The role of the Missouri Schoolwide PBS Leadership Team is to provide technical assistance, long-range planning and policy development for the state Positive Behavior Support initiative. The Leadership Team is responsible for the development and facilitation of an action plan to promote the following outcomes:
All meetings will be held in 205 Hill Hall @ 1:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted:
Upcoming Meeting(s):
June 12, 2008
August 7, 2008
September 11, 2008
November 13, 2008
December 11, 2008
January 15, 2009
February 12, 2009
March 12, 2009
April 9, 2009
May 14, 2009
June 11, 2009
Dr. Lewis has been involved in special education for more than 20 years. He has taught students with emotional and behavioral disorders at high schools, at elementary schools and in self-contained psychiatric settings. He is currently the associate dean of the special education department at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He also directs the MU Center for School-wide Positive Behavior Support, the Center for Prevention of School Violence, and several federally funded training and research projects related to social behavior development among children and youth with disabilities and those at-risk. For more than 12 years, he has worked with school teams around the world in developing school-wide systems of behavioral support. His specialty areas include behavior disorders, developmental disabilities, applied behavior analysis, social skill instruction, positive behavior supports, and early intervention.
Dr. Newcomer is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Her career expands across 31 years in education as a teacher in middle and senior high schools, juvenile treatment facilities, alternative education settings, as a behavior consultant, and in higher education. She provides training and technical assistance on school-wide systems of Positive Behavior Support at the local, district and state level across the United States, Canada and Australia. She also pursues a research agenda focused on classroom management and the essential features of intensive, individualized student-behavior support and the context in which function-based plans can be implemented with efficiency and effectiveness.
Dr. Richter is the Missouri state coordinator for SW-PBS. She coordinates the activities and training for the regional consultants, and works closely with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Missouri University Center for PBS to facilitate the growth and purposeful implementation of SW-PBS in Missouri. She is dually certified in general and special education, as well as administration, and has served in each of these capacities throughout her career. She also serves as an adjunct professor for the University of Missouri.
Dr. Richter has provided training to districts and states in the U.S. and has participated in a number of research projects associated with PBS. She looks forward to working with all stakeholders in Missouri and with partners throughout the U.S. to further the implementation and sustainability of SW-PBS.
Julia LePage is the Interim Director of Effective Practices, Division of Special Education with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). She serves as the SW-PBS Contact for the State Department of Education. Ms. LePage holds a Masters of Science Degree in Behavior Analysis and is certified by the Behavior Analyst Certificate Board (BACB). Prior to working at the Department, Ms. LePage worked as a Behavior Consultant in multiple school districts across North Texas. She also taught Life Science to Middle and High School Students.