The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) in an elementary school within a large, urban school district located in the South. The effects of first year implementation of the SWPBS program were studied by examining Office Disciplinary Referrals (ODRs) and academic achievement data in…

According to Planty et al. (2009) in 2006, nearly 3.3 million students in the United States received out of school suspensions, demonstrating that exclusionary discipline is on the rise and a frequently used practice in schools across the country. Research shows that African Americans are suspended at higher rates and are more likely to receive…

Objective: Depression and substance use, the most common comorbidities with HIV, are both associated with poor treatment adherence. Injection drug users comprise a substantial portion of individuals with HIV in the United States and globally. The present study tested cognitive behavioral therapy for adherence and depression (CBT-AD) in patients…

Encopresis is a medical condition that is associated with incontinence in children. It leads to frustration and anxiety in both parents and children due to the presenting symptoms and the inability to control elimination patterns. There is overwhelming concern among families that a child with encopresis will be ostracized from peers and will…

Learning "how to be a Haut Gap student" is one of the basics at Charleston's Haut Gap Middle School. Along with reading, science, and mathematics classes, every student at Haut Gap Middle School takes a course in how to be a Haut Gap student. For most students, the class is 40 minutes a day for nine weeks. But it can last 18 weeks for…

Most research into the effectiveness of Social Stories has focused on children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). This study examines the use of Social Stories with four adults with learning disabilities and social communication impairments characteristic of ASD. This study employed an N = 1 multiple-baseline, across-participant, AB design with…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a school wide positive behavior initiative designed to improve student behavior. Researchers analyzed the last 3 years (2005-2008) of student discipline referral data for grades 7 and 8. Implementation resulted in a significant reduction in the number of discipline referrals. Data revealed a…

Students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often lack independent task initiation skills, have difficulty staying actively engaged in academic tasks, and may require prompting to complete and transition between tasks or activities. In response to these difficulties, teachers often provide additional attention to students in the form of frequent…

Bullying has come to be recognized as a pervasive problem in schools today. Frequently bullying is not immediately recognized or viewed by classroom teachers as problematic behavior. As more students experience bullying, questions arise as to how well teachers understand the bullying dynamic and are aware of strategies for intervening when those…

Behaviorally-designed educational programs are often based on a research tradition that is not widely understood by potential users of the programs. Though the data may be sound and the prediction of outcomes for individual learners quite good, those advocating adoption of behaviorally-designed educational programs may need to do more in order to…

The needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds have become a growing concern in United States. As an even greater challenge, educators are looking at effective interventions to provide appropriate education for CLD students with disabilities. The Social Story technique is a practical behavioral intervention…

Objective: The present study investigates consumer responses to New York City's 2008 calorie labeling regulation in 2 lower-income neighborhoods of New York City. Methods: Focus groups were conducted, and 34 fast-food consumers participated. Group summaries and descriptive and analytic depictions of group responses and interactions were developed…

By the late 1970s it was clear that cognitive and behavioral therapies were promising alternatives to antidepressant medications for treatment of depressed outpatients. One such model of therapy, Social Skills Training, was developed by Michel Hersen and his colleagues specifically for treatment of depressed women. Professor Hersen and his…

Practitioners who view intimate partner violence as a set of strategies aimed at maintaining positions of power and privilege often face an engagement dilemma when men at their first contact talk of themselves as disempowered by circumstances such as separation, loss of access to children, legal problems, substance abuse issues, and their own…

Prior meta-analyses have found a moderate but robust relationship between alliance and outcome across a broad spectrum of treatments, presenting concerns, contexts, and measurements. However, there continues to be a lively debate about the therapeutic role of the alliance, particularly in treatments that are tested using randomized clinical trial…