Abuse, neglect, or both often result in removing children from their homes and placing them in foster care. As a result of these experiences, many children learn unhealthy behaviors. These "behavioral challenges" often lead to a cycle of multiple placement disruptions and progressively more restrictive placements. The philosophy,…

This study determined the effectiveness of noncontingent escape access to self-reinforcement, as a student-directed intervention. Three students successfully used a break card to systematically decrease inappropriate behavior maintained by negative reinforcement while increasing task engagement. In addition, teachers completed an Intervention…

Explored through a focus on the behaviour and related experiences of a 9 year old Muslim Somalian boy called Zak, Woods offered a fascinating in-depth case study account of the rewards and sanctions systems in place at a culturally and religiously diverse London primary school. Over a period of 18 months, Woods employed a range of methodological…

Behavior support in schools is increasingly viewed as a three-tier prevention effort in which "universal" interventions are used for primary prevention, "targeted" interventions are used for secondary prevention, and "intensive" interventions are used for tertiary prevention. A growing body of research has demonstrated the effectiveness of…

We attempted to isolate the evocative effects of the establishing operation for positively reinforced problem behavior with 2 participants. The study consisted of three phases. First, a functional analysis identified tangible items (Participant 1) and attention (Participant 2) as maintaining problem behavior. Second, access to tangible items and…

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a function-based intervention to improve behavior and reading outcomes for Latino English language learners (ELLs). The participants, four Latino ELLs in an elementary school general education setting, were directly observed over a 14-week period. Functional behavioral assessment via teacher interviews and…

Functional analysis is used to generate and test hypotheses, specific to an individual's appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, by directly manipulating antecedent and consequent events within natural or analog environments. In the case that a function(s) was not determined or the behavior has multiple motivations during the functional analysis,…

This Research Report addresses the need to provide an emotionally safe environment for students who may be academically at risk. Research has focused on a variety of strategies, including bullying prevention, staff modeling of care and respect, school structures and routines, high expectations of student behavior, and making sure that every…

We compared results of descriptive and functional analyses of problem behavior for 12 participants whose descriptive data have been reported previously (Thompson & Iwata, 2001). Results indicated that in only 3 of the 12 cases was problem behavior maintained by the consequence observed most frequently during the descriptive analysis. Attention was…

Transitioning between activities can pose difficulties when working with students with autism. Individuals with autism may resist transitions by exhibiting a host of problem behaviors such as aggression and tantrums. Although scant, there is available research that provides sound recommendations for assessing and intervening for problem behaviors…

The Illinois State Board of Education launched a special education pilot project using a concept called Response to Intervention (RtI) that some experts believe could lead to a sea change in the way special education is provided. RtI places greater emphasis on early intervention and a reduced emphasis on psychological testing and other traditional…

Functional analyses were conducted for the problem behavior of 3 older adults in a long-term care setting. Two of the problem behaviors were maintained by attention, and a third was maintained by escape from demands. Function-based interventions were implemented that resulted in decreases in problem behavior in each case. Implications for the use…

Functional assessment is a multi-step process that addresses operant variables to develop interventions that are both effective and socially valid. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a general education teacher could conduct functional assessment and treatment in her classroom after receiving training. We report data for one…

This paper differentiates between sexual offending behaviour and challenging behaviour in people with an intellectual disability. There is growing awareness that people with an intellectual disability can perform both classes of behaviour. The definitions of sexual offending and challenging behaviour are almost interchangeable, due to the poor…

The application of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) has become increasingly visible in school settings since its inclusion in the 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Despite the mandate for FBAs within the educational program of students with disabilities displaying behavior problems, the federal…