About the Workshop

Keynote Speakers

I am a Professor of Special Education and Director of the University of Oregon Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior. I direct federal, state and local research and demonstration projects related to positive behavior interventions and supports, multi-tiered support systems (MTSS), alternative education, juvenile delinquency prevention and treatment, restorative practices, and school safety. My research activities encompass applied behavior analysis, positive behavior interventions and supports, behavioral response to intervention, functional behavioral assessment, implementation science, school safety, youth violence prevention, and juvenile delinquency prevention. I began my career as a teacher of students with low incidence cognitive disabilities, and my early career research was focused primarily in this content area. In 1990 and 1997, I coauthored the first guide to Functional Behavioral Assessment (O’Neill et al., 1997) now in its third edition (O’Neill et al., 2014). I was a contributor to “Early Warning, Timely Response,” and the 1998, 1999, and 2000 President’s Annual Reports on School Safety. I have written a book on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design for school administrators (Schneider, Walker & Sprague, 2000) and a book on school safety with Hill Walker for Guilford Publications (Sprague & Walker, 2005), with a second edition in press Sprague & Walker, 2021) (www.guilford.com). My book on School Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports with Annemieke Golly (2005; 2013 www.soprislearning.com) was the first guide to PBIS implementation. In 2008 I published a book on Response to Intervention and Behavior Supports (www.shoplrp.com), now referred to as Multi-Tiered Support Systems (MTSS), and a second edition is in preparation (Sprague & Swain-Bradway, 2021). I have published over 300 journal articles and book chapters. I conducted 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 served as principal, or co-principal investigator on multiple Institute of Education Sciences Goal 2 development projects focusing on PBIS in schools, universal screening for behavior adjustment, classroom management, student self-management, the role of Native Language and Culture in academic achievement and behavior, and PBIS implementation in Juvenile Justice settings.

I am a native Oregonian, husband, and father of 2 girls, and I bicycle, run, fly fish, and play guitar.