Robert H Horner

• University of Oregon

Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) is a widely implemented, evidence-based Tier 2 behavior intervention used primarily in schools implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The purpose of this national extant study was to examine the implementation patterns using an extant database of 24,425 students within 1,766 schools across 40 U...

Check-in/check-out (CICO) is an evidence-based multicomponent intervention widely implemented in elementary and middle schools. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether an adapted CICO intervention, with CICO components designed to be more developmentally appropriate for adolescents and contextually relevant for high schools, could be impl...

Even when schools are implementing Tier 1 systems and practices with high fidelity, some students need more targeted and systematic support. Tier 2 practices provide students with an additional layer of rapid and efficient behavior support. However, school teams will need to regularly measure the fidelity of both core features of these Tier 2 pract...

Single-case intervention research design standards have evolved considerably over the past decade. These standards serve the dual role of assisting in single-case design (SCD) intervention research methodology and as guidelines for literature syntheses within a particular research domain. In a recent article (Kratochwill et al., 2021), we argued fo...

Coaching is a key driver supporting implementation of evidence-based instructional and behavioral practices (EBPs). The purposes of this study were to propose a model of coaching and examine the effects of two coaching mechanisms (prompting and performance feedback) on (a) teacher use of classroom management EBPs and (b) student classroom disruptio...

Schools have a finite number of resources each year to allocate towards the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). Therefore, school leadership teams must carefully consider how resources are being allocated and how to maximize those resources when implementing EBPs within the context of multi-tiered systems of support, such as Positive...

In this special section of Perspectives on Behavior Science, Slocum et al. (2022) provide a summary of the logic and protocol for the construction, implementation, and analysis of single-case multiple-baseline designs. A major contribution of this article is a reassessment of the nonconcurrent multiple baseline design as a credible approach to docu...

In this paper, we provide a critique focused on the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Standards for Single-Case Research Design (Standards 4.1). Specifically, we (a) recommend the use of visual-analysis to verify a single-case intervention study's design standards and to examine the study's operational issues, (b) identify limitations of the design-co...

This special issue of Perspective on Behavior Science is a productive contribution to current advances in the use and documentation of single-case research designs. We focus in this article on major themes emphasized by the articles in this issue and suggest directions for improving professional standards focused on the design, analysis, and dissem...

Behavior analysis is a major contribution to all who strive to improve society. The principles of behavior analysis, and applied behavioral programs and interventions, are empirically relevant for improving our behavior in the home, school, community, and work settings. In this article, we argue that large-scale implementation of behavioral science...

The purpose of this article is to describe the methods and results used to establish the district capacity assessment’s (DCA) content validity, response process validity, construct validity, internal consistency, and test–retest reliability. The DCA measures a district’s ability to support school-level implementation of evidence-based practices (EB...

This “View From the Field” column is the first in a series discussing aspects of implementation science important for scaling up and sustaining evidence-based practices in schools and districts. Recent research suggests there are important approaches to instruction, behavior support, and mental health that have been empirically documented but are n...

Positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) was first introduced with the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1997. In this article, we describe the 25-year history of the PBIS implementation experience, including the core features of PBIS as a multitiered framework and the process and outcomes for implemen...

We propose in this article that a central element in the large-scale implementation of evidence-based practices is the process by which initial investment in local demonstrations is leveraged into larger implementation efforts. We offer a definition of this “resource leveraging” and propose a process for both measuring and reporting the effects of...

In this 3-year prospective study, we tested the extent to which school-, practice-, and district-level variables predicted sustained implementation for schools in various stages of implementation of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) Tier 1 (universal) systems. Staff from 860 schools in 14 U.S. states completed a re...

Clarke et al. provide a summary of research published in Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions over the past 17 years and identify trends in the type of scholarship guiding the field. We offer this commentary in response to an invitation to suggest directions for the future of research focusing on positive behavior support, and implications fo...

Data-based problem solving is a hallmark of research-supported practices such as positive behavioral interventions and supports. In this study, we provided members of positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) teams from 38 elementary schools with professional development focused on a research-supported problem-solving model (Team-Initia...

