Tier 2 interventions play an important role within the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports framework, bridging the gap between schoolwide Tier 1 interventions and individualized Tier 3 supports. Check-in Check-out (CICO) is a promising Tier 2 intervention for addressing mild problem behavior and potentially preventing the need for more intensive supports. In this systematic review, we synthesize the characteristics, methodological quality, and outcomes of 15 single-subject studies and one group design study examining CICO. The results suggest that CICO can be considered an evidence-based practice for students with problem behavior maintained by adult attention. Versions of CICO that were modified to address other functions (e.g., obtain peer attention, escape from tasks) demonstrated strong effects, but there were not a sufficient number of studies for modified CICO to qualify as an evidence-based practice. We discuss the implications of this review for practitioners as well as future research on CICO.

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) face numerous obstacles to learning. They typically rank very low on teacher desirability (Soodak, Podell, & Lehman, 1998), receive very little teacher praise (Rathel, Drasgow, Brown, & Marshall, 2014; Rathel, Drasgow, & Christle, 2008), and are more likely to fail academically than students with a learning disability or with no disability (Nelson, Benner, Lane, & Smith, 2004). Students with EBD demonstrate unsuccessful peer relationships, antisocial behavior, internalizing behavior, aggression, and attention problems (Conley, Marchant, & Caldarella, 2014). Such students commonly use argumentative language, make disruptive statements during classroom instruction, and leave their seats often (Weeden, Wills, Kottwitz, & Kamps, 2016). A meta-analysis including 2,486 participants with EBD (Reid, Gonzalez, Nordness, Trout, & Epstein, 2004), of whom 80% were male, found academic performance was affected across all subjects (particularly for students younger than 12 years) in both resource and general education classrooms. In a study of 422 students with disabilities (Doren, Bullis, & Benz, 1996), researchers found that individuals with severe emotional disturbance were 13 times more likely to be arrested than peers with other disabilities. Researchers and practitioners have attempted to help students both with and at risk of EBD overcome behavioral and academic challenges by studying the relationship between teacher praise or reprimands and subsequent student behavior (Partin, Robertson, Maggin, Oliver, & Wehby, 2009; Reinke, Herman, & Stormont, 2013). Despite promising findings, little is known about the relationship between natural rates of teacher praise and student behavior (Floress, Jenkins, Reinke, & McKown, 2018). For example, no clear patterns regarding when or for whom teacher praise might be effective were revealed during a recent review of praise literature (Moore et al., 2018), and only one study has attempted to explore the relationship between differential rates of teacher classroom 800824P BIXXX10.

A safe, supportive school climate is critical for school effectiveness. Unfortunately, the research linking a positive school climate to critical student outcomes includes few systematic reviews of the school climate literature and no reviews focused on the effects of interventions to improve school climate. This review examined the methodological quality and findings from 18 experimental studies evaluating the effects of schoolwide interventions on teacher and student perceptions of school climate. Each study was rated in terms of quality of the methods and magnitude of effects on school climate. Results indicated that only three of the 25 articles were considered methodologically sound. Effect sizes estimating the differences in teacher perceptions of school climate ranged from −0.29 to 1.69, while those concerning differences in student perceptions ranged from 0.03 to 1.93. Studies examining the effects of schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) and social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions were the most methodologically sound and associated with the highest effect sizes.

In an article published in 2000, Flora indicated that 5:1 is the “magic” ratio of positive-to-negative interactions. Flora’s position is characteristic of the pervasive idea that there is a “magic” ratio of positive-to-negative interactions for improving interpersonal relationships. In the field of education, teachers are often recommended to maintain a specific ratio of positive-to-negative interactions with students (e.g., 5:1). Although this rule has good face validity, there is a lack of empirical support for any specific ratio. The authors support the idea of maintaining a high positive to negative ratio but argue against the use of any specific ratio. They include a discussion of the history of positive-to-negative interaction ratio recommendations, a summary of relevant research on students with emotional or behavioral disorder (EBD), an exploration of how teachers might adhere to these recommendations, and how each approach might affect students. The authors provide recommendations for teachers, researchers, and instructors in teacher preparation programs: considering how teachers might use the concepts behind the positive-to-negative interaction ratio to improve teaching, how instructors in teacher preparation programs might better teach preservice teachers, and advising how researchers might work to better understand the high positive to negative ratio.

State and national educational leaders encourage the use of an integrated multitiered system of supports (MTSS) to improve services to students with academic and social behavior problems. Implementing and sustaining MTSS is facilitated by support from leaders in state education agencies (SEAs). The purpose of this study was to identify the specific events, resources, and supports that help or hinder the work of scaling up an integrated MTSS approach from the perspective of MTSS leaders in SEAs. Researchers interviewed leaders in 27 U.S. states using the critical incident technique, a qualitative methodology to identify critical incidents associated with changes in practice. Eight helping incident, seven hindering incident, and nine "wish list" categories were identified. Helping categories included multidisciplinary leadership, access to professional development, consistent language and/or practices, consultation with external partners, and a focus on student outcomes in evaluation and planning. Seven hindering categories included competing philosophies, high personnel turnover, varying levels of readiness, and inadequate data systems. Participants also identified two unique categories associated with the items they wished had happened or could happen in the future including access to personnel with highlevel MTSS training and access to more effective interventions.