Monitoring Systems

This paper discusses the search for a “magic metric” in education: an index/number that would be generally accepted as the most efficient descriptor of school’s performance in a district.

This review examines student reading performance since 1971 to look for evidence of school reform's impact.

This paper discusses the search for a “magic metric” in education: an index/number that would be generally accepted as the most efficient descriptor of school’s performance in a district.

This paper discusses the importance of systematizing data-based decision making at all levels of school operation.

This paper identifies the critical features required for developing and maintaining a systemic data-based decision making model aligned at all levels, beginning with an individual student in the classroom and culminating with policy makers.

This presentation examines the impact of data-based decision making in schools. It looks at the critical role data plays in building an evidence-based model for education that relies on monitoring for the reliable implementation of practices.

The purpose of this paper is to describe methodological issues related to the independent variable in early intervention research. Three standards related to the independent variable are proposed:

This book brings together 70 top researchers and scholars in the field to address the major foundational, assessment, characteristics, intervention, and methodological issues facing the field of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) of children and adolescents

This study examined the treatment utility of brief experimental analysis for selecting skill-based oral reading interventions that targeted acquisition and fluency. 

The main objective of the present review was to update the feedback literature review conducted by Balcazar, Hopkins, and Suarez in 1985. The current review identified 68 applications of feedback from 43 studies in applied organizational settings.

This paper describe a comprehensive model for the application of behavior analysis in the school. The model includes descriptive assessment, functional analysis, functional behavioral assessment, schools, in-home, problematic behavior. 

A program of research related to school-based models for urban children's mental health is described, with a particular focus on improving access to services, promoting children's functioning, and providing for program sustainability.

The authors describe three forms of functional assessment used in applied behavior analysis and explain three potential reasons why OBM has not yet adopted the use of such techniques.

This study examined students who were first time 9th graders in the 2000-01 school year and follows them through to high school and post-secondary outcomes. The 9th grade suspension data finds that black students, students who are economically disadvantaged, and special education students are disproportionately suspended, both in the frequency of suspensions and the duration of days lost. Disciplinary incidents were found to be interrelated with other of indicators of student disengagement from school, such as course failures and absenteeism

Seeing Students Learn Science is a guidebook meant to help educators improve the way in which students learn science. The introduction of new science standards across the nation has led to the adoption of new curricula, instruction, and professional development to align with the new standards. This publication is designed as a resource for educators to adapt assessment to these changes. It includes examples of innovative assessment formats, ways to embed assessments in engaging classroom activities, and ideas for interpreting and using novel kinds of assessment information.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a sequence of three single-digit (1 digit 3 1 digit) multiplication problems on the latency to initiate multiple-digit (3 digit 3 3 digit) multiplication problems for 2 students in an alternative education school

This article traces the development of concepts, procedures, and findings associated with fluency and discusses their implications for instructional design and practice. It invites further controlled research and experimental analyses of phenomena that may be significant in the future evolution of educational technology and in the analysis of complex behavior.

The generality of the mathematical principles of reinforcement (MPR) was tested with humans.

In recent years the number of states that have adopted or plan to implement end of course (EOC) tests as part of their high school assessment program has grown rapidly. While EOC tests certainly offer great promise, they are not without challenges. Many of the proposed uses of EOC tests open new and often complex issues related to design and implementation. The purpose of this brief is to support education leaders and policy makers in making appropriate technical and operational decisions to maximize the benefit of EOC tests and address the challenges.

Conducted classroom observations and functional assessments for 3 male elementary school students (aged 6–9 yrs old) referred for disruptive behavior. A descriptive assessment was first conducted to select 1 of 3 hypotheses regarding potential variables maintaining the disruptive behavior: teacher attention, peer attention, or escape from academic tasks. 

Employing a conceptual framework of generalization strategies proposed by Stokes and Osnes (1986), the authors selectively reviewed the research literature concerning interventions to improve young children's social behavior and strategies for promoting generalization and maintenance of young children's social responding. Three basic strategies are discussed. 

The effects of long and short durations of positive practice overcorrection were studied, for the reduction of off-task behavior after an instruction to perform an object-placement task. 

Two issues relevant to competency-based teacher training were investigated--the specification of acceptable implementation levels for validated techniques and the necessity and feasibility of providing training on those techniques

This child-effects concept was explored empirically in a study involving 12 adults who were asked to teach four pairs of children in which one member of the pair exhibited problem behavior and the other typically did not.

This paper summarizes the results of a retrospective review of generalization in the context of social skills research with preschool children.

