Selected publications from Educational and Community Supports (ECS) Faculty include:

Anderson, C. M., & Spaulding, S. A. (in press). Using positive behavior support to design effective classrooms. Beyond Behavior.

Students are more likely to be actively engaged and learn in a well-managed classroom. This article provides tips for designing effective classrooms focusing on (a) developing effective rules, (b) teaching rules explicitly, and (c) implementing formal and formal systems for acknowledging appropriate student behavior. A subsequent article will discuss the importance of effective consequences for misbehavior. We begin by discussing the rationale for developing and implementing rules and acknowledgement systems and provide specific guidelines that will be useful in implementing such systems in classrooms. Real life examples are provided throughout.

Benazzi, L., Horner, R.H., & Good, R.H. (2006). Effects of behavior support team composition on the technical adequacy and contextual fit of behavior support plans. Journal of Special Education 40(3), 160-170.

This study examined how the composition of a behavior support team affected use of assessment information in the design of behavior support plans. Specifically we examined if typical teams designed behavior support plans that differed in (a) technical adequacy and/or (b) contextual fit when (1) teams did not include behavior specialists, (2) teams included behavior specialists, or (3) specialists were working alone. Twelve behavior support teams from typical elementary schools and 6 behavior specialists participated in the study. Vignettes describing hypothetical students with functional behavior assessment outcome information were used to develop 36 behavior support plans (12 by teams alone, 12 by specialists alone, and 12 by teams with specialists). Results were assessed by expert behavior analysts for technical adequacy and by team members for contextual fit. Technical adequacy tended to be rated high if specialists alone or teams including specialists designed the plan. Contextual fit tended to be rated high when teams alone or teams including specialists designed the plan. The team members ranked the plan developed by the team alone or team with specialists as more preferred for implementation than the plan developed by the specialists alone. Implications for the selection of behavior support team membership are discussed.

Blonigen, B., Harbaugh, W., Singell, L., Horner, R.H., Irvin, L.K., & Smolkowski, K. (in press) Application of Economic Analysis to School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) Programs. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions.

We discuss how to use economic techniques to evaluate educational programs and show how to apply basic cost analysis to implementation of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS). A description of cost analysis concepts used for economic program evaluation is provided, emphasizing the suitability of these concepts for evaluating educational programs. We also describe the specific data, measurement and analytic procedures that cost analysis evaluation requires. The concepts are then applied in a case study showing a cost analysis of SWPBS. Implications are provided for extending the cost analysis case study into evaluation of cost-effectiveness and/or cost-benefit economic analyses of program success.

Doughty, S. S., & Anderson, C. M. (2006). Effects of noncontingent reinforcement and functional communication training on problem behavior and mands. Education and Treatment of Children, 29, 23-50.

Two children with developmental delays and a history of problem behavior participated in this study to examine the efficacy of combining two treatments demonstrated to reduce problem behavior: noncontingent reinforcement and functional communication training. At issue was whether the noncontingent delivery of an alternative preferred stimulus and reinforcement of mands increased the rate of mands, and suppressed problem behavior prior to and during the schedule thinning of noncontingent reinforcement. The necessity of extinction to obtain suppression of problem behavior also was examined. For both participants, noncontingent reinforcement using an alternative (or arbitrary) preferred stimulus increased manding maintained by access to attention and decreased problem behavior. Extinction may be necessary to maintain response suppression during thinning of the noncontingent reinforcement schedule. Preliminary results as well as the potential impact for practitioners and suggestions for future research are provided.

Doughty, S. S., Anderson, C. M., Doughty, A. H., Williams, D. C., & Saunders, K. J. (in press). Discriminative control of punished stereotyped behavior in humans. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

The purpose of this experiment was to establish discriminative control of responding by an antecedent stimulus using differential punishment because the results of past studies on this topic have been mixed. Three adults with mental retardation who exhibited stereotypy not maintained by social consequences (i.e., automatic reinforcement) participated. For each subject, stereotypy occurred frequently in the presence of a stimulus correlated with nonpunishment of stereotypy and rarely, if ever, in the presence of a stimulus correlated with punishment of stereotypy. Latency measures showed that the antecedent stimulus correlated with punishment served as the discriminative stimulus for the suppression of stereotypy. These results are important insofar as they show that discriminative control by an antecedent stimulus develops with punishment, and because it sometimes may be desirable to establish such control of socially inappropriate behavior.

