The following selected Federal agency, national organizations, and publications have information about strategies for behavior management and guidance for parents, teachers, and child care providers.
- Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior
Florida Mental Health Institute
University of South Florida
813-974-4602
World Wide Web: http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/index.html
The Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs to raise the awareness and implementation of positive, evidence-based practices, and to build an enhanced and more accessible database to support those practices. The Center engages in a comprehensive and collaborative process for identifying evidence-based practices; develops partnerships with national early childhood organizations and other dissemination networks to ensure a widespread campaign of awareness and system enhancement; develops materials and implementation strategies to impact personnel preparation; and implements a national research program to address critical issues for young children and their families affected by challenging behavior. It has developed the following support materials:
- Creating Teaching Tools for Young Children with Challenging Behavior offers teachers guidance on how to support children with challenging behavior within preschool routines. It includes hyperlinked handouts and visual supports that explain strategies in detail and provide the teacher with a template for creating materials. Additional information and a link to the User's Manual (April 2005) are available on the Web at http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/tools.html.
- Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Children's Research Center
877-275-3227
World Wide Web: http://csefel.uiuc.edu
CSEFEL is a national center focused on strengthening the capacity of child care and Head Start to improve the social and emotional outcomes of young children. The Center develops and disseminates evidence-based, user-friendly information to help early childhood educators meet the needs of the growing number of children with challenging behaviors and mental health needs in child care and Head Start programs. It focuses on promoting the social and emotional development of children as a means of preventing challenging behaviors.
What Works Briefs are summaries of effective practices for supporting children's social-emotional development and preventing challenging behaviors. Topics include:
- Brief 2: "Understanding the Impact of Language Differences on Classroom Behavior"
- Brief 3: "Helping Children Understand Routines and Classroom Schedules"
- Brief 4: "Helping Children Make Transitions between Activities"
- Brief 5: "Using Classroom Activities and Routines as Opportunities to Support Peer Interaction"
- Brief 6: "Using Environmental Strategies to Promote Positive Social Interactions"
- Brief 7: "Helping Children Learn to Manage Their Own Behavior"
- Brief 8: "Promoting Positive Peer Social Interactions"
- Brief 9: "What are Children Trying to Tell Us?: Assessing the Function of Their Behavior"
- Brief 10: "Positive Behavior Support: An Individualized Approach for Addressing Challenging Behavior"
- Brief 11: "Using Functional Communication Training to Replace Challenging Behavior"
- Brief 12: "Building Positive Teacher-Child Relationships"
- Brief 15: "Using Choice and Preference to Promote Improved Behavior"
- Brief 16: "Fathers and Father-Figures: Their Important Role in Children's Social and Emotional Development"
- Brief 18: "Logical Consequences"
- Brief 19: "Helping Children Express Their Wants and Needs"
All briefs are available on the Web at http://csefel.uiuc.edu/whatworks.html.
- National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
800-424-2460 or 202-232-8777
World Wide Web: http://naeyc.org
NAEYC is a nonprofit professional organization dedicated to improving the quality of care and education provided to our nation's young children. NAEYC has over 100,000 members, teachers, administrators, parents, policy-makers, and others committed to bringing high-quality early education and care to all young children.
NAEYC publications on discipline and behavior management include the following:
- The Power of Guidance: Teaching Social-Emotional Skills in Early Childhood Classrooms (January 2004), by Daniel Gartrell, describes developmentally appropriate guidance in the "encouraging classroom." It shows teachers how to help children develop lifelong skills such as mutual acceptance and cooperation, creative and peaceful problem-solving strategies, and acceptable ways to express difficult emotions; and includes a special chapter on guidance with boys. This resource is available on the Web at http://sales.naeyc.org/Itemdetail.aspx?Stock_No=3009&Category=CBook.
- A Guide to Discipline (revised edition), by Jeannette Stone, provides teachers with the tools to help children discipline themselves and includes strategies to avoid problems in advance. Information about resource is available on the Web at http://sales.naeyc.org/Itemdetail.aspx?Stock_No=3009&Category=CBook.
- Helping Children Learn Self-Control is a brochure that provides the basic techniques to help children develop self-discipline. Additional information is available on the Web at http://sales.naeyc.org/Itemdetail.aspx?Stock_No=572&Category=CBrochure&SText.
- Love and Learn: Discipline for Young Children, by Alice Honig, is a brochure that discusses positive ways in which parents and caregivers can reduce typical difficulties by employing positive solutions to guide children's behavior. Additional information is available on the Web at http://sales.naeyc.org/Itemdetail.aspx?Stock_No=528&Category=CBrochure.
- Painting A Positive Picture: Proactive Behavior Management is a video about how adults can help children manage their behavior in an encouraging, nurturing, and positive manner while supporting children's self-esteem. This resource is available on the Web at http://sales.naeyc.org/Itemdetail.aspx?Stock_No=881&Category=CVideo.
