This collection of papers presented at a 1996 conference on children's mental health focuses on financing strategies of systems of care. Individual papers have the following titles and authors: (1) "Arizona's Implementation of Managed Care in the Public System: A State's Perspective" (Stephen Perkins and Valinda Mores); (2) "The…

This paper describes George Washington University's Teacher Preparation Programs for Children with Emotional Disturbance, which uses a Professional Development School (PDS) model to deepen understanding about the specific needs of students with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) and prepare outstanding classroom teachers. Goals are to improve…

Curriculum content for adolescents with behavioral disorders should emphasize academic learning as well as social and behavioral skill development. "Therapeutic academics" is proposed as a process of teaching academics that is therapeutic in its systematic focus on the behavioral and social needs of students. A therapeutic academic curriculum…

The Saskatoon Region Shared Service was formed by one urban and three adjoining rural school divisions in Saskatchewan (Canada), to serve a small, widespread population base of special needs students. The Shared Service established the Behavior Adjustment Model to develop a continuum of services for children with social and emotional problems. The…

This monograph, one of a series on youth with disabilities and the juvenile justice system, focuses on best practices for reducing delinquency and preventing recidivism. This essay notes that, because of the connection between disability and delinquency, it is likely that a significant portion of court-involved, disabled youth can be expected to…

This report describes activities and accomplishments of a 3-year federally supported project to develop, implement, and evaluate a model for training paraprofessionals to support students with disabilities in general education classrooms and those who direct and supervise their work. Training materials were developed with a high degree of…

This paper describes implementation of a combined active training and consultation project with 64 school staff members in a large urban district. Participation was broadly associated with increased staff knowledge of effective behavior management and instructional strategies, successful implementation of skills at the classroom level with…

The First Step to Success program was implemented with 22 kindergartners who showed early signs of developing antisocial behaviors. All 16 who completed the program showed significantly increased levels of academic engaged time, with follow-up levels generally maintained at acceptable levels. Overall behavioral improvement was significant but…

A total involvement project in a mainstream upper school was initiated by a British local education authority as part of a restructuring of support for pupils with behavioral/emotional difficulties. Exclusion was reduced, the behavioral management structure was improved, and a higher quality of support was offered at earlier stages. (Contains 9…

This article describes the Movement Poetry Program, a program designed to increase poetry appreciation and to release, through movement, the excess tension of students with learning and/or behavioral disabilities. The article includes a suggested teaching style, a lesson format, and content for combining poetry and creative movement. (SW)

This article reviews the effects of homework on students with disabilities (especially learning disabilities or behavior disorders), the essentials of effective homework programs, and variables affecting home-school partnerships. It highlights three training packages: a cooperative learning teams-based approach for classrooms and two parent…

This article defines, provides a rationale for, and describes the implementation of a classroom management level system in a middle school program for students with severe behavior disorders. The system is a motivational plan for behavioral improvement based upon a graduated series of levels with increasing student responsibility and privileges.…

This article describes a school-wide violence prevention program at one Oregon middle school. The school implemented the Second Step curriculum, which teaches students nonviolent alternatives to address conflict and concepts of empathy, impulse control, problem solving, and anger management. The process used to select, implement, and evaluate the…

This article describes characteristics of adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders, transition outcomes for these students, model transition programs, and key transition service delivery components, including: intake and functional skill assessment, personal future planning, wraparound social services, competitive employment, flexible…

A case study of an eight-year-old boy with emotional/behavioral disorders, learning disabilities, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is used to illustrate principles of inclusion. An analysis of the educational system and the student's needs is followed by a description of various inclusive interventions (such as academic modifications,…