English, C. L., & Anderson, C. M (2006). Evaluation of the treatment utility of the analog functional analysis and the structured descriptive assessment. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 8, 212-229.

Direct methods of functional assessment—through which information is gathered by observing environment-behavior relations—vary with the degree to which environmental events are manipulated. Unstructured (ABC) assessments involve observing the occurrence of problem behavior without altering environmental events in any way. At the other extreme, the analog functional analysis is conducted by systematically manipulating pre-defined environmental events, usually in a controlled environment. Because one primary goal of functional assessment is to develop efficacious interventions based on hypotheses gleaned from the assessment, research evaluating the treatment utility of methods of functional assessment is warranted. Previous research comparing results obtained from different methods of assessment has yielded mixed results. The purpose of this study was to not only compare hypotheses derived from different methods of direct functional assessment (caregiver-conducted analogs, experimenter-conducted analogs, the structured descriptive assessment) but also to systematically evaluate interventions derived from each assessment. Three children diagnosed with developmental disabilities and their caregivers participated. For all three participants, different patterns of responding were observed across all three assessments. Further, for all participants, the interventions based on the results of the SDA were more effective than interventions based on the analog functional analysis.

Filter, K. J., McKenna, M. K., Benedict, E. A., Horner, R. H., Todd, A. W., & Watson, J. (2007).  Check in/ Check out: A post-hoc evaluation of an efficient, secondary-level targeted intervention for reducing problem behaviors in schools. Education and Treatment of Children, 30, 69-84.

The Check in/ Check out (CICO) program was developed as a secondary-level, targeted behavioral intervention in a three-tier preventative model of behavior support and has received empirical support as an effective way to reduce problem behaviors (Hawken & Horner, 2003; March & Horner, 2002). The purpose of the present study was toevaluate, post-implementation, the fidelity of implementation and effectiveness of the CICO program to reduce problem behavior when program training and implementation was managed by typical district personnel. Results indicate that the critical components of the program were implemented with fidelity across three elementary schools and that the program was effective in reducing the number of office discipline referrals for students who entered the program. Further, the program was perceived as being effective and efficient by district personnel. It is argued that the CICO program should be considered a viable targeted behavioral intervention with students for whom primary-level preventative measures are insufficient.

Flannery, K.B., Sugai, G., & Anderson, C. (in press). School-wide positive behavior support in high schools: Early lessons learned. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions.

School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) is designed to promote a pro-social positive climate that increases positive behavior and academic achievement (Horner, Sugai, Lewis-Palmer, & Todd, 2001; Lewis & Sugai, 1999; Sugai & Horner, 1999). It is a proactive approach that addresses the entire school as well as individual students. This approach has been implemented in 4700 schools across the United States to date, but these have primarily been elementary and middle schools. High schools are complex organizations with multiple administrators, large numbers of staff and students, and varied expectations related to academic achievement and successful diploma completion. Although key features of SWPBS are similar across schools, specific implementation strategies often are different in high schools. In this paper we first delineate the critical features of SWPBS and then present results from a survey of sample high schools implementing SWPBS.

Flannery, K. B., Yovanoff, P., Benz, M., & McGrath-Kato, M. (in press) Improving employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities through short term training. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals.  

Young adults with and without disabilities who complete postsecondary education, including occupational training,significantly improve their employment rates and financial well-being. This study examined employment outcomes and predictors of success for transition-aged and adult vocational rehabilitation consumers who participated in a college short-term training program. This program included key characteristics, making it a unique postsecondary option: an individualized design, a primarily worksite-based curriculum, and a focus on the existing labor market and employment. Results demonstrated successful participants had higher wages, worked more hours per quarter, and more quarters during the first year after exit. Critical predictors for positive results were receipt of financial support, career services, and vocational coursework. The need for extensive work-related accommodations reduced the likelihood of success.

Freeman, R., Eber, Lucille, Anderson , C. M., Irvin, L., Bounds, M., Dunlap, G., & Horner, R. (2006). Building inclusive school cultures using school-wide PBS: Designing effective individual support systems for students with significant disabilities. Research and Practice for Severe Disabilities, 31, 4-17.

