Abstract
We welcome you to the second quarter century of Beyond Behavior. This issue—Volume 26, Issue 1—marks a refreshing change. It is the first issue that has collectively been produced by the Hammill Institute on Disabilities, SAGE Publishing, and the Council for Children With Behavioral Disorders. The look and feel of Beyond Behavior has changed significantly over time since its first publication back in the winter of 1990, when it began as a teacher’s magazine. Today, Beyond Behavior not only sports a new front cover and design, but in the coming issues you will see increased content, a greater potential reach, and an increased focus on practitioner-friendly articles. Tremendous credit for the success of Beyond Behavior is due to the inaugural executive editors—Sharon Maroney, Reece Peterson, Carl Smith, and Mary Kay Zabel—among others (e.g., managing editor Lori Rohlk) for their efforts in launching this magazine as they described it. In their opening editorial, the editors described some “lofty” goals, including (a) to provide a source of analysis and commentary on issues [relevant to working with students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD)]; (b) point to new directions and ways of thinking about the behavior of children and adolescents in our schools; (c) broaden the impact of research on our practice in schools by making research more accessible across disciplinary boundaries to a wide audience of practitioners; and (d) lend support and affirmation to those who work with troubled and troubling children in school. (Volume 1, Issue 1, p. 2)
The opening issue of Beyond Behavior provided a first-person account of a teacher who was attempting to help a “rebellious student overcome a life of child abuse” (p. 1). Subsequent first-person accounts in early issues addressed student success and individuality, prison treatment, and pregnancy. The inaugural “In Depth” article detailed an interview with writer Jonathan Kozol on the equality of education for all students. Ensuing analyses were directed at a multitude of topics, including weapons in schools, Native American thinking on development, the 1990 At the Schoolhouse Door report by Jane Knitzer and colleagues, oppositional student and/or teacher behavior, nonmedical treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and evaluating classroom and school-wide behavior management plans. Variety in magazine content even included the poem “B. D. Blues,” authored by Deborah Sisco, then of Robidoux Middle School in St. Joseph, Missouri. The poem appeared in the “After Hours” section and is reprinted here with the permission of the Council for Exceptional Children (see Note 1).
It was a full moon and the weather man had predicted a twenty degree drop in the temperature before noon. Freezing rain and sleet were a distinct possibility. All kinds of monsters out in this soup . . . and they rode into town on a little yellow mini-bus. Jason tore into the room, immediately mounted the nearest table, and with Ninja Turtle stocking cap still covering his face proceeded into bumps, churns, and gyrations that can only be described as a cross between a Honky-Tonk Two Step and ritualistic Pagan Sun God worship. Jimmy made his way over to the Iguana cage for a little early morning reptilian conversation. Tim sauntered in, one shoe on, one shoe God knows where, bent over, passed gas, gave himself a 6.5, then announced he’d forgotten his lunch money. Brandon was trying to feed pencils to the bird, Steven was singing his own tone deaf rendition of “Friends in Low Places” at about 284,000 decibels, and Josh had locked himself in the closet. My para informed me that she was deep in the throws of P.M.S. The nurse entered and asked if I could come with her. It seems Kevin was lying on the floor of the boys restroom . . . totally nude . . . with a big smile on his face (if I caught her drift). I stood silent for a moment amid this virtual sea of adrenalin gone ballistic and groped for some minute shred of sanity. There it was. Jeremy. All alone at the work table. Just sitting. Quiet and appropriate. I went for it. I smiled. “Good morning, Jeremy,” I said. “Screw you,” he replied. It was 9:05.
Changes in editors and times over the ensuing quarter century have undoubtedly led us to where we are today. It is fair to say that the poems and first-person accounts are gone from the pages of Beyond Behavior, but we the current editors still believe wholeheartedly that the goals of informing and supporting a diverse group of practitioners remain. Of the 15 articles published in 2016 (Vol. 25), 14 were practice-focused, providing primarily teachers of students with EBD and administrators with an assortment of academic and behavioral strategies to use when working with their students. The academic focus included writing, math, science, and the visual arts. Student populations addressed were those who had endured some type of trauma, as well as students with a variety of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) diagnoses, including anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and other psychotic disorders. Behavioral interventions discussed included school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports, group contingencies, functional behavioral assessments/behavior intervention plans, classroom management, and informed consent procedures. The remaining article of Volume 25 is timely in that it informed readers of the differences in definition between research-based practices and evidence-based practices. Being able to choose interventions or practices with a significant amount of high-quality empirical research, be it single-subject or group design, gives a practitioner a greater probability of experiencing success in interactions with children and adolescents with EBD. We believe that that desire to experience success in the interaction of professionals, students, and families has always been at the heart of the mission of Beyond Behavior, no matter the editorial team or time period.
As we continue forward, our goal is to ensure that Beyond Behavior continues to be a valuable resource for practitioners by broadening the impact of research on practice within schools. We will strive to ensure the content of Beyond Behavior is useful to all professionals (e.g., teachers, administrators, counselors, paraprofessionals) who work directly with students with challenging behaviors. Our submission guidelines request three types of manuscripts from knowledgeable authors: demonstration articles, discussion articles, and book reviews. Demonstration articles provide step-by-step directions for how to implement a research-informed intervention, skill, program, or practice. Discussion articles are intended to offer the reader knowledge of issues that are having an impact on professional practice, including descriptions of important topics and thoughts on their potential impact. Book reviews are meant to describe the contents of recently published books and provide a critique of the book’s relevance to practicing professionals.
In this issue, the emphasis is on the demonstration article. Weaver, McKevitt, and Farris provide a step-by-step process for conducting a research-based approach to identifying rewards for students with EBD. The article includes a brief history of how the multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment evolved and provides an overview of necessary materials and data sheets required. In our second article, Jackson and colleagues describe the co-teaching instructional methodology and detail how it can be implemented in middle school settings. The authors emphasize that the results of co-teaching can be improved by devoting sufficient time to planning and implementing research- or evidence-based instructional practices into co-teaching contexts. The authors highlight classwide peer tutoring and reading comprehension strategy instruction.
Cook, Rao, and Collins describe how teachers can individualize self-monitoring interventions to increase the likelihood of positive results in working with students with EBD. They describe how the Universal Design for Learning framework can be used to design individualized self-monitoring interventions while still maintaining core components of the intervention. Then Chiu, Carrero, and Lusk tackle the issue of effectively teaching writing to secondary students through culturally responsive instruction. The article presents specific strategies for infusing culturally responsive practices into scaffolded instruction. The last article by Pham and colleagues addresses the issue of the confidentiality of records for adjudicated youth who are attempting to successfully enter the job market. The authors discuss implementation of two structured lessons from a larger curriculum that aim to help adjudicated youth take responsibility for past mistakes, use discretion when discussing their criminal history, and best communicate future goals to potential employers.