Positive Behavior Support Handbook for West Hollywood Community Day School

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Organization of Study1

Purpose of the Study1

Aims and Objectives2

Significance3

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW4

School Wide Positive Behavior Support4

SWPBS in High School6

Primary Prevention Universal Level9

Establishing Safe, Predictable Environments9

Positive Relationship-Building10

Classroom Behavior Management Economy11

Secondary Level Support12

Social Skills Instruction13

Peer-Mediated Interventions16

Social Stories17

References18

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

Background

Through the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) in 1975, all students with disabilities were afforded the right to a free and appropriate public education (Shore & Kenneth, 1986). These rights were extended to high school-aged teenager in 1990 during the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Protection under this legislation also included the right to an education in the least restrictive environment (LRE). By most accounts, the least restrictive environment is widely considered to be the general education environment (Shore & Kenneth, 1986). Although there was extensive research on inclusion of young children with disabilities in general education classrooms, research on high school students was limited. As a result of the reauthorization of IDEA, there was an emergence of research on inclusion of teenager with disabilities in high school settings (Odom, 2000).

Organization of Study

The study described in this graduate project completed at West Hollywood Community Day School. A handbook was designed for used by the students of West Hollywood Community Day School. The audience for this research was the students with disabilities and how various inclusion strategies could be used to enable them to live typical lives.

Purpose of the Study

This graduate project graduate project includes the development of a handbook for high school students working within inclusive high school settings and assessing its effectiveness through expert evaluation and feedback. The handbook will give the reader an overview of the research on inclusion within high school settings. It will also review various research suggesting that high school adolescents with and without disabilities experience more behavioral difficulties in their early childhood programs.

More importantly, the handbook will review the identified need for further training in promoting social emotional development and addressing challenging behavior. Information will be provided regarding features of Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support (PWPBS) to provide a systematic manner to address program and training needs. The basic components of the program will be discussed. The information presented in the handbook lays the foundation on which the research based strategies will be developed. Specific intervention strategies along with guidelines for implementation will also be discussed in the later chapters. In addition, the handbook including the resources in the form of samples, handouts, and website links.

Aims and Objectives

The purpose of this project includes developing a handbook for early childhood professionals for addressing the identified training needs in the areas of socio-emotional development and behavioral concerns utilizing features of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS). An additional purpose of the project was the evaluating of the handbook. A comprehensive review of the literature was completed to identify practical strategies that were found to be effective in high school settings. These strategies include creating positive and structured ...