We report here the type of problems and solutions that 38 school teams reported during a randomized wait-list controlled trial of one problem-solving approach (Team Initiated Problem Solving [TIPS]). The experimental results from that analysis are reported elsewhere. The purpose of this article is to summarize companion descriptive data from this a...

Implementing evidence-based practices is becoming both a goal and standard across medicine, psychology, and education. Initial successes, however, are now leading to questions about how successful demonstrations may be expanded to scales of social importance. In this paper, we review lessons learned about scaling up evidence-based practices gleaned...

Racial disparities in rates of exclusionary school discipline are well documented and seemingly intractable. However, emerging theories on implicit bias show promise in identifying effective interventions. In this study, we used school discipline data from 1,666 elementary schools and 483,686 office discipline referrals to identify specific situati...

Racial disparities in rates of exclusionary school discipline are well documented and seemingly intractable. However, emerging theories on implicit bias show promise in identifying effective interventions. In this study, we used school discipline data from 1,666 elementary schools and 483,686 office discipline referrals to identify specific situati...

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to district- and school-based leadership teams that are considering implementation of Tier 2 systems. This document is not intended to be a prescriptive list of requirements and individual decisions about school readiness. Tier 2 implementation decisions should be based on the local context and in...

School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an example of applied behavior analysis implemented at a scale of social importance. In this paper, PBIS is defined and the contributions of behavior analysis in shaping both the content and implementation of PBIS are reviewed. Specific lessons learned from implementation of PBIS...

Disproportionality represents one of the most significant problems in education today (Gregory, Skiba, & Noguera, 2010; U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2013). The results of decades of research consistently show that students of color, particularly Afri-can American students (and even more so for those with disabilities), are at significantl...

Racial and ethnic disproportionality in school discipline remains a serious and unsolved threat to equity in education. Common approaches implemented to reduce discipline disproportionality have not been shown to be effective. A more comprehensive, theory-driven understanding of the factors associated with disproportionate discipline is needed to e...

The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which the School-Wide Universal Behavior Sustainability Index: School Teams (SUBSIST; McIntosh, Doolittle, Vincent, Horner, & Ervin, 2009), a measure of school and district contextual factors that promote the sustainability of school practices, demonstrated measurement invariance across groups o...

This article describes a linear modeling approach for the analysis of single-case designs (SCDs). Effect size measures in SCDs have been defined and studied for the situation where there is a level change without a time trend. However, when there are level and trend changes, effect size measures are either defined in terms of changes in R(2) or def...

A regression modelling approach for the analysis of single case designs (SCDs) is described in this paper. The approach presented addresses two key issues in the analysis of SCDs. The first issue is that of serial dependence among the observations in SCDs. The second issue is that of an effect size measure appropriate for SCDs. As with traditional...

Extension of retribution- and incapacitation-based criminal justice policies and practices to schools has exacerbated racial and ethnic disproportionality in school discipline, a serious and unsolved threat to equity in education and social opportunity. Common approaches implemented to reduce discipline disproportionality have not been shown to be...

Supporting the full range of students with behavioral challenges requires that schools build the capacity to implement evidence-based behavioral interventions. Fortunately, a substantive body of research documents behavioral interventions are available to both decrease problem behavior and enhance prosocial skills. To date, however, this interventi...

Members of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) teams from 34 elementary schools participated in a Team-Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) Workshop and follow-up technical assistance. Within the context of a randomized wait-list controlled trial, team members who were the first recipients of the TIPS intervention demonstrated greater i...

The impact of TASH over the next decade will be affected by decisions about the precision and consistency of the organization's messages to the field. TASH has long been the premier organization extending the voice of individuals with significant developmental disabilities. As TASH examines the themes that will be prominent in the coming years, we...

Single-case research designs provide a rigorous research methodology for documenting experimental control. If single-case methods are to gain wider application, however, a need exists to define more clearly (a) the logic of single-case designs, (b) the process and decision rules for visual analysis, and (c) an accepted process for integrating visua...

The impact of TASH over the next decade will be affected by decisions about the precision and consistency of the organization's messages to the field. TASH has long been the premier organization extending the voice of individuals with significant developmental disabilities. As TASH examines the themes that will be prominent in the coming years, we...

