Handbook of Positive Behavior Support

Timothy J. Lewis, Ph.D., has been involved in special education for 40 years. Dr. Lewis has taught students with emotional and behavioral disorders in high school, elementary, and self-contained psychiatric settings. He is a Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Special Education at the University of Missouri. Dr. Lewis has been involved with developing schoolwide systems of behavioral support for more than 30 years. He has worked directly with school teams around the world, secured more than $110 million in grants to support his research and demonstration efforts, and is a frequent contributor to the professional literature examining various aspects of positive behavior support (PBS). Dr. Lewis directs the University of Missouri Center for School-wide Positive Behavior Support, is Senior Advisor to the national OSEP Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports and former Co-Director of the Center for Adolescent Research in Schools.

Brandi Simonsen, Ph.D., is a professor of Special Education in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. She is also a Co-Director of the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports and a Co-Facilitator of the Center’s workgroups focused on supporting students with disabilities and classroom settings. Dr. Simonsen’s scholarship focuses on supporting educators' implementation of PBIS/MTSS across a continuum of settings. She has collaboratively published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles, 2 books, and 70 chapters or other publications. Dr. Simonsen has also secured more than $70 million in external funding to support scholarship, technical assistance, and dissemination efforts.

Kent McIntosh, Ph.D., is the Philip H. Knight Chair of Special Education at the University of Oregon and Director of Educational and Community Supports, a research unit in the College of Education. His current research focuses on implementation and sustainability of school-based interventions, increasing racial equity in school discipline, and integrated academic and behavior support. He is lead author of more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, presenter of more than 50 keynote addresses, and principal or co-investigator of more than $70 million in federal grant funding. He is Co-Director of the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports and co-facilitator of the Center’s Equity and Belonging Workgroup as well as a founding member of the PBIS-SCP Canada Network.

Heather Peshak George, Ph.D., is a Professor in the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences at the University of South Florida and Director of the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities, a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. She is Co-Director of the National Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and the statewide Florida PBIS Project, and Co-Facilitator of the Center’s District/State, Tier 1, and Under-Resourced Settings Workgroups. She is also the past-president of the International Association for Positive Behavioral Support, served in various positions on the Board of Directors, and co-facilitates the PBIS State Leaders Network. Her scholarship focuses on supporting systems implementation of PBIS practices across a continuum of settings. She has co-published more than 135 articles, chapters, and other products, delivered over 470 presentations, provided support across several countries, and secured over $100 million in external funding.