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Even in good times, when business is booming and employee engagement is high, executive leaders and senior-level managers face a high level of pressure. Not only are they charged with setting the direction for their organizations, but they must also foster alignment and commitment with their teams so the organization moves forward successfully. But in times of rapid change or disruption to existing business models, the responsibilities of a leader become all the more challenging. It's through these volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous times that inspiring leaders are needed more than ever. Our research suggests that a behavior-based approach to coaching helps leaders find opportunity in the face of great challenge, and integrate key skills into their daily interactions. In turn, executive coaching has a ripple effect, positively impacting the entire organization. This white paper explores why, even in challenging business environments, executive coaching remains important. It explains the benefits of coaching during times of disruption, both for leaders and their teams. And it looks at the reasons why businesses prioritize coaching and rely on it as a tool to carry their organizations into the future.

Children who exhibit disruptive behavior often do so across multiple settings (e.g., home and school) and are vulnerable to many negative outcomes, including low achievement scores and academic grades, high school dropout, and increased school suspensions. Family-school partnership interventions, which are grounded in ecological theory, are highly correlated with many positive outcomes for students, families, and teachers. Experimental studies with families as collaborators have been found to improve students' behavioral functioning and decrease disruptive behaviors. There is a lack of empirical research on family-school connections in rural settings, hindering the ability to understand the impact of family-school partnerships on rural schools, families, and students. Rural parents interact with their children and teachers regarding school less often than parents in other geographic areas. Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) may address barriers and create meaningful partnerships between rural parents and teachers. CBC is a structured indirect form of support in which teachers and parents work together to promote adaptive behaviors and decrease disruptive behaviors. The following questions were researched for this report: (1) What are the preliminary effects of CBC in rural communities on behavioral and social-emotional outcomes of students with or at risk of developing behavioral disorders?; and (2) What are the preliminary effects of CBC in rural communities on parent and teacher practices, relationships, engagement, and beliefs about family-school partnerships? Ninety kindergarten through 3rd grade students and their parents (n = 90) and teachers (n = 54) from 20 schools in Midwestern rural areas participated in this research. Participating students were identified by teachers as having disruptive behavior concerns. Within each CBC-assigned classroom, a consultant met with a teacher and parents of 1 to 3 students for CBC meetings via a 4-stage process operationalized by semi-structured conjoint interviews. Results suggest promising effects of CBC for teachers, parents, and students in rural settings. [The paper was presented originally by the authors at the 2013 annual meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists.]

The restraint and seclusion of individuals--practices usually associated with highly restrictive environments--are extreme responses to student behavior used in some public schools. In this brief, authors Douglas Gagnon, Marybeth Mattingly, and Vincent Connelly report that restraint and seclusion are used much more frequently on students with a disability than on students without a disability. In addition, the majority of U.S. school districts does not restrain or seclude students with a disability; 59.3 percent of districts report no instances of restraint, while 82.5 percent do not report a single instance of seclusion. However, a small proportion of districts report exceedingly high rates. The authors also find that low-poverty, low-diversity school districts use restraint and seclusion on students with a disability more than twice as often as high-poverty, high-diversity districts. The authors conclude that, overall, the relationships between restraint and seclusion rates, and disability type and school characteristics, warrant further research. This brief draws on data from the 2009-2010 Civil Rights Data Collection and the 2009 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates.

In December 2001, Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) brought together representatives of 17 advocacy groups who are concerned about the provision of positive behavioral supports and mental health services for students with significant social, behavioral and/or emotional needs. The agenda for this group included: a discussion of the upcoming reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (IDEA '97), and a discussion of the connection of mental health services and special education. After reviewing the available scientific evidence and professional literature, this group concluded that many of the provisions of IDEA 97 have yet to be fully implemented for children and youth with disabilities. Particularly at risk of not receiving needed instructional and related services are those youth who are significantly impacted by social, emotional, and/or behavioral problems, including children with significant mental health needs. As a result of this review, members of the group have produced this document to provide an overview of the status of the implementation of IDEA, with a special focus on students with disabilities who have significant social, emotional and/or behavioral needs, including those with early-onset mental illnesses. This document highlights the unmet educational needs of these youth, as well as the potential benefits to schools, children and families of improving the educational outcomes for these children and youth by reinvesting in and strengthening IDEA implementation. (Contains 39 references.) (GCP)

