Behavioral and Educational Strategies for Teachers:The Importance of ProfessionalDevelopment


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Behavioral and Educational Strategies for Teachers (BEST) is part of two major school reform initiatives in Utah that brings special interest together towards the common goal of improving the quantity and quality of services for students with behavioral disorders. Since 1991, Utah has implemented the BEST program throughout the state to provide a comprehensive system of support services for children with behavioral disorders. The goals of the BEST Project are:

to develop a comprehensive system of education and support services for students with behavioral disorders;
to provide appropriate and effective educational programs to students with behavioral disorders in the least restrictive environment;
to enhance professional development opportunities through inservice training and technical assistance;
to increase communication and professional exchange among teachers;
to disseminate validated instructional materials and practices; and
to implement a coordinated set of services between education, mental health, social services, health, and justice/corrections.

What is BEST?

BEST is a professional development program that brings general and special education together. It provides model demonstration sites that address local needs and new research-based approaches. In addition, the program provides on-site training and technical assistance, on-going curricula development, and a state-wide newsletter. The training and technical assistance programs link staff members with one another and with expert consultants for further information and ideas. Likewise, the program has established BEST Teams Institute that brings teams of teachers and other staff members together from across the state. Currently, BEST receives more requests for technical assistance than it can provide. The project also makes a concentrated effort to develop practices and procedures that efficiently coordinate with other provider agencies to provide a comprehensive system of trans-agency services for students with behavior problems. Teachers and principals claim that BEST training and support enhances their ability to work with students who are behaviorally challenging in less restrictive and more enriching settings.

How do Schools Benefit?

Newman Elementary School demonstrates how a proactive school-wide disciplinary program and well-trained teachers can work effectively with students with challenging behavioral. Newman, which also is located in an area marked by a large amount of poverty, is a BEST demonstration site. It employs a positive and proactive approach to school discipline that is marked by clear expectations and concrete rewards. A student-friendly video has been prepared to introduce students and families to these expectations. At the beginning of each year, students are provided with supports that enable them to meet behavioral expectations (e.g., demonstrations and role playing). In addition, the behavioral expectations are visible in the halls and in classrooms — both on the walls and in how students teachers interact. Although, like other Utah schools, Newman has a high student/staff ratio (over 30:1), it has been able to work with all but one student.

The Bennion Middle School in the Granite School District employs BEST training to enable its staff to use positive and proactive approaches to school- and class-wide behavioral management. The school has creatively transformed self-contained classrooms into settings that support students to work successfully as they return to mainstream settings. In addition, Bennion uses a specialist in behavioral disorders (the same teacher who staffs the "self-contained" classroom) to track student performance, provide on-going training and consultation to general educators, and provide crisis intervention when necessary.

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