Few issues engender stronger opinions in the American population than education, and the number and complexity of issues continue to grow.  The annual Education Next Survey of Public Opinion examines the opinions of parents and teachers across a wide range of topic areas such as: student performance, common core curriculum, charter schools, school choice, teacher salaries, school spending, school reform, etc.  The 12^thAnnual Survey was completed in May, 2018.

There are clear parallels between instructional problems and social problems in both the way the respective behaviors are established and in the design of possible remedies. These parallels are identified and a basic instructional plan is presented for remedying social problems.

Tustin (1994) recently observed that an individual’s preference for one of two concurrently available reinforcers under low schedule requirements switched to the other reinforcer when the schedule requirements were high. This paper extended this line of research by examining preference for similar and dissimilar reinforcers. 

This study examines seven nationally representative studies on school dropout and their findings on why students dropout of school. 

Two analyses investigated the effects of choice making on the responding of elementary school students with emotional and behavioral challenges. 

Featuring step-by-step guidance, examples, and forms, this guide to functional assessment procedures provides a first step toward designing positive and educative programs to eliminate serious behavior problems.

In this paper we take up the question of model choice and examine three competing approaches. The first approach, (SGPs) framework, eschews all controls for student covariates and schooling environments. The second approach, value-added models (VAMs), controls for student background characteristics and under some conditions can be used to identify the causal effects of schools and teachers. The third approach, also VAM-based, fully levels the playing field so that the correlation between school- and teacher-level growth measures and student demographics is essentially zero. We argue that the third approach is the most desirable for use in educational evaluation systems.

Research on classroom management is reviewed, with an emphasis on lines of inquiry originating in educational psychology with implications for teacher education. 

The four applied single-subject research designs presented provide an overview of the most common types of single-subject research designs that can be used by a school counselor. 

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact that a self-contained Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) with a reduced adult to student ratio would have on the frequency of SED students’ on-task behavior and overall lesson engagement throughout the school day. 

This article summarizes an extensive literature review addressing the question, How can we spread and sustain innovations in health service delivery and organization? It considers both content and process.  

Examines evidence supporting performance-based instructional models. Performance-based instructional models posit change in students' classroom behavior and academic achievement to be a function of changes in instruction. 

Three group-oriented contingency systems (interdependent, dependent, and independent) were compared in a modified reversal design to evaluate each system's effectiveness in controlling the disruptive behavior of a self-contained classroom of educable mentally retarded children.

Individualized assessments of the effects of three doses of methylphenidate (MPH) were conducted for 2 students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder within each child’s classroom using behavioral, academic, and social measures.

In this paper research is identified that supports the use of specific classroom management strategies in classrooms for children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Information is presented that indicates that these strategies may not be implemented or may not be effectively implemented by the teachers of students with EBD.

This paper examined the extent to which alternative stimuli that have been identified through a choice assessment would substitute for attention (the functional analysis–based reinforcer) in a noncontingent reinforcement procedure. 

In this chapter, we will review several treatment models and their limitations, which are best understood following a brief discussion of the learned (functional) characteristics of behavior disorders.

Now thoroughly updated in its second edition, acclaimed author Alan Kazdin's Single-Case Research Designs provides a notable contrast to the quantitative methodology approach that pervades the biological and social sciences.

The present study examined the effectiveness of two different school-home notes for increasing academic productivity and appropriate classroom behavior in five inattentive children.

The current paper reviews empirical research describing assessment-based antecedent interventions implemented in natural settings. Descriptive information is provided along a number  of dimensions pertaining to participant characteristics, assessment utilized, and intervention attributes

In this article, we describe analyses of assessment-based curricular modifications designed to improve the classroom behavior of elementary school students with emotional and behavioral disorders.

Examined the effects of training in behavioral consultation (BEC) on school psychology graduate students and on client outcomes. 169 children (aged 3–11 yrs), 29 teachers/consultees, and 26 consultants participated.

Presents a conceptual model of strong school-based interventions. It is suggested that all of these concepts must be practically utilized if strong interventions are to be applied to school problems. Suggestions and implications for school psychology practitioners are discussed.

This chapter will review the issues and effects of externally managed behavioral procedures applied to the reduction of undesirable behavior of regular or mildly handicapped children in school settings. 

The authors attempted to determine the prevalence of the extinction burst in applied research and its possible attenuation with other operant procedures. 