Teacher well-being has become a major issue in the United States with increasing diversity and demands across classrooms and schools. With this in mind, the current study analyzed the relationship between outcomes of teacher well-being, including burnout and efficacy, and the implementation of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Suppo...

Many schools have problem-solving teams that support teachers by helping identify and resolve students' academic and social problems. Although research is limited, it has been found that teams sometimes fail to implement problem-solving processes with fidelity, which may hinder the resolution of problems. We developed the Team-Initiated Problem Sol...

A new method for deriving effect sizes from single-case designs is proposed. The strategy is applicable to small-sample time-series data with autoregressive errors. The method uses Generalized Least Squares (GLS) to model the autocorrelation of the data and estimate regression parameters to produce an effect size that represents the magnitude of tr...

The authors examined the problem-solving practices of school teams engaged in implementing and improving schoolwide behavior support implementation. A multiple baseline design across 4 elementary school teams was used to assess the effects of the Team-Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) training program (1 day of team training plus 2 coached meetings)...

Variables affecting the sustained implementation of evidence-based practices are receiving increased attention. A descriptive analysis of the variables associated with sustained implementation of First Step to Success (FSS), a targeted intervention for young students at risk for behavior disorders, is provided. Measures based on a conceptual model...

Special education continues to document the poor within and post-school outcomes among children and youth with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (EBD). While the poor outcomes are due to a myriad of causes, three issues routinely emerge as problematic in the field. First, the need for early intervention and prevention has been well documented, and yet...

Bullying behaviors are a growing concern in U.S. schools. We present here a behavioral approach to bully prevention utilizing a schoolwide intervention. Bully prevention in positive behavior support (BP-PBS) teaches students to withhold the social rewards hypothesized to maintain bullying. A single-subject multiple baseline design across 6 students...

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind emphasize the use of scientifically based research to improve outcomes for students. From this emphasis, response-to-intervention has evolved. We present one perspective on the defining features of response-to-intervention and application of those features to school-wide posit...

We report a randomized, wait-list controlled trial assessing the effects of school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS). An effectiveness analysis was conducted with elementary schools in Hawaii and Illinois where training and technical assistance in SWPBS was provided by regular state personnel over a 3-year period. Results document that the tra...

Schools have two important goals: maximize the academic achievement and social competence of all learners. To achieve these goals, schools must focus on the specific skills of individual students, but increasingly we are learning that they must also focus on the overall social culture of a school. The social culture of a school can vary from highly...

In this chapter, we examine the core features of what has come to be described as positive behavior support, or PBS. We examine milestones in the development of PBS following its inception in the 1980s. We conclude with a glimpse of the emergence of new lines of PBS research and application as reflected in the chapters to follow in this summative v...

Making decisions is a core activity in schools. Every school has faculty teams that meet regularly to make decisions concerning logistical, administrative, academic, and social issues. The thesis of this chapter is that team decisions will be more effective and efficient when they occur in the context of a formal problem-solving model with access t...

Recent research advances have focused on the use of evidence-based practices to improve academic and behavior support in schools (Hoagwood, 2004; Walker, 2004). Simultaneously, education policy has advocated for strategies that will allow implementation of these practices on a meaningful scale (Adelman & Taylor, 2003; Elias, Zins, Graczyk, & Weissb...

This article has no abstract.

When chronic problem behaviors occur in schools, the tendency is to react with stringent and restrictive consequences. Recently, emphasis has shifted toward proactive prevention strategies. In this article, we focus on what we know and need to know about school-wide applications of effective practices and systems for preventing problem behaviors. W...

Positive behavior support (PBS) emerged in the mid-1980s as an approach for understanding and addressing problem behaviors. PBS was derived primarily from applied behavior analysis (ABA). Over time, however, PBS research and practice has incorporated evaluative methods, assessment and intervention procedures, and conceptual perspectives associated...

Behavior support in schools is increasingly viewed as a three-tier prevention effort in which universal interventions are used for primary prevention, targeted interventions are used for secondary prevention, and intensive interventions are used for tertiary prevention. A growing body of research has demonstrated the effectiveness of targeted inter...

This study examined the efficacy, social validity, and durability of a positive behav- ior support (PBS) approach with the family of a girl with autism and severe problem behavior. The study was conducted across a 10-year period beginning when the child was 5 years old. A multiple baseline across family routines design evaluated the functional rela...