Young Children, NAEYC's bi-monthly journal, has additional resources on behavior management and discipline. Some examples of articles include:
- "A Different Look at Challenging Behavior" (March 2005), by Catherine Loomis and Jane Wagner;
- "Attachment Theory and Challenging Behaviors: Reconstructing the Nature of Relationships" (July 2003) by Marilyn Watson;
- "The Teaching Pyramid: A Model for Supporting Social Competence and Preventing Challenging Behavior in Young Children" (July 2003) by Lise Fox, Glen Dunlap, Mary Hemmeter, and Gail Jospeh;
- "Replacing Time-Out: Part Two-Using Guidance to Maintain an Encouraging Classroom" (March 2002) by Daniel Gartrell; and
- "Replacing Time-Out: Part One-Using Guidance to Build an Encouraging Classroom" (November 2001) by Daniel Gartrell.
Beyond the Journal, by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), features a cluster of articles and resources that supplement articles found in NAEYC's journal, Young Children. The following articles from "Preventing and Responding to Behaviors That Challenge Children and Adults" (July 2003), relate to challenging behaviors:
- "Further Readings on Preventing and Responding to Behaviors the Challenge Children and Adults," by Lise Fox, is available on the Web at http://www.journal.naeyc.org/btj/200307/Forfurtherreading.pdf.
- "Challenging Our Assumptions: Helping a Baby Adjust to Center Care," by Enid Elliot, is available on the Web at http://www.journal.naeyc.org/btj/200307/ChallengingOurAs.pdf.
- "Democratic Discipline in Your Classroom: A Roadmap for Beginners," by Elizabeth Campbell Rightmyer, is available on the Web at http://www.journal.naeyc.org/btj/200307/DemocraticDiscipline.pdf.
- "Love and Learn: Positive Guidance for Young Children," excerpted from Love and Learn: Positive Guidance for Young Children (2000), by Alice S. Honig, is available on the Web at http://www.journal.naeyc.org/btj/200307/love-learn.asp.
- "Materials for Supporting Children's Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning," prepared by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundation for Early Learning, is available on the Web at http://www.journal.naeyc.org/btj/200307/materials_support.asp.
- The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
[formerly The National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY)]
800-695-0285
World Wide Web: http://www.nichcy.org
The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities provides free information on disabilities and disability-related issues, including materials and information support for parents. The following resource has information about challenging behaviors:
- NICHY Connections.to Behavior at School (March 2004, resources added June 2004) provides information for teachers and school administrators to create a safe and positive learning environment inclusive of children with behavior issues. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.nichcy.org/resources/behavschool.asp.
- NICHY Connections.to Behavior at Home (March 2004, resources added June 2004) lists resources intended to connect families with children exhibiting behavior problems with resources and support related to guidance. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.nichcy.org/resources/behaviorhome.asp.
- Interventions for Chronic Behavior Problems (October 1999, resources updated 2003) is meant to help schools answer the question, "What does the research tell us?" about promising interventions for students with a history of behavior problems. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.nichcy.org/pubs/research/rb1.pdf.
- National Network for Child Care (NNCC)
World Wide Web: http://www.nncc.org
NNCC unites the expertise of early childhood professionals from many universities through the outreach system of Cooperative Extension. The goal of NNCC is to share knowledge about children and child care from the vast resources of the land grant universities with parents, professionals, practitioners, and the general public. NNCC has many articles about discipline and behavior guidance that are available via their Web site. Topics include anger, aggression, and violent behaviors; challenging behaviors; peace and character education; social skills and self-esteem; and techniques and strategies. Selected articles include:
- Appropriate Limits for Young Children: A Guide for Discipline, Parts One and Two;
- Behavior Management: The Big Stressor;
- Better Kid Care: Getting Children to Follow Rules;
- The Challenge of Working with Challenging Children;
- Child Care Home: Guidance and Discipline;
- Child Guidance Techniques;
- Childhood Aggression: Where Does It Come From? How Can It Be Managed?;
- Children and Respect;
- Discipline That Works: The Ages and Stages Approach;
- Effective Discipline for Young Children;
- Establishing Rules;
- Five Tips for Guiding Children's Behavior;
- Guidance and Discipline: A Developmental Approach;
- Taming Temper Tantrums; and
- What Can I Do About Violence?
These and other articles are available on the Web at http://cyfernet.ces.ncsu.edu/cyfdb/browse_2pageAnncc.php?subcat=
Guidance+and+Discipline&search=NNCC&search_type=browse.
- The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health
Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development
Georgetown University Medical Center
202-687-5000
World Wide Web: http://gucchd.georgetown.edu/programs/ta_center/index.html
The Technical Assistance Center serves as a national resource center for policy and technical assistance to improve service delivery and outcomes for children and adolescents with, or at-risk of, serious emotional disturbance and their families. The mission of the Technical Assistance Center is to assist States and communities in building systems of care that are child and family centered, culturally competent, coordinated, and community-based.
