Several faculty members from the Neag School of Education Center for Behavioral Education and Research (CBER) spearheaded a major regional leadership forum related to Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) last week in Mystic, CT. PBIS is a multi-tiered prevention framework for establishing and sustaining effective school-wide and individual behavior supports needed to enhance academic, social ,and behavioral outcomes for all students. The forum is also supported by the National Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, funded by the Office of Special Education Programs U.S. Department of Education, and located at the Universities of Connecticut, Oregon, and Missouri. The approach has received media attention recently in Connecticut, as more CT schools move towards positive methods for handling problem behaviors in schools. For full WNPR story.
Organized by UConn faculty Brandi Simonsen, Jennifer Freeman (Northeast PBIS regional network coordinators) and George Sugai, the Northeast PBIS Leadership Forum brought together more than 550 educators from 10 states and offered varied educational workshops and seminars, many of which were presented by other UConn faculty. Keynote addresses were provided by leaders in the fields of Special Education, Terry M. Scott (University of Louisville), and School Mental Health, Sharon Stephan (University of Maryland School of Medicine, Center for School Mental Health). CBER Director and Professor of Educational Psychology, George Sugai, offered the closing keynote, which described the current state of PBIS and discussed ways to enhance future efforts for PBIS implementation.
The Office of the Vice President for Research would like to congratulate Drs. Simonsen, Sugai, and Freeman, as well as the other participating UConn faculty members, on this successful event. Their efforts support CBER’s mission to conduct and disseminate rigorous research that improves educational and social outcomes for all children and youth in schools through collaboration with diverse stakeholders, development of instruction design and evidence-based practices, and striving for effective organizational and system changes. Job well done!
For more information, contact: Jessica McBride at jessica.mcbride@uconn.edu