1. Introduction to the Behavior Education Program 2. The Context for Positive Behavior Support in Schools 3. The Basic BEP: Critical Features and Processes 4. Getting a BEP Intervention Started 5. Roles, Responsibilities, and Training Needs Related to Implementing the BEP, Deanne A. Crone, Leanne S. Hawken, and K. Sandra MacLeod 6. Designing the BE...

People with developmental disabilities sleep less and experience higher incidence of clinical sleep disorders than the general population. Exploring the neurophysiology linking sleep with daytime performance in patients with developmental disabilities is now possible using minimally sufficient sleep and sleep-sensitive behavioral assays. Although f...

Thousands of Schools throughout the country are now implementing school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) as a way to improve school culture, safety, and climate. Research is needed to assess the effects of implementing SWPBS on (a) teacher stress and (b) and teacher efficacy. The present pilot study provides a preliminary study of these varia...

Single-subject research plays an important role in the development of evidence-based practice in special education. The defining features of single-subject research are presented, the contributions of single-subject research for special education are reviewed, and a specific proposal is offered for using single-subject research to document evidence...

The effects of functional communication training on the generalized reduction of problem behavior with three 4- to 5-year-old children with autism and problem behavior were evaluated. Participants were assessed in primary teaching settings and in three secondary, generalization settings. Through baseline analysis, lower effort interventions in the...

We conducted an observational study of parentchild interaction in home activity settings (routines) of families raising young children with developmental disabilities and problem behavior. Our aim was to empirically investigate the construct validity of coercion in typical but unsuccessful family routines. The long-term goal was to develop an expan...

A recommended component of comprehensive behavior support in schools is a targeted intervention designed to efficiently and effectively meet the support needs of students who are not responding to preventive schoolwide intervention strategies (Sugai, Horner et al., 2000; Walker et al., 1996). This study provides a fine-grained analysis using a mult...

Positive behavior support (PBS) is an applied science that uses educational and systems change methods (environmental redesign) to enhance quality of life and minimize problem behavior. PBS initially evolved within the field of developmental disabilities and emerged from three major sources: applied behavior analysis, the normalization/inclusion mo...

This paper provides a summary of research on behavioral interventions for children with autism 8 years of age or younger published between 1996 and 2000. The analysis is divided into four sections: (1) emerging themes in the technology of behavior support, (2) a review of existing research syntheses focusing on behavioral interventions, (3) a new l...

In this introductory article, the main features of positive behavior support are described, including a prevention-focused continuum of support, proactive instructional approaches to teaching and improving social behaviors, conceptually sound and empirically validated practices, systems change to support effective practices, and data-based decision...

Two types of analysis were used to examine the feasibility and utility of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) in a general education middle school. The authors used a descriptive analysis to assess whether a group-based behavior-support program was differentially effective based on the perceived consequences maintaining student problem behavior....

As problem behaviors escalate there is greater police presence on school campuses, installation of metal detectors, greater use of random drug tests and searches, and adoption of school uniforms. All of these responses have emotional appeal and political support, but have not been shown to be effective in improving discipline or safety in our schoo...

This paper discusses how educators can apply positive behavioral support (PBS) to students with and without disabilities and conduct functional behavioral assessments (FBAs). It begins by describing the challenges that educators face in educating an increasingly heterogeneous population of students, including students with external and internal pro...

This paper summarizes a conference held at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development on December 6-7, 1999, on self-injurious behavior [SIB] in developmental disabilities. Twenty-six of the top researchers in the U.S. from this field representing 13 different disciplines discussed environmental mechanisms, epidemiology, behaviora...

This article provides a response to an article by Wehmeyer that appeared in the Spring 1999 issue of this journal. Self-determination presents a tremendous opportunity for all persons, and this promise enhances the challenge to prevent self-determination from becoming an empty cliché. To ensure a durable and substantive role for self-determination,...

Confronted by increasing incidents of violent behavior in schools, educators are being asked to make schools safer. Schools, however, receive little guidance or assistance in their attempts to establish and sustain proactive discipline systems. One area of need lies in directions for use of existing discipline information to improve school-wide beh...