The study undertook to teach and fix the reading of meaningful symbols (hiragana, the Japanese syllabary alphabet, and kanji, Chinese characters) to a mildly retarded 7 year old Japanese boy. The phonological method was used to teach hiragana and pictures were used to teach kanji. Behavior modification using reinforcement and time out was employed. Results showed that the boy retained 90% of the letters taught by the phonological approach but was unable to retain the kanji numbers because his concept of numbers was as yet unformed. All reinforcement techniques and the time out procedure enhanced learning. Following treatment the boy's behavior changed; he correctly wrote the letters he had acquired, stopped getting out of his seat during class, and stopped crying so easily. (PHR)

This document presents narrative descriptions of 14 selected programs for reducing truant and disruptive behavior in schools, as selected by a group of Virginia educators in a project sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education. Among the tools utilized in these programs are behavior modification using tokens, in-school tutoring, in-school suspension, team teaching, adult advisers from the community, basic skills development, cross age tutoring, student involvement in classroom management, the school-within-a-school concept, group counseling, mini-courses, and adventure education. Specialized processes for improving student-teacher relationships, such as Teacher Effectiveness Training and Schools Without Failure, are also described. Methods used in the dissemination of this information are discussed in the first volume of the report. (Author/PGD)

Exclusionary discipline practices have a direct negative impact on individual students, schools, and society at large. To improve equity and cultural responsivity, active efforts to assess the contextual fit of effective strategies are necessary. The following study describes the Inclusive Skill-building Learning Approach (ISLA), an intervention designed to support school staff in carrying out preventative strategies and outlines instructional responses for educators and office staff. Additionally, an iterative approach to inform changes was used as part of the development process of ISLA. This paper aims to capture and incorporate the voices of students and staff using multiple methods to seek feedback for refining the quality, feasibility, and contextual fit of the ISLA intervention in middle schools. A total of 53 school staff provided feedback on the ISLA intervention. Further, Design Team members (n = 26) participated in semi-structured interview meetings to inform changes to ISLA. Lastly, student participants (n = 23) engaged in focus groups that were transcribed and coded via an independent co-coding strategy. The findings provide support for preventative school-based interventions that use alternatives to exclusionary discipline, as well as strategies for improving the ISLA intervention. [This paper will be published in "Psychology in the Schools."]

This paper is a literature review, which synthesized and analyzed numerous articles about applied behavior analysis (ABA) and positive behavior support (PBS). It started with the history of each term. Then it included the definitions and the characteristics for both of them. Additionally, this paper explored the similarities and differences between ABA and PBS, and it offered some recommendations for future research that could be written regarding ABA and PBS.

Introduction: Effective classroom management is critical to creating a classroom environment in which social, emotional, and academic learning can take place. The present study investigated the association between early career, early elementary teachers' occupational health (job stress, burnout, and perceived teaching ability) and perceptions of program feasibility in relation to their implementation dosage and quality of two evidence-based classroom management programs implemented together: the PAX Good Behavior Game (GBG) and MyTeachingPartner (MTP) intervention. Methods: Teachers provided information on their occupational health at the start of the school year and were then randomized to the PAX GBG + MTP condition or control condition. Teachers' perceptions of the feasibility of the program, implementation dosage, and implementation quality of the intervention were measured at the end of the school year for the 94 intervention teachers. Results: Teachers participated in more MTP coaching cycles when they reported that the combined PAX GBG + MTP program was feasible. Although there were no main effects of occupational health on implementation, the associations between job stress and implementation quality were moderated by perceptions of feasibility. Discussion: Findings highlight the complexity of factors influencing the implementation of evidence-based programs in school settings. [This paper was published in "Frontiers in Psychology" v14 2023.]

Although applied behavior analysis researchers have created efficacious treatment and intervention practices for children and youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is a gap between research and practice. Implementation Science (IS) and Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), based with Applied Behavior Analysis, are two parallel fields that could close this gap. This paper provides descriptions of both IS and OBM, highlighting their commonalities and unique features. The paper concludes with examples of how researchers have used IS and OBM to promote practitioners' use of evidence-based practices and services for children and youth with ASD. [This is the online version of an article published in "European Journal of Behavior Analysis."]

