Teachers who understand anxiety and its effect on a student's learning and behavior, and use a few common strategies in different and more effective ways, will be less frustrated and more effective in their work with anxious or emotionally fragile students.

Over 15 years after passage of legislation requiring the use of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to inform the development of positive behavior support plans (BSPs) in special education, schools are still struggling to implement BSPs based on FBA and the function of behavior. A primary concern is that school teams regularly fail to use…

This study explored the effects of a group-contingency intervention on student behavior across academic instructional periods. Research suggests group contingencies are evidence-based practices, yet calls for investigation to determine the best conditions and groups suited for this type of intervention. CW-FIT (Class-Wide Function-related…

The Power Card strategy is a strength-based intervention to promote social skills of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) by capitalizing on their special interests. Although preliminary studies have shown that the Power Card strategy is a promising approach to teach social skills, additional research is needed. The purpose of this study…

The purpose of this study was to identify the frequency and seriousness of disruptive student behaviors and the effective strategies used by educators to manage these classroom behaviors. At a mid-sized state university, 228 of 780 faculty members (29.2%) completed a 76-item survey. Results indicated that as faculty members' participation in…

In this study, Head Start policies and procedures related to child guidance and addressing challenging behaviors were examined. Data were gathered from six Head Start programs in the Midwest, through interviews and document analysis. The findings provide a glimpse into how Head Start programs support children's social and emotional competence and…

The purpose of this study was to conduct an experimental analysis of teachers' use of functional assessment (FA) and positive behavior support (PBS) for addressing challenging behaviors in young children. A group of 35 experimental teachers participated in professional development designed to provide step-by-step training and guided implementation…

This article examines teachers' views of their management styles, classified as either "coercive" or "relationship"-based, for 145 primary and 363 secondary school teachers in Victoria, Australia. It finds that management that combines punishment with aggressive and hostile behaviour can exacerbate misbehaviour and increase…

This study investigated the effects of adding individualized, function-based support to the well-documented early intervention First Step to Success. A single-subject multiple-baseline design was applied across three K-1 students who did not respond to standard First Step to Success procedures. A functional behavioral assessment and individualized…

Academic interventions for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) is a critical area of practice and one that has not been fully developed by large-scale research. Students with EBD are characterized by an ability to achieve academically but demonstrate a failure to do so. Some research on effective instructional practices for…

Although functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) and behavior intervention plans (BIPs) have been utilized since the 1960s, their use has steadily increased since the passing of IDEA 1997 which mandated their use in specified circumstances. References to FBAs and BIPs in No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the 2004 re-authorization of IDEA, and in…

This research examines the strategies reported by teachers who have managed aggressive and extremely disruptive behaviour of students who have special needs. A sample of 52 teachers from mainstream and special settings listed the strategies that they have used to respond to this behaviour, the reasons for their choice and their estimate of the…