The amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1997 (IDEA '97) established a number of expectations regarding how the behavioral needs of students with disabilities would be met and how they should be disciplined. These expectations included alternative behavioral assessment strategies (e.g., functional behavioral assessments,…

The authors provide an analysis of why the controversies surrounding educational treatment are likely to continue even with scientific validation of practices as called for in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act. They describe how bias in human judgment makes it difficult to trust others and also difficult to doubt oneself relative to important…

Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is based on the notion that thoughts, emotions, and actions are reciprocally linked and that changes in one of these necessarily will produce changes in the others. In CBT, thoughts, emotions, perceptions, and information processing styles all play a key role in the development and remediation of behavior and…

This study evaluated the effects of a repeated reading (RR) intervention on the oral reading fluency and comprehension of six urban fourth and fifth-grade students with and at risk for emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to study RR effects according to gains in reading fluency,…

Teachers (n=233) of behaviorally disordered students in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska were surveyed concerning time spent on: evaluation, teaching, preparation/planning, consultation, and indirect support to students. No significant differences were found between resource and self-contained classroom teachers, nor in the use of time between 1980 and…

Four papers comment on the work of the National Special Education and Mental Health Coalition, a group attempting to identify and remediate problems of behaviorally disordered/emotionally disturbed children/youth. Specifically discussed are: service-related issues, the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders' role, and the Council for…

The social skills and family climate of 53 Israeli behaviorally disordered adolescents were compared to 56 nondisabled controls. Subjects viewed themselves as socially adequate, but viewed their skills as highly interrelated, whereas controls revealed a more differential concept. Subjects' teachers viewed them as less socially competent than…

Two measures of community-based social behavior for adolescents and young adults with emotional and behavioral disorders, the male and female forms of the Test of Community-Based Social Skill Knowledge and the Scale of Community-Based Social Skill Performance, were examined. Results found the measures yielded acceptable reliabilities and exhibited…

This paper identifies recurrent themes in prevention of behavioral and conduct disorders, including early intervention and family-focused prevention services; school-based prevention programs (such as peer mediation, social skills training, and self-management training); and within- and across-setting collaboration. Key areas for prevention…

This article discusses the need to incorporate research findings in developmental psychopathology, psychiatric comorbidity, and psychopharmacology in school mental health programs to enable early detection and primary prevention of emotional and behavioral disorders in students. A response stresses the need for a multidisciplinary approach.…

The quantitative synthesis of 89 correlations from 16 studies of behavioral ratings and classroom observations suggested significant problems in the areas of the construct of behavioral disorder and criterion-related validity of widely used measures of social behavior. A "components of variance" model is proposed to aid in educational decision…

This article describes the language abilities of 20 boys aged 10 to 13.5 years who were admitted to residential treatment because of their significant and persistent antisocial behavior. Primary diagnoses included oppositional/defiant disorder and conduct disorder. Eighty percent carried the additional diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity…

Describes challenges involved in ensuring successful transition for youth with emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD) and makes recommendations for improving transition services, including: maintain linkages with community agencies and businesses, write cooperative agreements, facilitate referrals to other agencies, and link students with…

A survey of 692 regular and special educators found that teachers selected punishing and exclusionary interventions most often for Asian-American students and least often for Hispanic-American students. Special educators were more likely than regular educators to use behavior interventions. Implications for teacher training, teacher…

In the Games As Measurement for Early Self-Control (GAMES) study, a battery of self-regulation assessments appropriate for use with ethnically diverse children from low-income families was created. Respondents were 71 English- and/or Spanish-speaking children. Findings indicate that many laboratory and clinical assessments are appropriate for home…