• 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 11, Number 2, April 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS AND ABSTRACTS

Editorial
Robert H. Horner and Robert L. Koegel

Articles

Assessing Teacher Use of Opportunities to Respond and Effective Classroom Management Strategies: Comparisons Among High- and Low-Risk Elementary Schools.
Janine P. Stichter, Timothy J. Lewis, Tiffany A. Whittaker, Mary Richter, Nanci W. Johnson, and Robert P. Trussell

The importance of effective instruction on student academic and social achievement has been well documented. Strong classroom management and the use of high rates of opportunities to respond (OTR) have been two advocated classroom practices to positively impact student performance. This article presents an analysis of data collected across 35 general education classrooms in four elementary schools, assessing instructional variables associated with OTR. The relationship among OTR, measures of classroom management, and student work products was analyzed across Title and non-Title schools. Results indicate that teachers in the present study used components of OTR at rates similar to past research, but there were clear differences among Title I and non-Title schools. In addition, as teacher use of key instructional variables increased or decreased, other key variables posited as necessary by the literature often suffered. Implications for future research are discussed for students in high- and low-risk general education classrooms.

Differential Effects of a Tier Two Behavior Intervention Based on Function of Problem Behavior.
Kent McIntosh, Amy L. Campbell, Deborah Russell Carter, and Celeste Rossetto Dickey

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a tier two daily behavior card intervention and differential effects based on function of problem behavior. The participants were 36 elementary school students nominated for additional intervention beyond universal School-Wide Positive Behavior Support. Measures included standardized behavior rating scales and rate of office discipline referrals before and after 8 weeks of intervention. A multivariate analysis of variance was used, and results showed statistically significant differences in response to intervention based on teacher-identified function of problem behavior. Results are discussed in terms of considering function of behavior in selecting tier two interventions and implementing a three-tier response to intervention model.

The Validity and Reliability of the Self-Assessment and Program Review: Assessing School Progress in Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support.
Bridget Walker, Doug Cheney, and Scott Stage

The Self-Assessment and Program Review (SAPR) was developed to provide an assessment tool that schools could use to track their progress in implementing key practices related to all three levels of schoolwide positive behavior supports (SWPBS). The SAPR is a team-based assessment tool, using both individual and team ratings of 10 evidence-based subscales and related indicators, to monitor the implementation of SWPBS practices and assist teams in developing and monitoring plans for school improvement. This article describes the background, development, features, and details of the initial psychometric properties of the measure. The role and function of the SWPBS leadership team were also analyzed for their influence on the assessment and implementation process. Overall, results suggest that the SAPR is both reliable and valid, and it provides a useful and efficient tool to leadership teams interested in assessing their implementation of key SWPBS practices.

The Effects of Student Choices on Academic Performance.
Briana H. von Mizener and Robert L. Williams

This article provides an overview of the empirical effects of students' academic choices on academic performance (e.g., amount, quality, and rate of work). Twenty-nine separate experiments within 26 publications were included in the review. The choices involved performance goals and standards, the nature of assignments, instructional support within assignments, and rewards for academic performance. Experiments with students with significant cognitive or behavioral problems (approximately 17% of the experiments) yielded better performance under student choices than external choices in 80% of those experiments, whereas experiments including general education students (86% of the experiments) showed superior academic performance for students over external choices in only 12% of the experiments. Nearly 45% of the experiments included students' attitudinal perspectives of their experiences of choice. In all studies, attitudinal comparisons either favored choice, or students' judgments were similar across choice and no-choice conditions, with only one of these four studies also reporting superior performance under student choice.