The United States has committed to improving the lives of students with disabilities for over 40 years. Since the advent of Federal Law PL 94-142 in 1975 that mandated a free and appropriate education for all students regardless of ability and six reauthorizations of legislation, the federal government has emphasized the need to prepare students with disabilities for post-secondary education, careers, and independent living. The federal investment in funding special education services exceeds $15 Billion annually. It is reasonable to ask, are student with disabilities substantially benefiting from these efforts? The National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) provides the most recent data on youth with disabilities and efforts to address their needs. The study used surveys in 2012 and 2013 on a nationally representative set of nearly 13,000 students. The student included were mostly those with an individualized education program (IEP) and expected to receive special education services. The data reveal participation in key transition activities by youth with an IEP and their parents have declined, although they are just as likely to have gone to an IEP meeting. The findings from this report suggest a closer examination of current practices is warranted with a focus on achieving the stated outcomes the laws were designed to remedy.

This book provides effective techniques for pinpointing the causes of challenging behaviors, identifying alternate approached, and adapting instructional routines. 

This paper reviews important factors to consider when designing behavioral interventions based on the operant function of the behavior disorder. Considerations for intervention selection for the four major operant functions of behavior disorders (attention, tangibles, escape, and automatic reinforcement) are presented in the context of matching theory. 

In this article, guidelines for evaluating the technical adequacy of that process are described. The guidelines highlight the interdependencies among assessment functions, subsumed by the goal of helping, and the role of structural factors (e.g., collaboration) in shaping the meaningfulness, appropriateness, and usefulness of the assessment-intervention process.

Characterizes classroom instruction (CRI) from a behavior analytic perspective. It is argued that effective teaching strategies also serve managerial functions through the development of stimulus control and the management of behavioral choice. 

This paper discusses the benefits of using brief experimental analyses to aid in treatment selection, identifies the forms of treatment that are most appropriate for this type of analysis, and describes key design elements for comparing 2 or more treatments efficiently. 

The authors examined the effects of goal setting and feedback applied to teacher behavior as a means of producing desired changes in students' behavior during consultation. 

In this study, we conducted an analysis of the reinforcement and extinction components of DRO while treating the self-injury of 3 women with developmental disabilities.

This paper presents two studies of factors affecting developmental outcomes of young children exposed prenatally to drugs and alcohol.

We examined the effect of a teaching method on skill fluency and on-task endurance of a 9-year-old boy who had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Suggests that R. Herrnstein's (1970) mathematical statement of the law of effect improves on Skinner's view of reinforcement by asserting (a) that response rate varies hyperbolically with reinforcement rate and (b) that responding is governed not only by reinforcement obtained for responding but also by reinforcement obtained from all other concurrent sources. 

This study examined the extent to which competence in applying behavioral procedures (timeout from positive reinforcement) was sufficient to establish competence in teaching others to apply the same procedures.

this chapter is based on the following premise: that variables operative in the classroom environment, such as the specific behaviors of the teacher and the manner in which the classroom is arranged (e.g., seating arrangement, noise level), influence student behavior and student learning

The goal of this guide is to provide useful information about standardized testing, or assessment, for practitioners and non-practitioners who care about public schools. It includes the nature of assessment, types of assessments and tests, and definitions.

The purpose of this paper is to review studies that have used instructional variables as nonaversive interventionsfor problem behaviors.

This paper is designed to help educators understand research findings on promising interventions for students with a history of behavior problems. It reviews programs for preventing such problems from recurring among children and adolescents with chronic antisocial behavior.

This synthesis is described under the rubric of functional outcome analysis (FOA) and is organized around an examination of classroom resources. Various methods of assessing intervention costs and benefits, as well as their distribution, are described. 

This study examined three strategies for assessing compliance in students (aged 5 yrs) whose speech and language development were delayed.

This study compared two strategies for increasing accurate responding on a low-preference academic task by interspersing presentations of a preferred academic task.

The usefulness of functional analysis procedures for the assessment and treatment of behaviors associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has been the subject of a number of recent investigations. This article provides a selected review of recent studies and examines potential implications for practice.

This article describes a school-wide system of early identification and intervention for children placed at risk for school success and discusses how schools might implement the recommendations offered in the literature.

This is our most widely adopted classroom management book. It provides an overview of what teaching is all about—focusing on the important management skills every teacher needs. The authors stress that these procedures will help prevent problem behaviors, keep students on task, and make the best use of everyone's time and energy.

