 2017-2018 in the Austin Independent School District. Programs and program participation are summarized, as well as student demographic characteristics and the number of students served. [For the Executive Summary, see ED620143.]

Scaling of evidence-based practices in education has received extensive discussion but little empirical evaluation. We present here a descriptive summary of the experience from seven states with a history of implementing and scaling School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) over the past decade. Each state has been…

In this chapter, we provide an overview of the characteristics, content, procedures, processes, and outcomes of effective educator preparation programs for teachers of students with behavioral disorders (BD). We emphasize the need for teachers of students with BD to be fluent with the identification and application of evidence-based practices and…

One approach to student behavior that may be particularly useful in exclusionary settings is school-wide positive behavior supports (PBS). Increasingly, evidence shows that PBS is an effective approach to student behavior in regular public schools (Sugai & Horner, 2005). While the data on behavioral systems in exclusionary schools are…

Two schools in Maryland received ARRA SIG (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act School Improvement Grants) funds to enable them to implement their turnaround efforts. This paper describes the outcomes of these two ARRA SIG recipient schools: (1) G. James Gholson Middle School; and (2) Commodore John Rodgers Elementary School. The experiences of…

Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) specifies that a behavioral intervention plan (BIP) must be developed for students with disabilities under certain disciplinary exclusions. IDEA, however, does not provide details as to what should be included in BIPs, and this lack of specific guidance often results in…

This report summarizes findings from case studies that explored the implementation of the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and how it affects school district progress toward addressing the behavioral needs of students. Results are also presented on the progress districts are making on: developing…