Abstract
We are confident that practitioners working with students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) will find this issue of Beyond Behavior (BB) on academic and behavioral interventions particularly useful. Although there is benefit for all stakeholders, we think that secondary school educators might view the lineup of this issue as particularly advantageous to help increase knowledge and impact professional practice. Of particular significance, the first two articles focus on academics, addressing effective reading instruction for secondary students with EBD.
Reading competence has always been a meaningful student outcome, but today it is even more critical to educational importance given the widespread adoption of a career and college readiness curriculum and mindset. The importance of identifying effective reading interventions for secondary students with or at risk for EBD has received attention recently in the scholarly literature (Burke, Boon, Hatton, & Bowman-Perrott, 2015; Garwood, 2018). Unfortunately, and providing added rationale for publication of reading-focused intervention articles, observational research continues to suggest that students with EBD fail to receive effective, efficient, and research-based reading instruction (McKenna & Ciullo, 2016). On a positive note, the Burke et al. (2015) and Garwood (2018) reviews, along with others (McKenna, Kim, Shin, & Pfannenstiel, 2017; Popham, Counts, Ryan, & Katsiyannis, 2018) suggest that implementation of research-based interventions can have a positive impact on measurable and meaningful outcomes for students with EBD. Reading interventions demonstrating positive reading (and writing) outcomes included direct instruction reading programs and those individually incorporating repeated reading, graphic organizers/cognitive mapping, self-regulation strategies, or listening while previewing. Oral reading fluency and reading comprehension were the two most common reading outcomes targeted (Burke et al., 2015; Garwood, 2018; McKenna et al., 2017; Popham et al., 2018).
In introducing this arrangement of articles, we also believe it noteworthy that this and future issues of BB include articles based on scholarly presentations made at the Teacher Educators for Children with Behavior Disorders (TECBD) conference hosted by Arizona State University. This year’s TECBD conference is scheduled for October 18th to 20th and is an excellent way for practitioners of all experience levels to improve their knowledge about effective interventions as well as engage with fellow professionals. We recommend you visit the TECBD link provided on the Conference Calendar page, which is printed at the back of each issue of BB to find out additional information.
Turning now to the individual article summaries, our first article by Sara Sanders and colleagues uses the evidence-based Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) instructional framework to highlight use of one research-based reading comprehension strategy and two research-based classroom engagement strategies. The reading comprehension strategy is known as TWA, which is short for Think before, think While, and think After reading, and designed to teach and develop conscious cognitive processing of read material. TWA is a nine-step process for better understanding expository or informational text with a small body of empirical research with positive findings in EBD backing its use. Given that there is reason to consider the strategy but not a rich literature supporting its implementation in EBD, the authors wrap implementation within the validated SRSD framework. They also demonstrate to the reader how to incorporate the research-based effective teacher practices of providing opportunities for students to respond to instructional requests and behavior-specific praise when student actions warrant.
The second article, by John McKenna and Elizabeth Bettini, also hones in on effective secondary school reading intervention practices for students with EBD, with an emphasis on fluency building through use of the repeated reading intervention. The authors begin with a strong rationale for targeting fluency-building and follow with a detailed set of steps for implementing repeated reading interventions that increase the likelihood of accurate teacher implementation and student buy-in and successful performance. Repeated reading intervention implementation includes selecting meaningful texts, setting reasonable performance goals, identifying authentic reading purposes, providing effective models, delivering useful feedback and reinforcement, and documenting student outcomes.
Our third article, by Robin Ennis, provides teachers with suggestions to increase the level of academic engagement of students with disabilities in classrooms through effective implementation of group contingency programs. Group contingencies establish a relationship in which a group reward is offered depending upon the actions of one or more members of the group. In the classroom context, the climate remains positive or improves based on the prosocial actions of one or more of the group members. Ennis describes three types of group contingency programs, including dependent, independent, and interdependent systems. Ennis reviews each type, provides teaching tips, and offers an eight-step process to help teachers plan, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of the chosen group contingency plan.
In the fourth article, Lauren Evanovich and Laura Kern discuss precorrection, a classroom management strategy that teachers can utilize to promote prosocial practice. Precorrection is a preventive and proactive teacher action to decrease the likelihood of problem behaviors occurring. The authors describe a seven-step process for implementing a precorrection program in the classroom. They also discuss how to intensify and individualize a precorrection program for students with EBD as needed by adding a self-management component.
Our fifth article, by Jamie Goldin and Sara McDaniel, provides guidance for school professionals who would like to expand the potential for positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) programs to teach and reinforce prosocial behaviors throughout the school day. The authors provide a rationale for extending PBIS programming to the school bus ride that millions of students, including those with or at risk for EBD, take one or more times per school day. The program that Goldin and McDaniel describe is a five-step plan that involves a number of adults, including school and/or district administrators and bus drivers. The bus-PBIS program involves establishing leadership, creating a PBIS framework, conducting training, implementing the program, and monitoring and evaluating implementation with the stated aims of reducing disciplinary problems and prosocially addressing student and bus driver safety.
The sixth practitioner piece keeps with the secondary setting focus of the issue. Alexandra Miller and William Therrien provide guidance for school professionals charged with planning and providing programming for students who are transitioning back from juvenile justice settings into schools. The authors provide a rationale for offering concrete suggestions to facilitate the transition process, noting that it is likely that juvenile offenders approach what has been described as an ineffectual reentry process with significant academic and other needs. The authors describe a number of research-informed practices that planning team members involved both in juvenile justice and schools can engage in during an offender’s time in the juvenile justice system to facilitate the transition process back to schools. The multiphase transition model addresses practices that can be planned and implemented at initial intake, during residency, and immediately prior to and following release.
The last article of the issue is by the present BB editors and provides suggestions to potential authors to help increase not only the likelihood of publication, but also the quality of the final product. We describe the three types of articles that are presently being solicited for publication, which include demonstration and discussion articles and professional resource reviews. Demonstration articles explicitly outline how to implement a research- or evidence-based intervention or program for students with or at risk for EBD. Discussion articles provide information on a relevant topic or advocate for a specific position on an issue, and professional resource reviews describe and critique particular resources. The article offers six tips that should help authors in planning for and writing a publishable practitioner-oriented article. They include knowing the journal’s stated goals and types of articles requested, identifying a target audience and clear message, and writing explicitly and with an active voice.