School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) is a systematic and effective approach for improving student behavior broadly across school environments. SWPBS includes data-based strategies for supporting all students along a continuum of need and intensity based on a three-tiered model of prevention. Students with the most significant behavioral challenges are provided with assessment-based, individualized supports. To date, considerable evaluation research has demonstrated the benefits of SWPBS documenting behavioral improvements using the whole school as the unit of analysis. Notably less evaluation research has focused on the effects of SWPBS on the behavior of individual students with the most significant disabilities. In this paper, we describe SWPBS with an emphasis on the conceptual and procedural elements that are intended to benefit the full range of students within a school, with a particular focus on those students with the most intense needs. We discuss the SWPBS process, provide case illustrations, and call for additional research on the inclusion of students with significant disabilities with all applications of SWPBS.

Horner, R.H. & McIntosh, K. (2006). Using single case research designs in communication science. Perspectives on Speech Science and Orofacial Disorders, 16(2), 4-10.  

The purpose of this article is to encourage the use of single-case research designs by researchers and clinicians studying communication disorders, especially those studying orfacial disorders. Our encouragement is based on the current need for rigorous, intervention research focusing on intervention strategies for children who have acquired dysfunctional speech patterns. Research is needed that not only identifies improvement in child behavior, but documents the clinical mechanism(s) responsible for that improvement. Traditional group design research is one powerful and effective approach for addressing key research questions, but group designs are less feasible when studying the clinical challenges of a small, geographically distributed population. Children with cleft palate, for example, represent a small percentage of the population, and are widely distributed geographically. The physical challenges faced when constructing group design studies with these children are daunting in all but the most densely populated areas.

Irvin, L.K., Horner, R.H., Ingram, K., Todd, A.W., Sugai, G., Sampson, N.K., & Boland, J. (2006). Using office discipline referral data for decision-making about student behavior in elementary and middle schools: An empirical evaluation of validity. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions 8(1), 10-23.

In this evaluation we used Messick’s construct validity as a conceptual framework to assess the use, utility, and impact of office discipline referrals (ODR) measures for data-based decision-making about student behavior in schools. We used a single group, non-experimental evaluation design to survey users of ODR measures in 22 elementary and 10 middle schools; respondents included school staff involved exclusively with data entry and staff actively involved in data-based decision-making. Results indicated that ODR measures are regularly used for a variety of types of data-based decision-making and are regarded as both efficient and effective for those purposes. Elementary and middle school respondents differed in their ratings of ODR utility. Implications of the evaluation results are discussed within the context of staff and school needs.

Jones, C., Caravaca, L., Cizek, S., Horner, R.H., & Vincent, C.G. (2006). Culturally responsive schoolwide positive behavior support: A case study in one school with a high proportion of Native American students. Multiple Voices 9(1), 108-119.  

Schools face an array of recommendations for reforming educational practices. If these recommendations are to be implemented on a large scale, reformers will need to embed clear strategies to make educational innovations and implementation procedures culturally responsive. School-wide positive behavior support, as an approach to whole-school discipline, offers one example of an innovative reform that encourages cultural responsiveness. We present a brief overview of school-wide positive behavior support, the ways cultural responsiveness is being included in the implementation of this approach, and practical messages from a case study with one rural New Mexico school that has embraced the approach. Implications are offered for including cultural responsiveness in all educational reform efforts and future research.

Lucyshyn, J., Albin, R., Horner, R.H., Mann, J., Mahn, J., & Wadsworth, G. (in press). Family Implementation of Positive Behavior Support with a Child with Autism: A Longitudinal, Single Case Experimental and Descriptive Replication and Extension. Journal of Positive Behavior Support.

The study examined the efficacy, social validity, and durability of a PBS approach with a family of a daughter with autism and severe problem behavior. The study was conducted across a 10 year period, beginning when the child was 5 years old. A multiple baseline across family routines evaluated the functional relationship between parent implementation of a positive behavior support plan and longitudinal improvements in child behavior and successful participation in routines. Daily indicator behavior data assessed generalized improvements in child behavior. An inventory of monthly community activities assessed changes in child quality of life. In addition, social validity and contextual fit were assessed. Results document that the intervention was associated with a 75% reduction in problem behavior, and that the effects maintained across a 6 month to 7 year period of follow-up. Associated outcomes included generalized improvements in child behavior and enhanced community activity patterns. Parents also rated highly the social validity and contextual fit of the approach. Results verified the efficacy and social validity of the approach and offered preliminary descriptive evidence of its durability. Contributions to the literature, implications, and future directions are discussed.

McGrath-Kato, M., Nulty, B., Olszewski, B., Doolittle, J., & Flannery, K. B. (2006). Postsecondary academies: Helping students with disabilities transition to college. Teaching Exceptional Children, 39(1), 18-23.  