The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of an evidence-based treatment, the Incredible Years® (IY) Small Group Dina Dinosaur Treatment program, as delivered in elementary schools to address the needs of children in kindergarten through second grade with self-regulation difficulties. Adaptations for school-based delivery of 17 intervention groups across three cohorts and 11 schools from an ongoing randomized controlled trial are described and implementation data including qualitative feedback from school stakeholders are presented. Results show that, with implementation supports, this adapted model can be delivered in schools with fidelity comparable to the clinic-based model, although several activities were delivered at lower dosage in the low-income urban schools as compared with low-income rural or better resourced schools. Satisfaction among school counselors, teachers, and parents was consistently high. Implementation challenges include logistics such as space and scheduling, program fit with school practices and policies, use of specific treatment strategies such as time-out within the school context, capacity of school personnel to deliver the program, and selection of students and group composition. Lessons learned can inform adaptation and delivery of other evidence-based clinic treatments in school settings. [This paper was published in "Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health" 2019.]

Background: Individual-level implementation determinants, such as clinician attitudes, commonly influence the successful adoption of evidence-based practices, but few explicit strategies have been tested with regard to their ability to impact these key mechanisms of change. This paper reports on an initial test of a blended, theoretically-informed pre-implementation strategy designed to target malleable individual-level determinants of behavior change. Beliefs and Attitudes for Successful Implementation in Schools (BASIS) is a brief and pragmatic pre-implementation strategy that uses strategic education, social influence techniques, and group-based motivational interviewing to target implementation attitudes, perceived social norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intentions to implement among mental health clinicians working in the education sector. Methods: As part of a pilot trial, 25 school mental health clinicians were randomized to BASIS (n = 12) or an attention control placebo (n = 13), with both conditions receiving training and consultation in an evidence-based intervention for youth experiencing trauma (the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools). Theorized mechanisms of change (attitudes, perceived social norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intentions) were assessed at baseline, post-training, and four-month follow-up. Clinician participation in post-training consultation and intervention adoption were also tracked. Results: A series of regression models and independent sample t-tests indicated that BASIS had significant, medium to large effects on the majority of its proximal mechanisms from baseline to post-training. BASIS was also associated with a greater latency between initial training in the intervention and discontinuation of participation in post-training consultation, with clinicians in the BASIS condition persisting in consultation for an average of 134 days versus 32 days for controls, but this difference was not statistically significant. At four-month follow-up, most differences in the theorized mechanisms had attenuated, and approximately the same small number of BASIS clinicians adopted the trauma intervention as controls. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the brief BASIS pre-implementation strategy had a significant influence on its proximal mechanisms of change, but that these changes did not persist over time or translate into adoption of the trauma intervention. Implications for theory refinement, revisions to the BASIS protocol, and next steps for research surrounding individual-level implementation strategies are discussed. [The paper was published in "Implementation Science" v14 p54-69 2019.]

Children with ADHD comprise one of the most common groups requiring supports from school mental health providers, yet current school structures and special education policies are not optimally situated to support and adapt to the inconsistent behaviors that are the hallmark of children with ADHD. The present paper reviews the evidence base for school mental health interventions for children with ADHD across the preschool, elementary, and middle/high school levels. The preponderance of evidence across meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and practice guidelines support classroom contingency management strategies, with emerging evidence supporting adjunctive training in organizational skills and homework supports. Behavioral parent training is also a supported intervention, but relatively few attempts have been made to evaluate it when integrated into school environments. A comprehensive, integrated approach for treating ADHD in school settings across universal, targeted, and indicated tiers is presented, providing an initial outline of a framework for school mental health treatment that could be utilized by school mental health practitioners. [This paper was published in "School Mental Health" v11 p72-91 2019.]

