On any given day, around 400,000 youths involved in the child welfare system eventually prepare for the transition into safe and stable permanency placements. Although schools play an integral role in permanency planning and transition success, there are no evidence-based programs that focus solely on supporting and improving student educational…

Procedural fidelity is the extent to which an intervention is implemented as designed and is an important component of research and practice. There are multiple ways to measure procedural fidelity, and few studies have explored how procedural fidelity varies based on the method of measurement. The current study compared adherence to discrete-trial…

Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs) are considered one of the best practices for autistic children and their families. Most NDBIs include a component of providing training and/or coaching to caregivers to enhance skill acquisition and generalization. The procedures to implement these NDBIs are often clearly delineated in…

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) is an effective behavioral intervention when implemented consistently. NCR may be particularly well-suited for use in schools because of its perceived ease of use. However, previous laboratory research suggests that NCR may not maintain therapeutic effects if implemented inconsistently. Inconsistent implementation…

Student outcomes depend on the implementation of intervention practice elements, which are the specific behaviors that front-line implementers deliver as part of their direct interactions with students. Tier 1 PBIS is a well established practice in schools but existing guidance on practice elements is often conflated with guidance…

School-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) is an effective and widely adopted school-wide framework for promoting positive behavioral, social, and academic outcomes for students. However, over the past decade, the degree to which schools were able to implement specific SWPBIS practices with fidelity has emerged as a…

The present pilot study explored the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a multicomponent social narrative intervention to teach behavioral expectations. We conducted a multiple probe design across three children to evaluate the effects of the intervention on student behavior. In addition, we measured the fidelity of teacher implementation…

Although functional analysis (FA) is often recommended as a behavioral assessment tool, researchers have identified barriers limiting its use in schools. Trial-based FA (TBFA) was designed to address some of those limitations. However, few studies have examined classroom-based training methods for teachers to implement TBFA, and none have assessed…

This meta-analysis study synthesized the intervention effects of Check-in/Check-out (CICO), the most common Tier 2 behavior intervention used in schools. Systematic review procedures were employed to examine six CICO studies that were evaluated using a group research design and that involved 146 students. Studies were coded to examine their…

This study examined the effects of using behavioral skills training (BST) to teach peer models to engage students with moderate to severe developmental disabilities in interactive play. Two separate multiple-baseline across participants designs were used to determine the effectiveness of BST on the peer models' implementation of the procedural…

Problematic anxiety in students impairs academic functioning. Teachers are often the first among school personnel to interact with these students, but they rarely receive training in evidence-based anxiety reduction strategies. This study assessed the feasibility of a brief teacher-administered school-home intervention (TAPES; Teacher Anxiety…

Effective interventions are needed to help alternative high school teachers manage challenging student behaviors. One such intervention, class-wide function-related intervention teams (CW-FIT), is a classroom management program based on positive behavior interventions and supports principles. CW-FIT involves teaching appropriate classroom…

Treatment integrity is an important component of rigorous educational research. Information about the extent to which an intervention was implemented as planned provides necessary context for interpreting student outcomes. In the context of increasing use of tiered systems in schools, treatment integrity takes on additional practical importance.…

Due to the increasing number of students in need of special education services and the shortages of licensed special education personnel, paraeducators have become critical in the education of students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and other disabilities in school settings. As a result, the training of paraeducators has become a major…

We implemented a rapid protocol to train teachers in a school for detained juvenile offenders to implement the Good Behavior Game, an empirically supported group contingency procedure, in their classrooms. Data were collected on both teacher (i.e., two measures of treatment integrity) and student behavior (i.e., disruptive behavior). Results…