Families, applied researchers, and teachers and support providers continue to be interested in effective strategies for teaching generalized repertoires of communicative skills to learners with severe disabilities. The present study assessed the effects of a general case training procedure in establishing manding or requesting responses by three st...

This introductory article to a special series discusses requirements under the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to base behavioral intervention planning and positive behavioral support on information obtained through a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) process. The lack of guidance on FBAs and strategies for p...

Professor Hill Walker has identified three challenges to handling disruptive student behavior: prevention, at-risk programs, and high-intensity interventions. Principals should beware administrative traps: getting tough is enough, targeting a few difficult students, seeking quick fixes, finding one powerful trick, revering outside experts, and beli...

Functional relationships between the presentation of easy versus difficult math tasks and 'he occurrence of problem and off-task behaviors of students with emotional or behavioral disorder (EBD) were investigated Subsequently, the effects of academic instruction on the accuracy of responses to difficult tasks and the occurrence of problem and off-t...

Functional assessment strategies are used to guide the treatment of problem behavior with individuals who have severe disabilities. Also, researchers have extended functional assessment applications to individuals with emotional and behavioral disabilities. One such extension is the use of students as informants in the functional assessment process...

Two years of office referral data are presented in evaluation of a school-wide behavioral support program designed to define, teach, and reward appropriate student behavior in a rural middle school (grades 6, 7, and 8). During 1994-95, the school had 530 students and recorded 2,628 office referrals. The 1995-96 school year began with a full day in...

This article provides a reconceptualization of the role of schools in preventing antisocial behavior problems among children and youth. The U.S. Public Health Service's conceptual model of prevention, involving primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention approaches, is used as an organizing framework to illustrate how schools can deliver interventi...

Stability of social relationships may be an important indicator of lifestyle quality. Fifteen individuals with intellectual disabilities participated in an analysis of the relationship between their social skills (as measured via the Scales of Independent Behavior and the Assessment of Social Competence) and the stability of the social relationship...

This case study examines the relationship between self-initiations of an adult woman with severe disabilities and the directive behavior of staff persons in a community residential setting. Hypotheses generated from functional assessment procedures indicated that (a) Susan's low self-initiations were very likely related to high directive behavior o...

This case study focused on a student with severe disabilities who displayed multiple problem behaviors that fit a pattern of behavioral escalation. Analysis of the pattern in which problem behaviors occurred within instructional sessions, and comparisons of conditional rates of occurrence for specific behaviors to overall base rates of occurrence,...

Describes 30 mo in the life of a 26-yr-old woman with a history of life-threatening self-injurious behaviors (SIB) who moved from a large public institution to her community. Quantitative measurements included activity patterns, social networks, self-injurious behaviors, aggression against others, and staff changes. Qualitative results emerged from...

Functional assessment has emerged as an important strategy for designing effective interventions for serious problem behavior. A comprehensive functional assessment identifies the behavior of concern, stimuli correlated with the onset and maintenance of the behavior, features of the setting in which the behavior occurs, and behaviors (typically com...

Providing feedback has been found to affect the behavior of staff of school and community programs. The present article presents a descriptive analysis of feedback provided to staff members concerning the lifestyle of 33 participants in 18 community residential programs in Oregon. Staff from four cohorts of programs were trained to monitor the phys...

Functional assessment is at once redefining the standards for clinical interventions and reemphasizing the importance of studying basic behavioral mechanisms. This commentary describes one perception of what we are learning from current research on functional assessment and suggests directions for the future.

Five individuals who live in community residences and have moderate to severe intellectual disabilities participated in a descriptive study examining the covariation of community activities with social interactions. The purpose of the study was to determine if manipulation of activity patterns could be a viable strategy for improving social network...

Used a social guide model to teach staff of an apartment-based residential program serving individuals with intellectual disabilities to use a set of community network strategies to improve the social relationships of 3 adult women with moderate to severe mental retardation who participated in the program. Results demonstrate a functional relations...

The activity preferences of 15 adults with mild, moderate, severe, and profound mental retardation from 8 community-based residential programs were assessed by the participants themselves, residential program staff, and advocates. The study addressed the degree to which participants' perceived activity preferences were subsequently included in thei...