A Progressive Behavior Intervention System’s Effect on Secondary Students Placed in a Restrictive Setting

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect a progressive behavior intervention system had on the return to home district rate, suspensions, high-level behaviors and law enforcement involvement at a small school of secondary special education students placed in a restrictive setting. The progressive behavior intervention system, developed by the researcher and school team, utilized a 15-step program designed to allow multiple opportunities to correct behavior. This quantitative study utilized a single-group interrupted timeseries research design and results indicated the treatment had mixed results on the dependent variables. The decrease in overall high-level behavior incidents, verbal aggression and elopement from campus, as well as number of police calls were significant. Although suspensions did not significantly reduce, the high number of physical aggression incidents compared with the low number of suspensions for this behavior type, suggest most incidents of physical aggression were managed by the staff interventions or progressive behavior intervention system, reducing the staff’s reliance on law enforcement support. Based on the mixed results, and the limited data collection period, continued research is necessary to determine the long-term effects of the progressive behavior intervention system.