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Black learners, like all other learners, bring their cultural values into the classroom, how they express themselves, and how they problem-solve. In addition, their life experiences influence their social and emotional behaviors. This study examined the effects of a multicomponent intervention approach--including a culturally adapted social and emotional learning curriculum, check-in/check-out, and self-monitoring--on the externalizing behaviors of Black male learners in an urban elementary school. A multiple-baseline-across-classes, single-case, experimental design evaluated the effects of the intervention package. Results from the study show a consistent decrease in externalizing problem behaviors, increases in social and emotional competencies, and high levels of social validity for the intervention package based on the input of relevant stakeholders. An embedded alternating-treatment, single-case design explored the relative impact of self-monitoring. The authors also include a discussion of the limitations of this work and the implications for future research.

Paraprofessionals are an essential part of special education. School districts increasingly rely on paraprofessional support to meet students' needs, but formal professional development opportunities vary. A lack of training in effective instructional strategies is potentially problematic for the efficacy of support staff. A multiple-baseline across participants single-case research design examined the effects of a manualized teacher-to-paraprofessional coaching intervention to increase the rate of behavior-specific praise by paraprofessionals. Participant dyads (paraprofessionals and special education teachers) taught in a rural public elementary school serving third- through fifth-grade students. The collaborative multicomponent training program included self-monitoring, performance feedback, goal setting, modeling, and action planning. Analyses encompassed primary author visual analysis, masked visual analysis by three independent raters, and nonparametric statistical analysis. The intervention resulted in increased use of behavior-specific praise across all four paraprofessionals and participants indicated good social validity. Discussions include implications for future research and practice.