The provision of transition services for students with disabilities has for many years been a focus of policymakers and practitioners. Transition services for these students include planning and preparing for employment, postsecondary education, or a combination of the two. Even with these transition services, there remains a significant disparity between students' goals for the future and their actual outcomes. Research shows that students with disabilities reach college settings at a significantly lower rate than their peers without disabilities.   Recognizing these issues in their own students, a group of Oregon educators, including high school, community college, and university staff began to discuss ideas about how they could deliver information that would build skills to improve the entry and success rate for high school students with disabilities in postsecondary education. The Postsecondary Academies described in this paper are the result of these efforts.

McIntosh, K., Chard, D., Boland, J., & Horner, R.H. (2006). Demonstration of combined efforts in school-wide academic and behavioral systems and incidence of reading and behavior challenges in early elementary grades. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions 8 (3), 146-154.

This study provides descriptive data on the rates of office discipline referrals and beginning reading skills for students in grades K-3 for one school district that is implementing a three tier prevention model for both reading and behavior support. Students in the district are provided a continuum of reading and/or behavioral support based on screening measures that indicate response to universal, targeted, and intensive support. This combined approach may be more successful due to the number of shared critical features in both systems. Results document positive outcomes in prevalence of students needing additional reading and/or behavior support (in comparison to national figures) and are reported with recommendations for future experimental analyses.

McIntosh, K., Horner, R.H., Chard, D., Boland, J., & Good, R. (in press). The use of reading and behavior screening measures to predict non-response to school-wide positive behavior support: A longitudinal analysis. School Psychology Review.

This study involved a longitudinal analysis of academic skills and problem behavior through elementary school. The purposes of the study were to: (a) explore the interactions between reading skills and problem behavior, and (b) determine the value of regular screening assessments in predicting which students would not respond to school-wide behavior support in fifth grade. The participants were elementary school students, who entered kindergarten in 1998 and completed fifth grade in a school district with school-wide reading and behavior support systems. Analyses consisted of logistic regressions to predict the number of discipline contacts in fifth grade. Results indicated that both reading and behavior variables (including kindergarten reading variables) significantly predicted the number of discipline referrals received in fifth grade. Results are discussed in terms of determining pathways to problem behavior and implications for a combined approach to academic and behavior problems.

Miller, M., Fenty, N., & Scott, T. M. (in press). An examination of the effects of social skills instruction in the context of small group reading. Preventing School Failure.

Students who are socially competent are more likely to experience school success than those who are not. Students with social deficits experience frequent failures both with peers and adults and often require explicit social skills instruction. Because social skills instruction programs taught in isolation rarely result in successful skill generalization, many researchers have supported incorporating social instruction into the academic curriculum. This study evaluated the effects of providing social skills instruction during small group guided reading instruction to three students identified as experiencing social skills deficits. Results showed positive changes in trend and level across all three students from baseline to intervention. Limitations, suggestions for teachers and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Scott, T. M. (in press). Issues of personal dignity and social validity in school-wide systems of positive behavior support. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions.

This paper provides an analysis of issues related to personal dignity and social validity in schools. Specifically, dignity is defined in terms of individual success and independence while social validity is defined in terms of the system as a whole. These definitions are explored in the context of school-wide systems of positive behavior support (PBS). Descriptions of school-wide systems of PBS are used to analyze and detail procedures that maintain respect for personal dignity and social validity. In addition, processes for engaging persons in this discussion are critically analyzed. Future development and growth of PBS as a technology-based approach to developing self-determined, independent, and successful persons is discussed. Direction is suggested in the way we consider issues, define our values, and engage others in systemic change efforts.

Scott, T. M., & Caron, D. (2006). Functional Behavior Assessment at the School-Wide Level: Determining Predictability and Function of Typical Problem Behaviors. Preventing School Failure50(1), 13-20.

Functional behavior assessment (FBA) is an integral component of a positive behavior support approach to preventing problem behavior across all students in the school. As primary prevention, FBA is a collaborative school-wide practice to predict common problems and to develop school-wide interventions. As secondary prevention, FBA involves simple and realistic team-driven assessment and intervention strategies aimed at students with mildly challenging behaviors. As tertiary prevention, FBA is complex, time-consuming, and rigorous – aimed at students for whom all previous intervention attempts have been unsuccessful. While the concepts of prediction, function, and prevention remain constant at all levels of positive behavior support, the considerations for and form of FBA may vary greatly. In this paper we present the application of FBA practices at each of the three levels of a system of positive behavior support.

