TURN Around Behavior : Reducing Exclusionary Discipline and Promoting Inclusion Through a Four-Step Framework

The purpose of this paper is to present a four-step framework for reducing exclusionary discipline and thus increasing inclusion of students with and at risk of disabilities that impact their behavior. This paper begins by discussing reasons exclusionary discipline has persisted, reasons that positive behavioral interventions have been slow to be adopted, and the importance of function-based thinking. The TURN Around Behavior framework includes (a) teaching expectations and behavior, (b) using antecedent strategies to prevent problem behavior and encourage behavior that meets expectations, (c) responding to student behavior using positive reinforcement or corrective feedback, and (d) noting student progress and modifying the intervention as necessary. Finally, implementation guidance and support are provided for each step in the context of a fictional vignette based loosely on the authors’ collective experiences in schools, which describes the application of this framework in the classroom.