Two instructional studies directed at the comprehension-fostering and comprehension-monitoringactivitiesof seventhgrade poor comprehendersare reported

There is increased interest in extending the test-based evaluation framework in K-12 education to achievement in high school. High school achievement is typically measured by performance on end-of-course exams (EOCs), which test course-specific standards in subjects including algebra, biology, English, geometry, and history, among others. Recent research indicates that when students take particular courses can have important consequences for achievement and subsequent outcomes. The contribution of the present study is to develop an approach for modeling EOC test performance regarding the timing of course.

In 1986, the senior author called attention to the possibility of transferring behavioral technologies to the larger culture for the benefit of that culture. The present paper is an attempt to supplement that presentation with a set of proposals that were at best implicit and were perhaps missing entirely from the earlier effort.

Presents a summary of the research that resulted in the development of organizational behavior management (OBM) as a specialty area as well as its procedural technology. The relationship of OBM to other supervisory and management approaches that are common in the human services is described. 

An alternating treatments design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program that combined timings (via chess clocks), peer tutoring (i.e., peer-delivered immediate feedback), positive-practice overcorrection, and performance feedback on mathematics fluency (i.e., speed of accurate responding) in four elementary students with mathematics skills deficits.

The present paper discusses three design options potentially useful for the investigation of response maintenance. These include: (a) the sequential-withdrawal, (b) the partial-withdrawal, and (c) the partial-sequential withdrawal designs. Each design is illustrated and potential limitations are discussed.

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate a series of program variables used to modify the time a subject spent attending in an experimental restaurant setting.

In an experimental assessment of a choral responding procedure for increasing children's response to teacher commands, decreased levels of off-task behavior, as well as increased levels of correct responding, resulted from the procedures for three handicapped preschool children during large group instruction.

This study examined the effects of a self-evaluation treatment package on the independent work skills of preschool children with disabilities. 

The authors conducted descriptive and experimental analyses of aberrant behavior in school settings with 2 children with autism, using teachers as assessors. Experimental functional analyses carried out by the investigators were followed by training teachers to conduct a descriptive analysis and a classroom experimental analysis. 

This article presents an example of how school time was monitored to facilitate a cost analysis of school-wide systems of positive behavior support (PBS). 

This popular practitioner guide and text presents an effective, problem-solving-based approach to evaluating and remediating academic skills problems. The author provides practical strategies for working with students across all grade levels (K–12) who are struggling with reading, spelling, written language, or math. 

Used a multiple baseline design to evaluate teacher-only consultation (TOC) and conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) in their ability to produce cross-setting behavioral change in the social initiations (SIs) of 4 withdrawn children (aged 9–12 yrs). Direct observation, rating scale, and self-report data were collected from various sources across settings. 

The purpose of this chapter is to understand the reasons why categorical assessment and identification for students with severe achievement needs is indefensible. Then, to provide a viable alternative to expedite the assessment and decisionmaking process of educators when they are confronted with students with severe achievement needs

The authors examined the effectiveness of functional communication training (FCT) in reducing self-injurious behavior (SIB) and in shaping an alternative (communicative) response while SIB continued to be reinforced. 

The concept of reinforcer substitutability proposes a continuum of interactions among reinforcers in a given situation. At one end of this continuum, reinforcers are substitutable, with one reinforcer being readily traded for another. The authors conducted an analysis of reinforcers that were substitutable with those produced by self-injurious behavior (SIB).

Discussing the major themes of replication, variability, and experimental design, Sidman describes the step-by-step planning of experiments, the need for constant attention to trends of incoming data, and the alteration of plan, method, or design that those trends sometimes make necessary

The authors evaluated an intervention package for increasing requesting opportunities in special education classrooms. This study demonstrated an effective strategy for helping teachers incorporate opportunities for functional communication into the natural environment.

This paper describes several procedures that have been shown to improve learning rates without increasing time allocated for instruction during both teacher-led instruction and independent seat-work. In the description of interventions, they emphasize the learning mechanisms that may be operating to improve student achievement.

Alternating treatments designs were used to compare on-task levels in 4 students diagnosed as emotionally disturbed while working on control and experimental independent seat-work mathematics assignments. Control and experimental assignments were similar except experimental assignments contained additional briefer mathematics problems interspersed following every third problem. 

This study evaluated an alternative method of identifying early reading difficulty. L. S. Fuchs and D. Fuchs (1998) proposed that academic problems could be indexed by a dual discrepancy on level and slope of performance, relative to classmates, on curriculum-based measurement tasks. 

This study compared indirect training and direct training methods as a means of impacting levels of treatment integrity.  Direct training methods produced better outcomes.

In Part 1 of this 2-part article, the authors present historical, contextual, and methodological perspectives on the use of empirically supported interventions in school and community settings. 