Scott, T. M., Liaupsin, C., & Nelson, C. M., & McIntyre, J. (2005). Team-Based Functional Behavior Assessment as a Proactive Public School Process: A Descriptive Analysis of Current Barriers.Journal of Behavioral Education, 14(1), 57-71.

Recent literature regarding functional behavior assessment (FBA) in general education environments has been critical of the paucity of research in such settings, given the complex and, often, time consuming nature of FBA. Less complex team-based FBA processes have been suggested as a realistic alternative for general education environments. This study describes an informal team-based FBA process that was trained and implemented with 39 school-based teams who hypothesized behavioral function for actual students who had been referred. Data from these meetings was then supplied to three national FBA experts who attempted to generate hypotheses from the same information. Results indicate little agreement between teams and experts or between the experts themselves. Analysis of these data prompt a discussion of the possible effect that information sources, individual perceptions, and personal experiences play in the development of functional hypotheses.

Scott, T. M., & Martinek, G. (2006). Coaching Positive Behavior Support in School Settings: Predictors of Need and Responsiveness. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 8(3), 165-174.

Systems of positive behavior support (PBS) that positively affect student performance involve consensus among stakeholders, the development of environments that facilitate student success, effective teaching of rules and procedures, and consistent consequences for behavior. Evaluation of such systems requires schools to collect data to assess performance and to use that information to make data based decisions. However, surveys indicate that data collection and data based decision-making are among the most difficult components of PBS for school personnel to tackle. This paper presents an examination of in-person coaching strategies and data use. Individual school results are analyzed in relation to the school’s School Evaluation Tool (SET) scores. A discussion of how coaches may more efficiently assess school’s readiness for coaching styles and content includes suggestions for how coaches might use a range of available assessment tools.

Scott, T. M., McIntyre, J., Liaupsin, C., Nelson, C. M., Conroy, M., & Payne, L. (2005). An Examination of the Relation Between Functional Behavior Assessment and Selected Intervention Strategies with School-Based Teams. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 7(4), 205-215.

Although functional behavior assessment (FBA) is widely advocated as best practice in developing effective behavior intervention plans for students with challenging behaviors, there is no compelling evidence supporting the ability of school-based personnel to use the outcomes of FBA to develop effective interventions. In this study, selected staff members from each of four elementary schools were trained in how to use the outcomes of an FBA to develop function-based intervention plans. They then sat on school-based intervention teams as facilitators for a total of 31 cases. The same cases also were distributed to three national FBA experts who also selected interventions based upon the identified function for each case. The number and type of selected intervention strategies were recorded and analyzed across cases. Comparisons between team and expert intervention strategy selection reveal that school-based personnel in this study were more likely to select punitive and exclusionary strategies – regardless of function. We believe these results indicate that, in real-world school settings, the link between FBA and intervention is far more complex than has been recognized or discussed in the literature. Discussion focuses on possible explanations for the finding that school-based teams tend to gravitate toward more negative and exclusionary strategies, even when facilitated by a trained FBA facilitator.

Sprague, J.R. & Horner, R.H. (2006). Schoolwide positive behavioral supports. in S.R. Jimerson & M.J. Furlong (Eds). The handbook of school violence and school safety. (pp. 413-427). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

To prevent minor, as well as serious, antisocial behavior, educators are turning to a comprehensive and proactive approach to discipline commonly referred to as School Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) (Osher, Dwyer, & Jackson, 2002; Sprague & Golly, in press ; Gresham, Sugai, & Horner, 2001). SWPBS is based on the assumption that when faculty and staff in a school actively teach and acknowledge expected behavior, the proportion of students with serious behavior problems will be reduced and the school’s overall climate will improve (Colvin, Kame’enui, & Sugai, 1993; Sugai & Horner, 2002; Sugai et al., 2000).

Sugai, G., & Horner, R.H. (2006). A promising approach for expanding and sustaining the school-wide positive behavior support. School Psychology Review 35(2), 245-259.

