The most common behaviors eliciting a student referral for special education evaluation related to emotional disturbance (ED) are adult- and peer-targeted aggression. Curiously, the word aggression, which is an externalizing behavior, does not appear anywhere in the federal description of ED. Despite the lack of clarity surrounding definitions, as…

"Early-Stage Interventions: Behavior Strategies for Every Teacher" offers a set of simple, teacher-friendly interventions to use as a starting place in addressing an individual student's chronic misbehavior-- disrespect, noncompliance, lack of motivation, bullying, aggression, and more. Though every teacher will encounter students who…

This brief provides considerations for conducting and implementing functional behavior assessments (FBA) and behavior intervention plans (BIPs) using virtual technology. There are many situations in which virtual FBA/BIP implementation may be necessary or desired. For example, virtual FBA/BIPs can support students attending schools in areas that…

This Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) guidance report is designed to support senior leaders in primary and secondary schools to make better-informed decisions about their behaviour strategies. It includes a number of practical examples of programmes and approaches that should be helpful in schools and classrooms where behaviour is generally…

Healthy learning environments for young people are underpinned by respectful relationships. Unfortunately, Australian students who do not form reasonable relationships with peers and staff are unlikely to benefit from being at school. These students tend to disengage and are often excluded. However, a growing number of Australian schools have…

This article focuses on the application of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to design a positive behavior intervention (PBI) for a boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) who encounters serious difficulties at the mainstream school because of behavioral problems and physical limitations. After the definition of problem behavior and its…

Two children with autism who engaged in aggression and stereotypy were assessed using common analogue functional analysis procedures. Aggression was maintained by access to specific preferred items. Data on the rates of stereotypy and appropriate play were collected during an extended functional analysis tangible condition. These data reveal that…

This evidence review synthesises the best available international evidence regarding approaches to behaviour in schools to: (1) Produce an overarching model or framework explaining why school pupils may misbehave (Review 1); (2) Review the effectiveness of classroom-based approaches to behaviour trialled in robust research studies (Review 2); and…

Background: The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a common treatment choice for non-verbal children with autism. However, little empirical evidence is available on the usefulness of PECS in treating social-communication impairments in autism. Aims: To test the effects of PECS on social-communicative skills in children with autism,…

The purpose of this study was to extend the research on functional communication training by examining the use of a speech-generating device (SGD) for a 7-year-old child with autism and no spoken language who demonstrated inappropriate vocalizations that served multiple functions. An analog functional analysis was used to determine the function of…

This study examined the efficacy of a systematic process for matching behavioral interventions to assessed function(s) of problem behavior with adults with developmental disabilities in a community-based day program. Previous applications of the technique were found to be effective with school-age students in classroom settings. Participants were…

This case study was conducted with a student diagnosed with autism and Tourette syndrome who displayed severe self-injurious behavior (SIB). We conducted a functional behavioral assessment which indicated that SIB was maintained by multiple functions using an ABAC design to determine the effect of positive social attention and extinction. Results…

This study produced a second replication of an investigation of the effects of a multicomponent cognitive-behavioral intervention on the challenging behavior of young children with growing behavioral concerns after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The participants were two young elementary-age children with escalating behavior problems after severe…

If a student has multiple behavior problems that escalate over time and across different settings, school-based problem-solving teams can become quickly overwhelmed, especially when educators identify "setting events" for problem behaviors that have occurred outside of school and are beyond the control of school personnel. Instead of resorting to…

A social dynamics perspective of aggression in school is presented. This framework focuses on the role of natural social processes in the establishment and maintenance of aggressive behavior in the school context. The five articles in this special issue are briefly reviewed and a synthesis of their contributions for understanding the social…