Adaptive behaviour is crucial for well-being and independence. The Adaptive Behaviour Assessment System (ABAS-3) is often used to plan individualised support in specialist educational settings, drawing on both teacher and parent informants. In practice, however, little is known about the extent of variation between informants. We examined…

For students with severe or complex challenging behavior, incorporating hypothesis testing as a component of functional behavior assessment (FBA) is often warranted. Several hypothesis testing strategies (i.e., functional analysis, antecedent analysis, concurrent operant analysis) can confirm whether and how features of a student's environment…

Early childhood teachers receive some training related to overall classroom management but report receiving little training and support when working with children who engage in challenging behaviour. To alleviate the barriers to supporting students who engage in challenging behaviour, it may be helpful to implement a technology tool that provides…

Social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) instruments are currently used in schools to screen, refer, and progress monitor students. Although many of these instruments have demonstrated strong technical adequacy, there has been far less examination of their consequential validity--that is, positive or negative intended and unintended consequences of…

For students with severe or complex challenging behavior, incorporating hypothesis testing as a component of functional behavior assessment (FBA) is often warranted. Several hypothesis testing strategies (i.e., functional analysis, antecedent analysis, concurrent operant analysis) can confirm whether and how features of a student's environment…

In this replication and extension study, we examined the effects of educators' participation in practice-based professional learning (PBPL) to design, implement, and evaluate functional assessment-based interventions (FABIs). We randomly assigned school-site teams (k = 69; N = 342) to cohorts trained by either university or state technical…

Data from multiple school sources, including informant ratings, systematic direct observations (SDOs), and school wide data (e.g., office disciplinary referrals [ODRs]) are routinely used to guide decision making in the delivery of evidence based practices for students with externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Over 50 years of…

Over the past several decades, public schools across the United States have experienced an increasingly visible diversity rift between student enrollment and teaching faculty. The number of students from diverse backgrounds continues to grow while educator ranks continue to become more homogeneous. This diversity rift presents several challenges…

Teachers are taught a variety of assessment techniques to help students succeed in school. They learn to assess their students' math and reading skills, their knowledge of social studies and science content and their ability to write. When teachers are faced with a student who is challenged by the subject matter and is struggling, teachers have a…

Teachers do not have adequate training or support to effectively address challenging behaviors exhibited by students. The purpose of this study was to obtain insight into the benefits and challenges of a collaborative relationship between a behavior analyst and educators. The framework for this study is applied behavior analysis and its three-term…

Challenging behaviors are one of the basic problems that all pre- and in-service teachers have to be prepared to deal with in schools. In Thailand, it was found that challenging behaviors of students with disabilities had an effect on teachers' stress because many teachers perceived that they were lacking the knowledge and skills to deal with…

For several decades, researchers have explored the efficacy of functional behavior assessments. Recent research has called for greater understanding of how student involvement may improve the functional behavior assessment. This may be particularly important in high school settings, because high school environments are often larger and more…

Content-focused practice-based professional development (PBPD) with active learning is one avenue to support teachers in learning new strategies, practices, and programs. This type of professional development moves away from traditional lectures. In this descriptive study, the authors used a pre-post group design to examine the extent to which a…

Functional behavior assessment is a technique supported by research, to assess behavior to determine causes of behavior and develop effective behavior interventions. In this article we discuss how special and general education teachers are prepared to assess students when they struggle academically, but are not typically prepared to assess…

The functional behavioral assessment (FBA) has been a hallmark practice amongst educators working with students demonstrating challenging behaviors. Although the process has been mandated in special education since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997, the FBA varies in form and implementation across the United States of America…