Schools across the United States are concerned occurrences of antisocial behavior in their schools. Fortunately, effective interventions and practices have been documented for preventing the development of and responding effectively to the occurrence of problem behavior. One approach to the systemic implementation of these practices at the school level is school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS). The SWPBS effort involves an integration of measurable outcomes, data-based decision making, evidence-based practices, and overt systems to support implementers. Unfortunately, sustained and expanded implementation of SWPBS to a large number of schools at the district, regional, and state levels requires more than a series of professional development events that are conducted by outside consultants on regularly scheduled school and district in-service days. In this paper, a behaviorally-based, comprehensive system approach is suggested as a means of building local, replicable, durable, and expandable implementation of SWPBS. This approach is based on the establishment and sustained support of a leadership team that leads and coordinates a comprehensive action plan and that has activities related to seven systemic outcomes: (a) political support, (b) funding, (c) visibility, (d) training capacity, (e) coaching capacity, (f) evaluation capacity, and (g) demonstrations of implementation exemplars.

Tobin, T. J., Flannery, K. B., Sugai, G., & Garrett, U. (In review). Behavioral histories of students expelled from high school. University of Oregon , College of Education , Educational and Community Supports, Eugene .

School records were examined to study the behavioral histories of students sent to an expulsion hearing or whose placement was changed as an alternative to expulsion. Records of 209 students from 17 schools in 9 districts in Oregon were examined. Two groups were formed, based on outcomes indicating being in school or out of school. The “IN” group (n = 64, 31%) included students whose placement was changed, who were sent to an expulsion hearing but the hearing officer decided against expulsion, and whose expulsions were waived and return to school “on probation” was indicated. The “OUT” group (n = 145, 69%) consisted of all the other students whom the school had identified as having been expelled. Students receiving special education were disproportionately represented in both IN (28%) and OUT (30%) groups. Students in the OUT group tended to have a history of office discipline referrals and suspensions, and poorer attendance and grades as they got older. Use of marijuana was the most common reason for expulsion.

Tobin, T. J., & Sugai, G. (2005). Preventing problem behaviors: Primary, secondary, and tertiary level prevention interventions for young children. Journal of Early Intensive Behavior Intervention, 2 (3), 115-124. Retrieved 10/6/2005 from http://www.jeibe.com

The purpose of this report is to compare changes in social skills, problem behaviors, and academic competence for kindergarten or first grade students identified as being at risk for serious behavior problems who received primary, secondary, or tertiary level preventive interventions. Of the 93 participants in this study, 73% were male; 86% were Caucasian, and 65% were characterized as having externalizing behavior problems. A repeated measures analysis of variance indicated statistically significant differences (p < .01) between the groups based on type of intervention received on the Self-Control subscale (e.g., controlling temper, responding appropriately to teasing) of the Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliott, 1990). The universal aspect of School-wide Positive Behavior Support is an effective primary prevention intervention, even for young children with serious internalizing or externalizing behavior problems.

Todd, A. W., Kaufman, A., Meyer, G., & Horner, R. H. (in press). The effects of a targeted intervention to reduce problem behaviors: Elementary school implementation of Check In - Check Out. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions.

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 targeted interventions to decrease the frequency of problem behaviors. The Check In -Check Out Program is becoming a recognized “targeted intervention.” The present study examined if there is a functional relation between implementation of the Check In - Check Out (CICO) Program and reduction in problem behaviors. Results indicate that implementation of CICO, for four elementary school aged boys, was functionally related to reduction in problem behavior. Clinical and conceptual implications of these results, methodological limitations, and future research directions are reviewed.

von Ravensberg, H. & Tobin, T. J., (2006). IDEA 2004 final regulations: The reauthorized functional behavioral assessment. University of Oregon . Eugene . http://www.uoregon.edu/~hvr  

School administrators continue to have legislative support for their use of functional behavioral assessment and positive behavioral interventions and strategies for supporting children with disabilities who exhibit problem behaviors.. Those school and legal administrators erudite in the science of applied positive behavior support have thus far relied upon their knowledge or that of experts when called upon to address questions involving the application of functional behavioral assessment. Meanwhile, public schools must comply with a nearly overwhelming amount of regulation. And, the fairly recent emergence of functional behavioral assessment combined with its heretofore lack of legislative guidance has left school administrators and hearing officers less familiar with concepts known to behaviorists playing catch-up to learn its purpose and determine its appropriate components, application and implementation. Recently, with the issuance of final regulations to IDEA 2004, some additional guidance in the proper use and application of the functional behavioral assessment has been provided by the U.S. Department of Education in the Analysis of Comments and Changes section. This article will briefly review the procedural requirements for functional behavioral assessment (FBA) under IDEA 2004, compare these with the old requirements under IDEA '97 where those changes are significant and outline substantive guidance that administrators can apply found through a review of federal and state legislative and administrative actions as well as recent literature on FBA and legal opinions.