Introduction to the Special Issue

We are honored to present eight papers focused on students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and their teachers for this special issue of Education and Treatment of Children (ETC). The papers feature work presented at the 39th annual Teacher Educators of Children with Behavioral Disorders (TECBD) Conference, hosted by Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, in October 2016. This year’s special issue presents three papers examining teacher practices (performance feedback for use of praise, Sweigart, Collins, Evanovich, & Cook; use of a functional assessment-based consultation plan to increase fidelity of a class-wide function-based behavior management plan, Gann & Kunnavatana; and increasing teachers’ cultural proficiency, Pas, Larson, Reinke, Herman, & Bradshaw). The remaining papers in the issue have a range of research topics of importance to educators of students with EBD highlighting practices to support high-fidelity implementation of interventions for students. These papers represent investigations across general and special education settings including interventions applied in alternative placement settings (Ennis) and a summer learning program (Zeng, Benner, & Silva) for students in elementary and high schools. Importantly, several articles report academic (i.e., reading, writing in social studies, math) and behavioral outcomes for students with EBD. Articles were selected based on a rigorous review process focused on relevance to students with and at risk for EBD and quality of research methodology and reporting. We hope readers will be interested in the unique contributions of each article and will consider recommendations for additional inquiry on these important topics to improve practices for students and teachers.

In the first article Sweigart, Collins, Evanovich, and Cook conducted a systematic review of the literature and applied the Council for Exceptional Children’s (CEC) Standards for Evidence-Based Practices in Special Education (2014) to studies using performance feedback to increase teachers’ use of praise. The authors extended the use of CEC standards (i.e., quality indicators) to an intervention to support a specific teacher practice. Fourteen studies were reviewed for methodological rigor and evidence for deeming performance feedback to increase use of praise as an evidence-based practice. The authors found that too few studies met standards to determine the practice to be evidence based, determining it to be a promising practice. The authors provided recommendations to continue inquiry on the use of performance feedback.

In the second paper, Gann and Kunnavatana extended the application of the Function-Based Intervention Decision Model (Umbreit, Ferro, Liaupsin, & Lane, 2007) by applying it to support a teachers’ practice. The authors examined the use of the Decision Model to support a special education teacher in implementing a comprehensive function-based classroom management plan. The consultation plan was created and implemented to evaluate its effect on treatment integrity of the classroom management plan. Single case design was used to examine disruptive, off-task behaviors of three students with emotional disturbance (ED) in a special education classroom. Results showed that implementation of the consultation plan improved treatment integrity of the classroom management plan and student on-task behavior.

Then, Pas, Larson, Reinke, Herman, and Bradshaw addressed the disproportionate number of racial/ethnic minority students who received exclusionary discipline by applying a culturally adapted coaching model that aimed to improve teachers’ classroom management practices. The researchers made minor adaptations to the Classroom Check-Up (CCU) coaching model to address teacher cultural proficiency more directly. The authors used additional domains of cultural competence, Double Check CARES. Data were collected from two studies implementing the Double Check CARES version of the CCU, in which K–8 teachers’ use of positive behavioral classroom management and culturally responsive teaching practices were promoted. Data demonstrated that the culturally adapted CCU coaching approach was feasible. Teachers provided positive feedback about the coaching. In addition, the majority of teachers believed that coaching benefited their students and increased their self-perceived knowledge of cultural proficiency and classroom management.

In the fourth article, Lower, Young, Christensen, Caldarella, Williams, and Wills examined the use of a Tier 3 self-management intervention for two students in a general education classroom. The two students participated in Tier 1 and Tier 2 of a multi-tiered classroom...