On-Line Courses: The Seven Sure Solutions

On-Line PD Courses: The “Seven Sure Solutions” Series

Over the past 40 years, Dr. Howie has delivered thousands of keynotes, presentations, seminars, master classes, workshops, and course across the country and internationally. He taught graduate courses for over 20 years at two Research I universities (the State University of New York at Albany, and the University of South Florida), and he has developed on-line courses for such institutions as the American College of Education.

Given this professional development experience and his on-site consultation expertise, Dr. Howie has developed a series of on-line courses that are informative, current, practical, and that produce field-tested results. These courses are organized in The Seven Sure Solutions Series because each course discusses seven science-to-practice components that are needed to accomplish its field-based outcomes.

Each course involves approximately 15 to 20 hours to complete with the content delivered primarily through powerpoint presentations. Selected readings and monographs are provided, along with a handout for each presentation, periodic quizzes, and specific tools that are referenced along the way. A transcript and audiotape of each presentation also is included.

[See Descriptions of these On-Line Courses and Purchasing Information]

On-Line Courses Currently Available

I. Coping with Stress in a Stressful World: Teaching Students How to Manage Their Emotions, Thoughts, and Behavior

      This four-session video-course is for administrators, general and special education teachers, related service professionals (counselors, educational/school psychologists, social workers), and other interested educators or clinicians.

      The course differentiates between anxiety, stress, and trauma, and discuss how students’ emotional “triggers” result in fight, flight, or freeze responses. We talk about ways to teach students emotional self-regulation in the classroom so that they learn how to prevent and prepare for stressful situations. And, we address how to analyze why some students still have difficulties, and what cognitive-behavioral interventions our mental health professionals may need to consider. All of this is adapted for both general and special education classrooms.

[CLICK HERE for a More Detailed Description and/or to Purchase this On-Line Course]
[CLICK HERE for a FREE 30-Minute Webinar from this Course]
[0 Stress Course Syllabus 2021.pdf]

II. Implementing Effective Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports: Academic and Social-Emotional Prevention, Assessment, and Intervention

     This seven-session (with two Bonus Sessions) professional development video-course provides everything that districts and schools need to evaluate, redesign, and implement their own successful multi-tiered systems of support. Designed for district and school administrators, student service and special education directors, and related services personnel, this is accomplished by providing field-tested tested, step by step information on how (a) to implement a sequential MTSS process with decision rules on involving consultants, early intervention specialists, the MTSS Building-level Team, and services for students with disabilities; (b) to establish a well-functioning MTSS Building-level Team; (c) use a science-to-practice data-based problem-solving process to analyze struggling students; and (d) how to link functional assessment results to high probability of success academic or social, emotional, and behavioral interventions.

Why is this Course Critical to your District/School Success?


[CLICK HERE for a More Detailed Description and/or to Purchase this On-Line Course]
[CLICK HERE for a FREE 30-Minute Webinar from this Course]
[0 0 MTSS Course Syllabus 2021.pdf]

On-Line Courses Coming Soons

  • Course A.  The Seven Sure Solutions for Improving Student Outcomes through School Improvement, Strategic Planning, and Systemic Change
  • Course B.  The Seven Sure Solutions for School Discipline, Classroom Management, and Student Self-Management (Integrating Social-Emotional Learning and Positive Behavioral Support Systems, while Addressing Inequity and Disproportionality)
  • Course C.   The Seven Sure Solutions for Teaching Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills to Students: Improving Academic Engagement and Self-Management from Preschool to High School
  • Course D.  The Seven High-Hit Reasons for Students’ Challenging Behavior: A 21st Century Process Linking Functional Assessment to Effective Intervention
  • Course E.  The Seven High-Hit Tier 2 Interventions Addressing Students' Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Challenges in the Classroom

[See Descriptions of these On-Line Courses and Purchasing Information]

The Seven Sure Solutions Courses: Brief Descriptions

Course A.  The Seven Sure Solutions for Improving Student Outcomes through School Improvement, Strategic Planning, and Systemic Change

This course discusses the science-to-practice approaches that help districts and schools use strategic planning, organizational development, and school improvement processes effectively. Topics will include: (a) Creating a shared leadership culture and facilitating staff buy-in; (b) Conducting needs assessments, SWOT analyses, and resource evaluations; (c) Using data-based decision making while tracking ESEA indicators and outcomes; (d) Developing effective multi-tiered academic and social, emotional, and behavioral instruction and intervention systems; (e) Implementing successful professional development, evaluation, coaching and mentoring, and staff feedback and remediation processes; (f) Involving home/family and community constituencies and resources; and (g) Planning for realistic implementation and student success.

[CLICK HERE for More Information and/or to Enroll Now]

Course B.  The Seven Sure Solutions for School Discipline, Classroom Management, and Student Self-Management (Integrating Social-Emotional Learning and Positive Behavioral Support Systems, while Addressing Inequity and Disproportionality)

This course discusses the preschool through high school science-to-practice approaches that help districts and schools implement effective school discipline, classroom management, and student accountability systems. Topics will include: (a) Creating Shared Leadership and Staff Buy-In; (b) Nurturing Positive School/Classroom Climates and Prosocial Student and Staff Interactions; (c) Teaching Students Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Self-Management Skills; (d) Establishing Student Motivation and Accountability through the Behavioral Matrix Process; (e) Creating Safe Common School Areas; (f) Addressing Peer-Related Teasing, Taunting, Bullying, Harassment, Hazing, and Fighting; (g) Responding to Unique Students Situations (such as the impact of poverty, racial discrimination, disability, trauma, etc.); and (h) Planning for realistic implementation and student, staff, and school success.

