Successful implementation of school-wide positive behavior support (PBS) requires a continuous evaluation of program data. It also requires an ongoing review of how those data relate to organizational strengths, needs, professional development concerns, and the larger community. Accomplishing these tasks can be a formidable undertaking, particularly when school staff members have limited training in data-based decision making. This paper will describe how a continuous systems-level assessment process is being implemented in one urban middle school to address behavioral and academic objectives.

The applied science of positive behavior support (PBS) (Carr et al., 2002) was initially developed as an alternative to aversive interventions for changing self-injurious and aggressive behaviors of individual youth with developmental disabilities (Duran & Carr, 1985). PBS has been recently extended from an approach with individual children to a school-wide intervention for schools (Scott & Hunter, 2001, Dwyer & Osher, 2000; Lewis, Sugai, & Colvin, 1998). The Illinois Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Network is a statewide technical assistance project that is focused on applying the science of positive behavior support (PBS) at a school-wide level through a systems approach. PBIS in Illinois supports the development of proactive school-wide discipline systems that provide multiple levels of intervention to address the behavior support needs of all students, including those with significant behavior challenges (see the PBIS section of www.ebdnetwork-il.org). This article describes PBIS implementation as experienced by an urban school district in Illinois. Illinois participates as a demonstration site for the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center on PBIS, which provides technical assistance on how to implement effective positive behavior supports at a school-wide level (Bradley, 2001). This school-wide systems application of PBS (known in Illinois as PBIS) is also referred to in the literature as Effective Behavior Supports (EBS) (Sugai & Horner, 2001)

Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of school-wide applications of positive behavior support (PBS) in a variety of contexts. Recent data, however, have underscored the unique and complex challenges faced by urban schools implementing PBS strategies. In inner-city schools characterized by severe poverty and high base-rates of problem behavior, researchers and educators have recognized that typical school-wide approaches to discipline and the prevention and management of problem behavior are often insufficient in addressing the needs of many students. In order to address systems-level factors that contribute to behavior problems and their interaction with academic achievement, school-wide PBS approaches must be tailored to address the unique challenges inherent in many inner-city schools. This paper outlines critical issues and lessons learned in the planning and implementation of effective and self-sustaining PBS efforts in inner-city schools. Among the issues outlined are methods for the facilitation of school-university partnerships, the incorporation of PBS into existing comprehensive school improvement efforts, maintenance of school-wide PBS efforts, and formalizing exit strategies and arrangements for subsequent technical assistance. The importance of service integration, family support, youth development, and community development are emphasized in assuring the effectiveness and sustainability of school-wide PBS efforts in inner-city settings.

Persons with mental illness or mental impairments are represented in America’s criminal justices institutions at a disproportionately high rate. This fact is of critical importance for persons with autism and those who work with them. This article, after reviewing basic information about autism, discusses four core criminal law concepts illustrated by reported cases involving persons with autism who have become involved with the criminal justice system, either as a target or a perpetrator: competence to stand trial, capacity-related defenses, mitigation in sentencing, and evidentiary issues. Guidance for practitioners and directions for empirical research is provided.

In the current investigation, a concurrent operant paradigm was used with three young children who displayed severe problem behavior to identify behavioral function. The children were given a series of choice options varying the availability of parent attention, access to preferred toys, and level of demand. The results showed that all children displayed differential patterns of behavior that appeared to be influenced by the presence or absence of attention and demands, suggesting a behavioral function. The results extended previous applications of reinforcer assessment procedures by using choice to identify antecedent conditions that set the occasion for problem behavior.

Parent involvement is described as an element of importance for optimal student outcomes in countless federal regulations, official documents, and professional publications. The 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act heartily promotes parent participation at education planning tables. Positive Behavior Support materials encourage parent involvement. However, it is difficult to help educators establish a vision of what true parent-professional collaboration can look like while traditional staff development standards persist to define roles for parents in staff development as simply being "content." This Forum article outlines how PBS leaders in Michigan helped parents become members of their training teams for personnel development offerings and expanded their meaning of parent-professional collaboration.

 

 

 

 

 

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