Intensifying Tier 1 Classroom Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Practices to Support Students With Disabilities: A Pilot Study

Without effective support, students with disabilities experience more exclusionary discipline and benefit less from classroom instruction. Students with disabilities can benefit when teachers implement key classroom positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) practices (e.g., prompts, opportunities to respond, and specific praise), but many teachers need additional professional development (PD) to implement with sufficient intensity to support students with disabilities. In this pilot study, we explored whether teachers’ intensified implementation of key practices improved academic engagement of students with disabilities. Three elementary teachers and three students with disabilities in the U.S. New England area participated in an experimental multiple-baseline design. Following baseline, each teacher participated in targeted PD for each practice. Two teachers consistently self-managed their intensive implementation and their students’ engagement increased; one teacher did not consistently self-manage her implementation, and her student’s engagement decreased. These data provide an initial proof of concept for this approach; however, additional research is needed to document a functional relation.