A study examined different types of and amount of vocational programming received by 398 secondary students with emotional or behavioral disorders and post-school outcomes. Generic vocational education and on-the-job- training had significant positive relationships with total earnings. All types of vocational education had inverse significant…

Two studies, involving 2 students (aged 11 to 12) with severe behavioral disorders, demonstrated that the use of cognitive behavior modification components, including self-instruction and self-monitoring, led to increased academic performance, and academic skill improvement led to a reduction in inappropriate classroom behaviors. (Author/JDD)

The article describes the Career Ladder Program for mildly handicapped high school seniors, providing supervised work experience programs based on principles from Re-Ed (Reeducation of Emotionally Disturbed Youth). Principles include team building, affective education, and interventions directed at reducing discord in the ecosystem rather than…

This study examined the effectiveness of a Positive Talk curriculum in promoting specific conversational social skills of nine incarcerated female adolescent juvenile delinquents. Sequential application of a multiple baseline across groups design demonstrated that the training was successful in promoting the participants' social skills.…

An adapted alternating treatments design was used to compare the effects of two interventions using different intertrial intervals on sight-word mastery rates among three elementary students with behavioral disorders and learning deficits. Results found both interventions to be equally effective in increasing sight-word reading accuracy.…

A survey of 102 institutions of higher education found that there is a short-fall of qualified personnel to fill the need for behavioral disorders faculty. Few of those graduating from behavioral disorder education programs choose careers in higher education. An insufficient number of minority group applicants was also a problem. (JDD)

Sixteen studies of self-management with students who have behavioral disorders are reviewed. Procedures involving self-instruction, self-evaluation, self-recording, and combinations are examined. Results indicate the effectiveness of the procedures in promoting social and academic behaviors and the need to systematically program for…

Describes functional assessment, discusses the need to translate research findings into formats and processes that can be used efficiently in applied settings, and stresses the need for research to continue to build a technology of functional assessment that meets the range of situations faced in schools and communities. (Author/CR)

Addresses functional behavioral assessment (FA) concerns within the context of speculation about the possible functions served by mandating the use of FA in 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Suggests that the nature of public policy may deserve as much attention as research findings. (Author/CR)

A study investigated variables that differentiated 75 successful and 76 unsuccessful students (ages 6-16) with serious emotional disturbances (SED). Four variables emerged as significant predictors of the unsuccessful outcome group: increasing enrollment age, presence of conduct or opposition disorder, lower verbal IQ, and absence of depressive or…

This rejoinder to critiques of "Behavior Disorders: A Postmodern Perspective" stresses that postmodernism is not a rejection of empiricism or of positivism but does place theory and research in a historical context. It is a critique of the exaggerations and abuses of research and theory but not research and theory themselves. (CR)

Reviews past and present conceptualizations and summarized narrative and meta-analytic reviews of social skills training (SST) outcome studies. Overall, modest effect sizes are reported in the meta-analytic literature, suggesting that SST is a relatively weak intervention strategy. Recommendations for rebuilding SST are provided. (Author/CR)

Twenty-four studies involving functional assessment of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) or those at risk for E/BD are reviewed in three main areas: (1) characteristics of participants; (2) types of functional assessment procedures and instruments employed; and (3) the reliability and validity of these instruments and…

Describes an experimental hypothesis-testing model of structural analysis designed to identify critical contextual variables associated with successful social interaction. Suggestions for general education settings are provided, with an emphasis on matching inclusive social environments to individual student antecedent variables. Strengths and…

Discusses the paucity of research investigating the academic instruction of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Issues of measurements related to academic performance are reviewed, with the conclusion that the rate of academic responses provides the most desirable measure for research as well as for clinical application. (Author/CR)