The purpose of this article is to review the literature and examine the effect of increased opportunities to respond to academic requests (OTR) on academic and behavioral outcomes of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD).

We examined whether, as predicted by research on child effects, we could generate hypotheses about the function of student problem behavior by observing the amount of attention teachers provided to students.

This chapter presents four sets of interrelated discussions. The rationale for and critical components underlying a problem-solving system; The concept of educational disability is clarified; Current and potential alternate processes of conferring educational disability status are considered; The implications of implementing a functional and noncategorical system are examined in relation to federal legal requirements.

practitioners of behavior management & students who are just learning the basics of applied behavior analysis will find this new edition packed with useful information from the original version

The goal of this study was to develop a brief assessment that could be conducted in the natural setting to identify naturally occurring, high-frequency subsequent events that may serve as maintaining consequences for disruptive behavior using the entire class as the unit of analysis. Procedures were conducted in two early childhood classrooms during regularly scheduled classroom activities.

This article describes efforts to examine the validity of a screening process that provides objective data for multidisciplinary team meetings where consideration is being given to teacher referral of a student for assessment and possible placement in special education. 

Reading impaired first graders were given daily tutoring as a "first cut" diagnostic to aid in distinguishing between reading difficulties caused by basic cognitive deficits and those caused by experiential deficits. Reading achievement in most of these children was found to be within or above the average range after one semester of remediation. 

Provides 2 hypothetical case examples that illustrate how single-case designs (alternating treatments, multiple baseline, and reversal) can be used to evaluate manipulable influences on school performance. In each case, an intervention plan is proposed for a student, and the success of the intervention is evaluated within a single-case design.

This article provides a description of the First Step to Success early intervention program for preventing development of antisocial behavior patterns among young, at-risk children. 

This kit presents the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD) as a tool to identify behavior disorders in elementary-aged students. The kit contains a user's guide and administration manual, a technical manual reporting psychometric properties of the SSBD, an observer training manual, and multiple copies of the screening instruments.

This article presents some recommendations for employment and career-building by addressing two major vital to transition: competitive employment outcomes and post­secondary education. 

The relationships among independent variables and three measures of treatment integrity were evaluated.

This study examined components of teacher judgements that an intervention is either acceptable or unacceptable. A total of 180 preservice and student teachers were asked to evaluate the acceptability of six different interventions.

This article provides a brief review and a critique of behavioral consultation. Specifically, the procedures utilized within BC for assessment of the problem, development of an intervention, implementation of the intervention, and plan evaluation are overly reliant on indirect methods of behavior assessment and behavior change.

This study examined the integrity with which 4 general education teachers implemented an intervention designed to improve the academic performance of elementary school students. Treatment integrity was measured daily using permanent products.

This research monograph offers early childhood educators a foundational resource of information needed to develop inclusion practices.

A 2015 paper by Stuart Yeh offers evidence on how to improve the performance of all students and close the achievement gap between students of different socioeconomic statuses and races. Yeh hypothesizes that the conventional school system is structured in a way that reduces student motivation to succeed. Students become disengaged after experiencing repeated failure, resulting in depressed achievement and grades. This cycle continues to feed on itself as low achievement and poor grades further decrease motivation, engagement, and achievement. Yeh’s research suggests that two critical factors may account for the phenomenon of substandard student achievement: lack of a system for individualizing task difficulty and insufficient rapid performance feedback. These factors appear to be significantly more powerful than sociocultural circumstances (socioeconomic status or race), lack of accountability, lack of choice and competition, and low teacher quality. 

In this study, the reliability of the MAS was reexamined with two independent groups of developmentally disabled individuals who exhibited SIB (N = 55).

This report provides information on states that require students enrolled in courses that have an end-of-course (EOC) exam to take the EOC

This book presents new and enhanced assessment techniques and elaborates on an advanced problem-solving model for use in educational evaluation and planning with diverse populations. Special features include reproducible forms guiding decision making about the reintegration of students from special to general education

This text is intended to provide educators with increased understanding of the nature, origins, and causes of antisocial behavior and to offer information on the best available practices, interventions, and model programs for preventing and remediating antisocial behavior disorders occurring in school.

The Center for Public Education provides up-to-date research, data, and analysis on current education issues and explores ways to improve student achievement and engage public support for public schools.

This federal education site provides access to a large number of data sets covering all levels of education. Use the search bar to find datasets matching your query.

The Technical Assistance Center on PBIS provides support states, districts and schools to establish, scale-up and sustain the PBIS framework.