Kelly Wilson Author

Glen Dunlap, Ph.D., Research Professor, Division of Applied Research and Educational Support (DARES), Department of Child & Family Studies, Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612-3899

Dr. Dunlap is a research professor at the University of South Florida, where he works on several research, training, and demonstration projects in the areas of positive behavior support, child protection, early intervention, developmental disabilities, and family support. He has been involved with individuals with disabilities for more than 35 years and has served as a teacher, administrator, researcher, and university faculty member. Dr. Dunlap has directed numerous research and training projects and has been awarded dozens of federal and state grants to pursue this work. He has authored more than 185 articles and book chapters, coedited four books, and served on 15 editorial boards. Dr. Dunlap was a founding editor of the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions and is the current editor of Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. He moved to Reno, Nevada, in 2005, where he continues to work on research and training projects as a member of the faculty at the University of South Florida.

Rose Iovannone, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Applied Research and Educational Support (DARES), Department of Child & Family Studies, Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, 13301 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, MHC 2113A, Tampa, Florida 33612-3899

Dr. Iovannone is currently the director of the Prevent-Teach-Reinforce (PTR) Project. She has also served as the co-principal investigator on a University of South Florida (USF) subcontract for the Professional Development in Autism Project funded by Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and Assistant Director for the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) at USF. She has published several journal articles and book chapters in the areas of functional assessment, function-based support plans, and positive behavior support and is currently working on numerous manuscripts related to preliminary outcomes of the PTR project. She teaches graduate-level courses on behavioral interventions. As an expert in providing support at the tertiary level, Dr. Iovannone is also a well-respected trainer and consultant. She has extensive experience in working with individuals with autism, learning disabilities, and emotional disabilities. Her principal activities and research interests have been in the areas of functional behavior assessment and positive behavior support, augmentative and alternative communication, and assessment and evaluation.

Donald Kincaid, Ed.D., Assistant Program Director and Professor, Division of Applied Research and Educational Support (DARES), Department of Child & Family Studies, Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, 13301 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, MHC 2113A, Tampa, Florida 33612-3899.

Dr. Kincaid is the director of the Florida Positive Behavior Support Project and the Principal Investigator of the Prevent-Teach-Reinforce model. He is also a collaborator and principal investigator for the University of South Florida's subcontract with the Technical Assistance Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. He also serves as the co-principal investigator on Florida's Center for Inclusive Communities, a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. His primary interests are in applying positive behavior support approaches for individual students, classrooms, and entire schools. Much of his professional activity involves coordinating systems change efforts at a local, state, and national level to support the implementation of evidence-based practices. Dr. Kincaid also teaches at the university level and serves on a number of editorial and advisory boards in the area of positive behavior support.

Kelly Wilson, Professional Research Assistant, Center for Positive Early Learning Experiences, Center for Collaborative Educational Leadership, School of Education and Human Development, University of Colorado at Denver, 1380 Lawrence Street, Suite 600, Denver, Colorado 80204

Ms. Wilson is a research assistant/consultant for the Center for Positive Early Learning Experiences at the University of Colorado at Denver. She is currently working on the PTR (Prevent-Teach- Reinforce) grant and the Learning Experiences: An Alternative Program for Preschoolers and Parents (LEAP) Outreach Project, providing consultation and training to elementary schools and preschools serving children with autism and challenging behaviors. Over the last 13 years, Ms. Wilson has been involved in almost every aspect of early intervention, general education, and special education. She has extensive experience as a trainer for children with special needs and challenging behavior in inclusive settings.

Kathy Christiansen joined Florida's Positive Behavior Support Project in 2008 as a Technical Assistant Specialist. She provides consultation, training and technical assistance to school districts throughout the state of Florida on positive behavior supports across all three tiers. Prior to joining the project, Kathy served as a Behavior Research Specialist with the Prevent-Teach-Reinforce research project, a school-based model of individualized positive behavior support, funded through the Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education.

Phillip Strain, Ph.D., Professor, School of Education and Human Development, University of Colorado at Denver, 1380 Lawrence Street, Suite 650, Denver, Colorado 80204-2076

Dr. Strain is a professor of Educational Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Colorado at Denver. He is the author of more than 250 scientific papers and he serves on the editorial boards of more than a dozen professional journals. Dr. Strain has worked in the field of early intervention since 1974, and he serves as a science advisor to the Institute of Medicine, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the U.S. Department of Education. His primary research interests include intervention for young children with early-onset conduct disorders; remediation of social behavior deficits in young children with autism; design and delivery of community-based, comprehensive early intervention for children with autism; and analysis of individual and systemic variables affecting the adoption and sustained use of evidence-based practices for children with severe behavior disorders.

Tim Knoster, Ed.D., is a professor at the McDowell Institute for Teacher Excellence in Positive Behavior Support in the College of Education at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. The McDowell Institute emphasizes the translation of research on multi-tiered systems of support—most specifically, positive behavior intervention and support—into practice in schools. Dr. Knoster has also served as Executive Director of the International Association for Positive Behavior Support since its inception in 2003. Dr. Knoster (or Tim, as he prefers) has been involved with preservice and in-service teacher training for more than 30 years. He has worn many hats throughout his career, including the role of an instructor of undergraduate and graduate courses, a classroom teacher in the public schools, Director of Student Support Services and Special Education, and Principal Investigator as well as Program Evaluator on federal projects focused on classroom and student-centered behavior intervention and support. Specifically relevant to this book, Dr. Knoster has extensive experience in providing professional development for classroom teachers and has been the recipient of numerous awards for his endeavors in this regard. He has extensively published and provided training for educators and staff from various child-serving systems in the application of positive behavior support in schools and community-based settings. Dr. Knoster has an uncanny ability to help teachers interpret the research literature on behavioral matters in a way that enables them to translate that same research into practical strategies and approaches in their classrooms.