This toolkit is for school districts that are considering using text messaging to improve attendance. Text messaging can reach large numbers of parents with minimal cost. This toolkit is intended to enable district leaders and staff to: (1) Consider goals and priorities for using text messaging to communicate with parents about student absences;…

This guide summarizes proactive, efficient, empirically-supported, and data-driven systems for supporting educators' implementation of classroom PBIS practices. Specifically, this Guide to Classroom Systems and Data is a companion to the practices guide, "Supporting and Responding to Students' Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Needs:…

Technology-aided instruction and intervention (TAII) refers to instruction or intervention in which technology is the central feature supporting the acquisition of a goal for the learner. Technology is defined as "any electronic item, equipment, application, or virtual network that is used intentionally to increase/maintain, and/or improve…

This tool is designed to be used by Student Success Center executive directors to gather input and prepare coaches to integrate and enact an equity frame in guided pathways implementation. The tool utilizes the Community College Research Initiative's (CCRI) Coaching for Change framework to apply equity and equity-mindedness (Center for Urban…

Prompting (PP) includes any help given to a learner that assists the learner in using a specific skill or behavior. Sometimes referred to as an "errorless learning method," prompting reduces incorrect responding as learners acquire new skills. Prompting is a foundational practice that is used with other evidence-based practices (such as,…

Exercise usually refers to the physical activity in which one engages in order to achieve a healthier level of physical fitness. The integration of daily opportunities for physical activity for learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is important for improving their basic physical fitness. In addition to physical fitness, exercise also can be…

Based on the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), discrete trial training (DTT) is used to develop a new response to a stimulus. DTT is based upon the principle of breaking down behavior into discrete steps called a "single teaching unit" or learning trials. Trials are repeated several times with the learner receiving…

Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often struggle with learning new skills or behaviors, especially when these behaviors are complex or have multiple components. Task analysis (TA) can be used to help break down and teach these chained behaviors. Chained behaviors are behaviors or skills which consist of multiple steps such as tying…

Reinforcement (R+) is used to teach target skills and increase desired behaviors. Other evidence-based practices (for example, prompting, pivotal responses training) draw upon components of reinforcement. Reinforcement describes the relationship between learner behavior and a consequence that follows the behavior. The relationship between the…

Visual supports are concrete cues that are paired with, or used in place of, a verbal cue to provide the learner with information about a routine, activity, behavioral expectation, or skill demonstration. Visual supports might include: "pictures," "written words," "objects," "arrangement of the environment,"…

Each year, school systems build a plan for how to improve student learning for the coming year. This process involves reviewing student achievement and student progress, establishing priorities, and building a budget aligned to these priorities using all available funding sources. Starting in the 2018-2019 school year, in preparation for the…

One of the broad intents of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is to encourage evidence-based decision-making as a way of doing business. Nonregulatory guidance issued in September 2016 by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) clarifies and expands on both the nature of…

The National Center for Leadership in Intensive Intervention (NCLII), a consortium funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), prepares special education leaders to become experts in research on intensive intervention for students with disabilities who have persistent and severe academic (e.g., reading and math) and behavioral…

Social narratives describe social situations for learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by providing relevant cues, explanation of the feelings and thoughts of others in the social situation, and descriptions of appropriate behavior expectations. Typically, social narratives are individualized based upon the needs of the learner, short, and…

Social skills training (SST) refers to any adult-directed instruction in which social skills are targeted for improvement. SST typically occurs in either a group or individual format, and may also include facilitated practice in classroom settings. SST sometimes may co-occur with peer-mediated instruction and intervention (PMII) or some related…