Disruptive student behavior is a significant challenge in schools and a predictor of student failure. Effective classroom management is a crucial skill that middle level teachers must acquire to foster student engagement and learning. This qualitative study explored the experiences and perceptions of 35 middle level teachers in both general…

Students in general education classrooms are increasingly being identified as being in need of individualized behavior supports. Thus, this study assessed the Prevent-Teach-Reinforce (PTR) model to determine its impact on problem and replacement behaviors of typically developing students with behavioral challenges in a high-need elementary school…

Group contingencies have been used successfully to modify a variety of behaviors for children with diverse characteristics across multiple settings. However, these interventions have not been applied to increase social interactions (SI) between typically developing children and those with multiple or severe disabilities (MSD). Furthermore, little…

The AIM of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of the integration of character education and positive behavior reinforcement. This integration was the intervention itself, a school-wide program, used within this study. After the intervention was implemented, quantitative student discipline data were examined to determine if there was a…

School personnel were concerned that the disruptive student behaviors at an urban, elementary school in the northeast United States had persisted despite positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) implementation and professional development (PD) for more than 7 years. The purpose of this basic qualitative research study was to explore…

The present study examined the effects of the Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Team (CW-FIT) program, a group contingency intervention addressing the on-task and disruptive behavior of students with or at risk for emotional behavior disorders (EBD). Twenty-one elementary schools, 155 general education teachers, and 324 students…

The effectiveness of a daily report card in an intervention package involving home-school communication to decrease disruptive behavior in preschoolers was investigated. A sample of four preschool-aged children in two classrooms served as participants. Teachers rated behavior three times daily for each participant using a daily report card.…

The present study examined problem characteristics of students with emotional disturbance in 3 educational environments, the behavior management and intervention strategies their teachers used, and what relation exists between problem characteristics and intervention strategies. Teachers completed a behavior problems rating scale and they…

In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with kindergarten and first-grade general education teachers to determine their perceptions of student behavior. This study describes the teachers' perspectives of and approaches to behavior management and intervention strategies (e.g., use of praise, rewards, implementation of classroom management,…

We conducted functional analyses of pica for three individuals with varying levels of intellectual disabilities. In addition, two indirect assessment instruments (the "Motivational Assessment Scale [MAS]", and the "Questions About Behavioral Function [QABF]") were also administered to both the parent and teacher of the child…

Although there is literature supporting the effectiveness of tertiary behavioral supports, the majority of the studies have been conducted with single-subject designs. The Prevent-Teach-Reinforce (PTR) model is a standardized model of a school-based tertiary intervention. This study reports initial results from a randomized controlled trial to…

Since the election of the Labour government in 1997, England has seen policy changes leading to increased rights for students with special educational needs (SEN), including those with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD), to be educated in mainstream schools. The present paper reports on the findings of a small-scale study…

Gives examples of classroom situations in which reinforcement theory is used to cope with some practical problems of educating children. (Author/DR)

This paper dealt with the importance of using both behavior modification and consultation principles in work done with teachers. A case study was presented in which a teacher effectively implemented a behavior modification program to control the disruptive behavior of one child. However, this did not generalize to the total classroom which was…

This paper examines some of the possible negative side effects of behavioral consultation and suggests that teacher resistance to behavioral methodology may be following basic learning principles that suggest that behaviors which lead to punishing conswquences often are terminated or avoided. Most of the negative consequences identified in this…