This study compared social, executive, emotional, and behavioral characteristics of students with autism spectrum disorder who did and did not display school refusal behavior. The participants were 62 students with autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability aged 9-16 years attending inclusive schools. Parents first completed…

Challenging behaviors are considered predictors of poor outcomes and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at increased risk for such behaviors. There is limited research on how the functions of such behaviors and intervention strategies aimed at reducing them may differ by context. Using a researcher-designed survey, this study…

This qualitative study examined parent perceptions of the educational process for their children who had been diagnosed with Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS) or Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS). In recent years, PANDAS and PANS, conditions in which an overactive…

Appropriate student behavior is essential for the success of a physical education lesson. Despite using effective proactive management strategies, teachers may need to also use reactive techniques to reduce problem behaviors by applying suitable consequences. For these consequences to be effective, they must be aligned with the function, or cause,…

Direct behavior ratings have been identified as a practical and feasible alternative to direct observation of behavior for monitoring behavioral progress. Despite the evidence of usability, there have been calls for further examination of direct behavior ratings using different behaviors and scales. To this end, we examined the ratings of…

Elopement occurs when an individual runs away from or leaves a supervised area. Elopement is a dangerous behavior that requires diligence from school personnel in order to effectively reduce its occurrence. Using a step-by-step process to identify the reasons goal-directed elopement occurs and then implementing an intervention to effectively teach…

This study employed Brehm's psychological reactance theory (PRT) to understand why students do or do not choose to follow classroom cell phone policies. Results (N = 750) from this study demonstrate that when instructors discourage cell phone use for noninstructional reasons, students feel their autonomy has been threatened. These perceptions of…

The purpose of this study was to conduct reliability and validity generalization meta-analyses of evidence regarding the "Student Risk Screening Scale" (SRSS), a universal screener for externalizing behavior problems. A systematic review of the literature resulted in the identification of 17 studies inclusive of evidence regarding SRSS…

Charts that keep (public) track of whether a student's behavior is in some equivalent of a red (problem), yellow, or green ("well-behaved") zone are ubiquitous in elementary schools. This strategy based on shaming students is due to be retired because (1) it promotes only compliance, not social-emotional learning; (2) charts don't teach…

Descriptive assessments involve recording naturally occurring instances of behavior and corresponding antecedent and consequent events. Authors have argued for the use of two forms of descriptive assessment, structured and narrative Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence recording, because these methods may require little training. However, the extent to…

The purpose of the qualitative descriptive phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of K-5 elementary teacher in Dekalb County, Georgia who perceived the influence of their spirituality on the behavior and academic achievement of students. The sample included 14 elementary school teachers that were purposefully selected from a local…

In the past decade, the number of children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has steadily increased. A common characteristic of ASD is the presence of stereotypical behaviors (e.g., hand flapping, echolalia), which some have suggested may be associated with heightened arousal and/or anxiety. The purpose of this study is to compare…

This study experimentally investigated preservice teachers' responses to student misbehavior according to the ethnic background of the student. Preservice teachers were presented with a verbal description of either an ethnic minority or an ethnic majority student. Afterwards, they were asked to estimate how likely they would be to apply each of 12…

There is substantial empirical evidence that the Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) process is an effective means to reduce student problem behavior and increase desirable behaviors (e.g., What Works Clearinghouse, 2016). The use of an FBA as the basis for a behavior intervention plan (BIP) has been a requirement for certain disciplinary…

The popularity of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) is growing rapidly in schools. Decisions regarding the use of these interventions must be based on empirical evidence. There is robust evidence for the use of MBIs with adults, but research on MBIs with youth is nascent. The purpose of this meta-analytic review was to add to the literature…