This phenomenological study examined the perceptions of teachers and their involvement with positive behavior support (PBS) plans in a school district in Southern California. Three sub-questions emerged revealing the perceptions of the teachers: (a) how had the teachers been involved in preparing for the use of PBS plans; (b) What experiences have…

The present research focuses on the possible relation between observing responses and language acquisition. In the first of three experiments, preschool aged participants with and without disabilities were presented with the opportunity to observe multiple aspects of a stimulus. A Naming experience was created in which the stimulus was presented…

The research on classroom management systems has provided a comprehensive evidence base for effective classroom management strategies for teachers to adopt in their classrooms. The most common strategies found in the literature are rules, reprimands, and praise. Reprimands and praise are used by the teacher as part of the reinforcement schedule to…

Student misbehavior in the classroom is often reported as an area of concern for teachers. Having to focus on classroom management rather than content results in a loss of important instructional time, which can have a deleterious impact on student academic achievement. The purpose of the study was to examine whether a character education program…

Everyone, including children with developmental disabilities, encounters stimuli they find aversive every day (e.g., the sound of a classmate tapping their pencil). These aversive stimuli may not be problematic for typically developing individuals, because they learn to behave in ways that allow them to escape or avoid this aversive stimulation.…

Appreciative advising is an innovative academic advising method based on the organizational development theory of appreciative inquiry. This approach emphasizes student strengths through a collaborative relationship between advisor and student using open-ended questions and focusing on positive potential. This study addressed the local problem of…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine perspectives of attorneys who have transitioned into community college leadership. The study sought to answer questions concerning why attorneys decided to change careers, how they transition into new careers, and to what extent their legal backgrounds helped them in educational leadership.…

The purpose of this study was to determine what African Americans who serve in upper-level school leadership positions and who have faced significant barriers as children attribute to their resilience and success. I focused on individual resilience, using the definition summarized by VanBreda (2001): "[R]esilience theory addresses the…

Suspension from school removes students from the educational environment and interferes with school progress by decreasing prospects of gaining academic and social skills. Suspension also negatively affects school attendance and is an indicator of future disciplinary problems. To address problem behaviors that can lead to school suspensions,…

Direct training procedures have been beneficial in increasing teachers' knowledge and skills for the use of recommended intervention for target students in their classrooms. However, direct training alone has not been successful in teachers' consistent and sustained use of the intervention for the target student and the generalized use…

Effective classroom management strategies are skills that improve teachers? practices within the classroom. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to examine teacher insights about their classroom management strategies and how, if at all, they modify their classroom management strategies. The qualitative grounded theory study…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of PECS phase III application training on independent mands in young children with autism. Participants were five children with autism ranging from ages 2 to 4 years old. A multiple baseline across participants was used to evaluate acquisition of independent correct mands across baseline and…

This dissertation aims to understand the apparent failure of speech in post-Mao literature to fulfill its conventional functions of representation and communication. In order to understand this pattern, I begin by looking back on the utility of speech for nation-building in modern China. In addition to literary analysis of key authors and works,…

The First Step to Success early intervention program (Walker, 1998) is a secondary prevention intervention that targets primary grade children with moderate or emerging behavior disorders. While the effectiveness of the First Step to Success early intervention program has been documented repeatedly (see Loman, Rodriguez, & Horner, 2010; Walker…

This study examined the relationship between dependent and independent variables and the effects relationships have on K-12 students as they struggle through life stressors. Thus, the research study was based upon this over arching question: How does having positive student-adult relationships impact a student's ability to cope with life…