Despite research linking teachers' occupational health to student outcomes, the processes through which these associations exist are unknown. In a sample of 516 teachers, four latent profiles of occupational health were identified, indicated by job stress, occupational burnout, and teaching self-efficacy: lowest occupational health (17%), low-to-mid occupational health/mid self-efficacy (38%), mid-to-high occupational health/mid-self-efficacy (30%), and highest (15%) occupational health. Proactive behavior management practices were observed less frequently for teachers in the lowest (vs. highest) occupational health profile. White female teachers were associated with profiles of low occupational health more than White male teachers, and male and female teachers of color. [This paper was published in "Teaching and Teacher Education" v118 Article 10381 2022.]

Objectives/Background: This study examined whether dispositional mindfulness moderates the association between brooding rumination and sleep problems in adolescents with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants/Methods: Participants were 137 adolescents (ages 13-15 years; 64% male). Approximately half (47.4%; n=65) were diagnosed with ADHD. Adolescents provided ratings of their dispositional mindfulness and brooding rumination. Both adolescents and parents provided ratings of adolescents' sleep problems. Results: In analyses controlling for sex, race, study site, and group (ADHD vs. comparison), brooding rumination was associated with more adolescent- and parent-reported sleep problems only at low levels of dispositional mindfulness. This effect did not differ for adolescents with or without ADHD and was also unchanged when controlling for internalizing psychopathology symptoms. Conclusions: Our findings showed that dispositional mindfulness might buffer against the negative impact of brooding rumination on adolescent sleep. These findings may have important clinical implications and underscore the potential benefit of including mindfulness and other cognitive-behavioral approaches when treating sleep problems in adolescents. [This paper was published in "Sleep Medicine" v90 p131-134 2023.]

Smoking among college students is on the rise, particularly among women and minorities. This paper explores smoking among college women, reviews different types of smoking cessation interventions, and describes a newly developed interactive Web site that combines tailored smoking cessation information with other health information in an attempt to reduce smoking among college-age women. A recent survey of about 14,000 college students found that almost half of them used tobacco products in the last year, and one third currently use tobacco products. Twenty-eight percent of college smokers started smoking regularly in college. College women are more likely to smoke regularly and have difficulty quitting than are college men. Young women who smoke face more health risks than do men. In addition to the risks of heart, lung, and kidney disease, women face smoking-related pregnancy risks, an increased risk of blood clots associated with birth control pills, increased risk for cervical cancer, and an increased risk of breast cancer, among other risks. This paper suggests that the media may play some role in helping tobacco companies to target women and ethnic minorities. Students have demonstrated a lack of interest in campus cessation programs. Three-fourths of young Internet users (15-24 years) have used the Internet to search for health information. (Contains 50 references.) (Author/NB)

This paper discusses the occurrence of challenging behaviors in adult men dually diagnosed with cerebral palsy and mental retardation, the dynamics that underlie problematic interactions with staff and peers, and strategies with which to address these behaviors. The vicious cycle that occurs when a client with cerebral palsy and mental retardation responds aggressively to a perceived provocation of a staff member, resulting in a punitive response from the support person, is described. Risk factors for aggressive behavior are also identified, including the presence of an organized brain syndrome, a history of institutionalization, being male, and a previous history of aggression. The need to treat aggressive clients for possible depression and low self-esteem is emphasized. The paper concludes with three clinical vignettes that illustrate the types of problems and obstacles that often confront men with cerebral palsy. All three men were being treated with medication to address their aggression, as well as with behavioral programming, and yet were still manifesting aggressive behaviors on a regular basis. Counseling focusing on active and empathetic listening, teaching of relaxation techniques, group counseling, and individual counseling resulted in decreased aggression, improved peer relationships, and increased self-esteem. (Contains 26 references.) (CR)

This paper briefly outlines the Homework Success Program (HSP), a family-school intervention program for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The HSP uses a conjoint behavioral approach, emphasizing the importance of implementing behavioral interventions that involve parents, teachers, and students. The primary goals of the program are increasing rates of homework completion and accuracy, promoting home-school collaboration, and reducing parent-child conflict during homework time. Although the HSP has typically been conducted in clinic settings, the authors advocate expanding the HSP, consistent with an emerging trend in school psychology in which such programs are conducted in school settings as well as in clinics. This paper was presented to conference participants to describe the HSP's curriculum and its implementation in school settings. Participants were expected to gain a basic understanding of the core program components, improve their parent-teacher collaboration skills, and learn how to implement the system in schools. (Contains 20 references.) (GCP)