This article discusses three major purposes of observation in functional behavioral assessment: to describe and help analyze the classroom events leading to challenging behaviors, to develop and evaluate the accuracy of hypotheses about these triggers, and to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for challenging behavior developed from the…

This article discusses key aspects of school-based efforts to identify school context variables that can either ameliorate or exacerbate the risk for violence and aggression. A review of risk factors for aggression is followed by discussion of intervention in early childhood, intervention throughout middle childhood and adolescence, teaching…

This case study of a second grader with emotional/behavior disorders and poor academic progress, especially in mathematics, demonstrates the use of functional assessment, development of a hypothesis, intervention development, and intervention evaluation. The case study also shows how functional assessment can be integrated into the classroom…

Examines the rationale for implementing a "responsible inclusion" model for students with emotional/behavioral disorders, and discusses critical components for such a program's development. A checklist of supports is presented, along with a process chart for depicting levels of commitment toward responsible inclusion. (CR)

This article addresses two types of issues related to policy decisions. First, it examines policy as it relates to the logistics of conducting an FBA. Second, it discusses issues related to proactively preventing serious behavior from occurring in schools. (Contains 13 references.) (CR)

This article describes the advantages a functional assessment of instructional conditions offers to teachers dealing with student problem behavior and discusses teacher instructional practices found to be proximal to student learning and on-task behavior. Reasonable hypotheses are suggested for the function of problem behavior as it relates to…

Describes a successful school and classroom enhancement package specifically designed to prevent the development of serious antisocial behavior in children. Details the critical school-based processes related to the emergence of antisocial behavior that guide the intervention design and some preliminary positive outcome data on program…

Examination of trends in aggression and violence in Russian youth identifies risk factors including political factors, economic factors, ecological factors, the crash of ideals and decrease of morality, cultural factors, family problems, educational aspects, mass media influences, and delinquent groups. Incidents of youth violence and aggression…

Describes the Alternative School Program (ASP) in Willington (Connecticut), a pull-out program that uses a "core group" team approach to provide special services for students with behavior problems. It explains the program's methodology (facilities, operating principles, and the core group concept); its results (documentation of ASP…

This study used two reading programs with three students in a self-contained class for children with emotional and/or behavior disorders. Results indicated that when instruction sets students up to succeed on a daily basis and monitor their own progress, positive academic and social outcomes are likely. Single subject research results and…

This article explains how cooperative learning techniques can be used to teach interpersonal social skills, describes the cognitive-behavioral model for treating deficits in social problem-solving skills, and outlines the critical steps for using peers as social skills trainers in classrooms with antisocial students. (DB)

Fifty directors of special education in a midwest state were surveyed regarding the use of aversive procedures with students having emotional and/or behavioral disorders. The survey addressed school policies and uses of time out, manual and mechanical restraints, teacher training, corporal punishment, and rage therapy. Survey questions and answers…

Discusses the failure of schools to prepare students with disabilities, their peers, the faculty, or the environment before placing a student with a disability in the general-education classroom. Components of a quality program for students with disabilities are described, including an appropriate curriculum and specific successful classroom…

There is mounting evidence that the majority of severe and chronic problem behaviors demonstrated by school-aged children and adolescents stem from behavior patterns that are established during early childhood. Without early identification and proactive prevention/intervention among young children at risk, problem behavior is likely to continue to…

Meaningful employment can have a significant impact on the lives of young adults with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Unfortunately, too few adolescents with EBD experience successful employment outcomes upon leaving high school. In this article, the authors review components of secondary educational programming that may contribute to…