Chitiyo, M. & Wheeler, J.

Chitiyo, M. & Wheeler, J. (2008). Challenges Faced by School Teachers in Implementing Positive Behavior Support in Their School Systems. Remedial & Special Education, 30(1), 58-63. Despite the prevalence of literature supporting the use of positive behavior support techniques and technologies, these authors and researchers noted a lack of a similar prevalence in the actual techniques and technologies employed in real classrooms and set out to examine and identify the barriers and difficulties that instructors encountered in this regard.

The authors begin their article with a brief historical overview of positive behavior support as a theory and body of practical techniques, noting the ties between the emergence of this behavior management and educational strategy and the reauthorization by Congress of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act in 1997. The language of this legislation specifically emphasizes positive behavior support and functional behavioral assessments, and the authors credit this emphasis for creating a real interest in these areas and methods of education and classroom management for special needs students.

The authors go on to note the abundance of literature hat has reaffirmed positive behavior support techniques for use in special needs classrooms, citing specific practices and effects that have been noted in previous research. This section provides a comprehensive though brief overview of the findings in literature that support the use of positive behavior support, including the practices that previous researchers identified. In this, the authors help to situate their own research in a rich and detailed context that shows a clear consensus.

It is only after noting the extensive benefits of positive behavior support techniques noted in the literature that the authors turn to their central issue, that of the lack of implementation of these positive behavior support techniques in today's special needs classrooms. In examining this issue, the authors identify several key issues that may play a part in creating barriers to positive behavior support implementation by educators and administrators.

These issues include a questioning of the essential functionality of this relatively new way of approaching classroom and behavior management, a lack of familiarity with the principles and practices of positive behaviors support, and other factors including administrative and parental concerns. The authors conclude this article by making suggestions for future research to determine how these barriers might be overcome, while at the same time making certain recommendations of their own in this regard. The article is written in a very direct.