Safe and Effective Schooling for All Students: Putting Into Practice the Disciplinary Provisions of the 1997 IDEA

Abstract

The 1997 IDEA stipulates that states address the needs of school personnel as they relate to positive intervention strategies to deal with student behavior that impedes learning. In response to that mandate, the Virginia Department of Education drew upon accumulated literature and input of experts to develop, implement, and evaluate an inservice program on functional behavioral assessment/positive behavioral interventions/supports. Discussion is on the step-by-step training process whereby schools are able to establish pupil-specific, classroom-level, and schoolwide efforts to facilitate positive academic and nonacademic outcomes for all students. We present preliminary data that supports the effectiveness of both the content and delivery of this innovative program.

Key Words:

• behavioral intervention plans (BIP)
• functional behavioral assessment (FBA)
• IDEA
• Virginia Department of Education

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James J. Fox

Robert A. Gable, an executive editor for Preventing School Failure, is also a professor in the Department of Child Study and Special Education and C. J. Butler is on the staff of the Training and Technical Assistance Center and is an adjunct professor in the Department of Special Education at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. Irene Walker-Bolton is an education specialist at the Virginia Department of Education in Richmond, Virginia. Stephen W. Tonelson is a professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Speech-Language Pathology and Special Education at Old Dominion University. Mary M. Quinn is a principal research scientist for the Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice at the American Institutes for Research in Washington, DC. James J. Fox is a professor in the Child Study Center at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City.