The article reviews research on the academic status of behaviorally disordered adolescents and identifies research needs in the areas of sampling techniques, selection of dependent measures including curriculum-based assessment, assessment of the learning strategy, abilities of students with behavioral disorders, and instructional variables…

The position paper of the Executive Committee of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders endorses the use of flexible unified discipline policies. The paper defines discipline, offers a philosophy of school discipline, and identifies preferred practices in the areas of expectations and responses to violation of expectations. (DB)

This literature review evaluates studies of self-management procedures (including self-evaluation, self-instruction, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement) used with behaviorally disordered students in school settings. The analysis found general support for the techniques, but many procedural concerns need to be addressed in future research.…

Knowledge/skills statements were rated by 102 teachers of students with emotional/behavioral disorders as to importance, proficiency, and frequency of use. Means for all responses to the 201 knowledge/skills statements and weighted means for the 11 statement categories are reported, highlighting items similar to those published by the Council for…

This study of 103 students with behavioral disorders found that a much higher proportion of students had dropped out of school than had been graduated. Those who had dropped out of school were found to have experienced significantly more changes in educational service placements, school transfers, and previous releases than had their graduated…

A discriminant analysis of characteristics of students with behavioral disorders in three progressively more intensive placements indicated that age at time of diagnosis was the strongest discriminating variable contributing to placement outcomes. Younger, brighter students tended to be mainstreamed, and older students with more externalizing…

Implementation of a social skill training package with three elementary-school children who had behavioral and learning disorders resulted in increasing student acquisition of targeted social behaviors, which in turn led to lengthier peer interactions. Increases in nontargeted social responses were also demonstrated. (Author/JDD)

Caseloads of teachers of students with serious emotional disturbances/behavior disorders were examined to compare current service delivery across states. Caseloads ranged from 3 to 35 students per teacher. Evaluation of hypothetical relations between caseload and predicted student achievement showed that predicted achievement decreased as caseload…

A personal history of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD) is given, with special attention to CCBD's beginnings. The organization's development is traced and CCBD's political activism is recalled, including position papers and cooperative efforts with other groups. Changes in the field of behavioral/emotional disorders are…

This article discusses the promise and practice of functional assessment, provides a critical review of the existing experimental literature in the area of emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD), and presents a research agenda that will lead to more informed decisions regarding the use of functional assessment in the schools. (Contains…

The introductory article to this special issue notes the goal of elucidating the meaning of science and defining the notion of rigor in the social sciences with reference to special education and the field of emotional/behavioral disorders in particular. It describes the issue's guiding conceptual framework and provides a brief overview of each of…

Sutherland and Singh (2004) focus on the relationship between students' inappropriate behaviors and academic failure, articulating how this relationship may be mediated by learned helplessness in a reciprocally negative reinforcing cycle. In responding to their work, the authors suggest a thread of disciplined inquiry and contextual framework for…

Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) specifies that a behavioral intervention plan (BIP) must be developed for students with disabilities under certain disciplinary exclusions. IDEA, however, does not provide details as to what should be included in BIPs, and this lack of specific guidance often results in…

Comparison of current services for behaviorally disordered students in 126 school districts were compared with earlier (1964) findings. Differences were found in the level and types of services and the theoretical orientations. Similarities appeared in program goals, teacher role, and frequency of formal entrance and exit procedures. (Author/DB)

The study compared states identifying either many or few students as behaviorally disordered on the variables of (1) average per pupil expenditure, (2) size of minority population, (3) number of students identified as learning disabled. No significant differences between the two groups of states were found for the three variables. (Author/DB)