[CLICK HERE for More Information and/or to Enroll Now]

Course C.   The Seven Sure Solutions for Teaching Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills to Students: Improving Academic Engagement and Self-Management from Preschool to High School

This course focuses on how students’ social, emotional, and behavioral skills significantly contribute to their academic engagement and performance by discussing the importance of social skills instruction for all students from preschool through high school. Using the evidence-based Stop & Think Social Skills Program and its focus on teaching interpersonal, social problem solving, conflict prevention and resolution, and emotional control and coping skills, the course discusses (a) how to choose and implement a social skills program as part of a school-wide Social-Emotional Learning/ Positive Behavioral Support (SEL/PBSS) program; (b) what social skills are most important, and how to teach them in a regular classroom setting; (c) how to apply social skills instruction to the classroom and building routines, and to prevent teasing, taunting, bullying, harassment, hazing, and physical aggression; and (d) how to successfully use social skills instruction as part of a multi-tiered process for special education and other students with more challenging or significant behavioral problems.

[CLICK HERE for More Information and/or to Enroll Now]

Course D.  The Seven High-Hit Reasons for Students’ Challenging Behavior: A 21st Century Process Linking Functional Assessment to Effective Intervention

For students with social, emotional, and/or behavioral challenges, the completion of a functional assessment often is a significant part of the problem-solving process.  While functional assessment approaches have existed since the 1970s, they do not significantly differ from their historical roots, and thus, they have not kept up with over 40 years of research that has helped us to more specifically understand why students present with behavioral challenges. This course focuses broadly in the following areas:  (a) discussions about the steps that school-level Student Assistance Teams (or the equivalent) should take when conducting data-based problem solving; (b) descriptions of the seven “high-hit” reasons why students present with behavioral challenges, and discuss how to assess these reasons as part of a “21st Century” functional assessment; and (c) demonstrations on how to link each high-hit functional assessment reason with specific social, emotional, or behavioral interventions. 

[CLICK HERE for More Information and/or to Enroll Now]

Course E.  The Seven High-Hit Tier 2 Interventions Addressing Students' Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Challenges in the Classroom

There are many reasons why students demonstrate disobedient, disruptive, defiant, and emotionally disturbing acting out and “checking out” behaviors in their schools or classrooms. This course links the primary root causes of these social, emotional, and behavioral challenges with the seven most-effective Tier 2 interventions that most school professionals either do not know or do not use strategically or effectively. Some of these interventions address student skill deficits, others student performance or motivational deficits, and other student self-control deficits. Step-by-step implementation protocols and case examples are provided throughout.

[CLICK HERE for More Information and/or to Enroll Now]

About Dr. Howie

Howard M. Knoff, Ph.D. (Howie) is the creator and Director of Project ACHIEVE, and an internationally-known innovator and hands-on practitioner in the areas of:

  • District/School Success, Continuous Improvement, and Turn-Around (ESEA/ESSA)
  • Strategic Planning, Organizational Development, and Shared Leadership (Committees/PLCs)
  • School Discipline, Classroom Management, and Student Self-Management (PBIS/SEL/PBSS)
  • Special Education (IDEA) Planning and Implementation: Multi-Tiered (MTSS/RtI) Services and Supports for Academically Struggling and Behaviorally Challenging Students
  • Curricular Alignment, Differentiated Instruction, and Academic Interventions for Struggling Students
  • Social, Emotional, and Behavioral (Social Skills) Instruction, and Strategic/Intensive Interventions for Challenging Students
  • Conference Keynotes and Professional Development/In-Service Workshops
  • Due Process Hearings and Special Education Litigation (Expert Witness Testimony and Representation)
  • Grant Writing and External Funding Support

Over the past 40+ years, Howie has implemented Project ACHIEVE components in thousands of schools or districts— training in every state in the country. He has also been awarded over $40 million in federal, state, or foundation grants for this work. Awarded grants include: Safe Schools/Healthy Students, School Climate Transformation, Elementary and Secondary Counseling, Title I, Safe and Drug-Free School, and MetLife grants.

Howie served as the Director of the State Improvement Grant (SIG)/State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) for the Arkansas Department of Education—Special Education Unit from 2003 through 2015. Here, he was directly responsible to the state's Special Education Director, and his Project ACHIEVE program was the foundation for the state's PBIS, Multi-Tiered Services (MTSS), and school improvement process (for all Focus schools).

Before his work in Arkansas, Howie was a university professor for 22 years (leaving as a tenured Full Professor) at two Research I institutions—the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, and the State University of New York at Albany. At USF, he was the Director of the School Psychology Program for 12 years, and he established and directed its Institute for School Reform, Integrated Services, and Child Mental Health and Educational Policy for over a decade.

Dr. Knoff received his Ph.D. degree from Syracuse University in 1980, and has worked as a practitioner, consultant, licensed private psychologist, and university professor since 1978. He has authored or co-authored over 25 books, published over 100 articles and book chapters, and delivered more than 4,000 papers and workshops in the U.S. and abroad. He worked with the Department of Defense Dependents School District during Desert Storm in 1991, has collaborated with the Southern Poverty Law Center, and has been an expert witness in federal and state court innumerable times, largely representing special education and other students in need.

A recipient of the Lightner Witmer Award from the American Psychological Association's School Psychology Division for early career contributions in 1990, Dr. Knoff also is a Fellow of that Division, a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, a Licensed Psychologist in Arkansas, and he has been trained in both crisis intervention and mediation processes. Frequently interviewed by the media, Dr. Knoff has been on the NBC Nightly News, numerous television and radio talk shows, and he was highlighted on an ABC News' 20/20 program "Being Teased, Taunted, and Bullied." Finally, Dr. Knoff was the 21st President of the National Association of School Psychologists which represents over 25,000 school psychologists nationwide.