• Koegel Home
• Pivotal Response Treatment
• Assessment Clinic
• How to Get Help


• PRT Certifications, Conferences, & Workshops
  • PRT Certifications
  • PRT Conferences
  • PRT Intensive Workshops
  • PRT Lectures and Presentations
• Training Manuals
• Recent Books

Our Research Grants
• Dept of Rehabilitation
• NIH
• Autism Science Foundation
• First S.T.E.P.
• PDF
• Previous NIMH
• Broad Asperger's Center
  • Relevant Research from Major Universities
  • Research in Progress
  • Presentations
• Grad Student Research
• Undergraduate Research
• Recent Publications


• Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions


• Donations
• Awards
• Special Events
• Directions
• Contact

UCSB Koegel Autism Center

Journal of

Positive Behavior Interventions

Volume 8, Number 3, Summer 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS AND ABSTRACTS

Editorial
Robert L. Koegel and Robert H. Horner

Schoolwide application of positive behavior support in an urban high school: a case study. 
Hank Bohanon, Pamela Fenning, Kelly L. Carney, Myoung Jinnie Minnis-Kim, Sarah Anderson-Harriss, Kristyn B. Moroz, Kira J. Hicks, Beverly B. Kasper, Carrie Culos, Wayne Sailor and Therese D. Pigott.

The nuances of the application of schoolwide positive behavior supports (PBS) in an urban high school setting were investigated. Impact of implementation was measured using qualitative interviews and observations, including the School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET), Effective Behavior Support Survey, Student Climate Survey, and office disciplinary referrals. The results indicated that schoolwide PBS was implemented in an urban high school setting with some success. The overall level of implementation of PBS reached 80% as measured by the SET. Staff and teachers increased their level of perceived priority for implementing PBS in their school. A decrease in monthly discipline referrals to the office and the proportion of students who required secondary and tertiary supports was noted. These findings seem to indicate that PBS may be an important process for improving outcomes for teachers and students in urban high school settings.

Demonstration of combined efforts in school-wide academic and behavioral systems and incidence of reading and behavior challenges in early elementary grades. 
Kent McIntosh, David J. Chard, Joseph B. Boland and Robert H. Horner. 

This study provides descriptive data on the rates of office discipline referrals and beginning reading skills for students in grades K-3 for one school district that is implementing a three-tier prevention model for both reading and behavior support. Students in the district are provided a continuum of reading and/or behavioral support based on screening measures that indicate response to universal, targeted, and intensive support. This combined approach may be more successful due to the number of shared critical features in both systems. Results document positive outcomes in prevalence of students needing additional reading and/or behavior support (in comparison to national figures) and are reported with recommendations for future experimental analyses.

Contingency mapping: use of a novel visual support strategy as an adjunct to functional equivalence training. 
Kenneth E. Brown and Pat Mirenda. 

This study evaluated the effectiveness of contingency mapping, a new visual support strategy designed to enhance clients' understanding of the contingencies associated with functional equivalence training (FET). The study was conducted in a general education classroom with an adolescent boy with autism who engaged in prompt dependent behavior. A multiple baseline ABCD design across three activities was used to evaluate intervention effectiveness and to compare a verbal contingency intervention with contingency mapping. Results indicated that the verbal contingency had no effect, whereas contingency mapping was related to immediate, dramatic, and sustained reductions in problem behavior and increases in alternative behavior. Social validation and follow-up data are also included. The potential of contingency mapping as an adjunct to FET is discussed.

Coaching positive behavior support in school settings: tactics and data-based decision making. 
Terrance M. Scott and George Martinek.

Systems of positive behavior support (PBS) that positively affect student performance involve consensus among stakeholders, the development of environments that facilitate student success, effective teaching of rules and procedures, and consistent consequences for behavior. Evaluation of such systems requires schools to collect data to assess performance and to use that information to make data-based decisions. However, surveys indicate that data collection and data-based decision making are among the most difficult components of PBS for school personnel to tackle. This article examines in-person coaching strategies and data use. Individual school results are analyzed in relation to the school's School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET) scores. A discussion of how coaches may more efficiently assess schools' readiness for coaching styles and content includes suggestions for how coaches might use a range of available assessment tools.

Acceptability and reported use of daily behavior report cards among teachers. 
Sandra M. Chafouleas, T. Chris Riley-Tillman and Kari A. Sassu. 

In this study, a sample of teachers was surveyed regarding their reported use and acceptability of daily behavior report cards (DBRCs). Almost two thirds of responding teachers indicated that they have used versions of DBRCs in their practice. Respondents' use of DBRCs was not restricted to a single purpose or situation. Additional findings suggested that the format of DBRCs varies widely, suggesting that teachers have found the DBRC to be highly adaptive in representing a broad array of possibilities rather than having a single, scripted purpose. An additional noteworthy finding relates to the general acceptance of DBRCs by teachers as both behavior-monitoring tools and as components in interventions. In summary, results provide support to previous claims that the DBRC is both a used and accepted tool in practice, suggesting that DBRCs deserve closer attention in research and practice related to positive behavior supports. Limitations, future directions, and implications are discussed.

Review of the positive behavior support training curriculum: supervisory and direct support editions. Don Kincaid, Heather Peshak George and Karen Childs. 

In the past several years, the values and practices of positive behavior support (PBS) have had a significant impact on services provided to adults and children with disabilities. Evidence of this impact can be seen in federal grants and laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (IDEA, 1997), a professional journal (the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions), and an established organization (the Association for Positive Behavior Support). With this emergence comes a continued need for clearly defining PBS, identifying the skills evident in a competent practitioner, and effectively teaching those skills to supervisors, teachers, direct support staff, and other professionals. It is with these concerns in mind that we will review the training materials Positive Behavior Support Training Curriculum: Supervisory and Direct Support Editions (PBS-TC).