The purpose of this survey study was to assess the perceived skill level and educational needs of special education paraprofessionals in the area of function-based intervention and to identify paraprofessionals' preferred training delivery method(s) and any variables that affect paraprofessionals' preference for these methods. Special education…

Functional analysis (FA) is an assessment procedure involving the systematic manipulation of an individual's environment to determine why a target behavior is occurring. An analog FA provides practitioners the opportunity to manipulate variables in a controlled environment and formulate a hypothesis for the function of a behavior. In previous…

In Experiment 1, I conducted a functional analysis of student rate of learning with and without a peer-yoked contingency for 12 students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade in order to determine if they had conditioned reinforcement for collaboration. Using an ABAB reversal design, I compared rate of learning as measured by learn units to criterion…

Despite the effectiveness and widespread use of functional communication training (FCT), resurgence of destructive behavior can occur if the functional communication response (FCR) contacts a challenge, such as lapses in treatment integrity. We evaluated a method to mitigate resurgence by conducting FCT using a multiple schedule of reinforcement…

The use of functional behavior assessments (FBAs) to address problem behavior in classroom settings has increased as a result of education legislation and long-standing evidence supporting function-based interventions. Although functional analysis remains the standard for identifying behavior--environment functional relations, this component is…

This paper reports the findings from a systematic review of research evidence on the use of managed moves as an alternative to exclusion in UK schools. The review begins by discussing the political landscape of school exclusion, the concept of managed moves and their use with children and young people (CYP) 'at risk' of permanent exclusion. During…

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which two classroom-wide instructional interventions, peer support and instructional choice, were able to reduce escape-maintained off-task and problem behaviors. This study also measured the extent to which these interventions, when coupled with individually designed function-based…

According to federal mandates, if a student's behavior impedes their learning or the learning of others, the individualized education program team is required to address this with a functional behavioral assessment (FBA). The intent of the FBA is to determine the function, or reason, of the impeding behavior for the development of a behavioral…

The efficacy of delivering autism-focused Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA) training within a six-session professional development (PD) framework was investigated with 23 Australian educators. FBA knowledge, self-efficacy (SE), and confidence were measured pre-to-post-PD series as markers of educator ability to address the challenging…

This dissertation offers a collection of works examining team-based approaches to functional assessment-based interventions (FABIs) in schools, with an emphasis on practice-based professional development. Across chapters, we offer (a) a statement of the problem (Chapter 1), (b) a systematic review examining the extent literature on training…

Background: Insufficient sleep in adolescents has been shown to be associated with a wide variety of adverse outcomes, from poor mental and physical health to behavioral problems and lower academic grades. However, most high school students do not get sufficient sleep. Delaying school start times for adolescents has been proposed as a policy…

As campuses attempt to address issues of intolerance on campus, they are challenged to navigate between the desire to punish behavior and the responsibility to educate students. Campus leaders must navigate through ethical challenges as they determine the appropriate institutional response.

Multiple schedules with signaled periods of reinforcement and extinction have been used to thin reinforcement schedules during functional communication training (FCT) to make the intervention more practical for parents and teachers. We evaluated whether these signals would also facilitate rapid transfer of treatment effects across settings and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether through a series of teacher training. The participants could acquire better knowledge on Positive Behavior Support (PBS), and develop high quality behavior intervention plans. Thirty-six teachers from three public schools participated in the study. The competency-based training consisted of 12…

The current meta-analysis examined the evidence for interventions to improve compliance of students with disabilities in school settings. Experimental investigations that investigated compliance or non-compliance and took place with students in a school setting who were between birth and 23 years old were evaluated using the Council for…