Today’s spotlight is on Dr. Jeffrey Sprague, a Professor of Special Education and Director of the University of Oregon Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior.

Dr. Jeffrey Sprague is a Professor of Special Education and Director of the University of Oregon Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior. He directs federal, state and local research and demonstration projects related to positive behavior interventions and supports, response to intervention, youth violence prevention, alternative education, juvenile delinquency prevention and treatment, and school safety. His research activities encompass applied behavior analysis, positive behavior supports, behavioral response to intervention, functional behavioral assessment, school safety, youth violence prevention, and juvenile delinquency prevention. Dr. Sprague began his career as a teacher of students with low incidence cognitive disabilities, and his early career research was focused primarily in this content area. In 1990 and 1997, Dr. Sprague coauthored the first guide to Functional Behavioral Assessment (O’Neill et al., 1997). Jeff is a contributor to “Early Warning, Timely Response,” and the “1998, 1999, and 2000 President’s Annual Reports on School Safety.” He has written a book on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design for school administrators (Schneider, Walker & Sprague, 2000) and has authored a book on school safety with Hill Walker for Guilford Publications (Sprague & Walker, 2005; www.guilford.com). His book on School Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports with Annemieke Golly (2005; 2013 www.sopriswest.com) was recently released as a second edition. In 2008 he published a book on Response to Intervention and Behavior Supports (www.shoplrp.com). He has published over 200 journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Sprague recently completed an R01 research project from the National Institute in Drug Abuse to conduct the first randomized control trial of the effects of Positive Behavior Supports in middle schools and is co-principal investigator on five Institute of Education Sciences Goal 2 development projects focusing on PBIS in schools, Response to Intervention for behavior, classroom management, student self-management and PBIS implementation in Juvenile Justice settings.