This article reviews and analyzes the functional behavioral assessment (FBA) requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997 and its regulations. It explores school district obligations under the law, including the need for training faculty to conduct FBAs, adhere to the procedures of IDEA, and provide quality…

A hypothetical case study is presented to show how a teacher might incorporate choice-making opportunities for a student with emotional and behavioral disorders who is failing math. Practical strategies are suggested that special and general educators may use in their academic curricula to encourage students to make appropriate choices. (Contains…

In this article we discuss the definition of emotionally disturbed (ED) from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, with a specific focus on the clause contained in this definition, which is designed to exclude from special education services students who are considered to be socially maladjusted (SM). The history of the SM exclusionary…

Mental health services are delivered to children in many settings, including inpatient psychiatric facilities. In 1997, over 280,000 children and adolescents were admitted to inpatient psychiatric settings for services related to emotional or behavioral disorders. Building a bridge between hospital and school professionals is necessary to maintain…

Background: Recognition has grown over recent years of the need for economic information on the impacts of child and adolescent mental health problems and the cost-effectiveness of interventions. Methods: A range of electronic databases were examined using a predefined search strategy to identify economic studies which focused on services,…

Background: Deficits in executive functioning are supposed to have a predisposing influence on impulsive or aggressive behaviour. We tested the hypothesis that oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) children with or without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have problems in executive functioning. Method: Seventy-seven 7- to 12-year-old…

Special educators have historically used psychological theories to explain students' disruptive and oppositional behavior. Sociological research and theories have played a secondary or even nonexistent role. The sociology of education tradition within general education has developed an extensive literature examining student misbehavior. This…

This article provides an analysis of the current knowledge base of social skills training (SST) with students with, or at risk for, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD). This knowledge base is evaluated with respect to issues regarding construct, internal, external, and social validity of the SST literature. Research syntheses investigating…

Objective: The authors report the adaptive functioning of hyperactive and control children in southeastern Wisconsin (Milwaukee) followed to young adulthood. Method: Interviews with participants concerning major life activities were collected between 1992 and 1996 and used along with employer ratings and high school records at the young adult…

A description is provided of the Garrison Model, an educational therapeutic program for youth with severe behavior disorders which emphasizes a student's responsibility for choices that are made. The model was developed at the Garrison School, a public alternative day school in Illinois that serves students with severe behavioral disorders. The…

This report describes the development and testing of two measures of job-related social behavior of adolescents and young adults, ages 14-21, with behavior disorders (BD). Following an introduction of the concept of job-related social behavior, detailed descriptive information and data are provided on development and field testing of the…

This monograph is intended to help special educators design social behavior curricula that teach alternative or replacement behaviors for negative behaviors to students with emotional/behavior disorders (E/BD). Each section contains a brief description of a behavior replacement technique, an explanation of why a particular technique works,…

This report describes an exploratory evaluative assessment of the first year of 2 alternative public schools for 117 chronically disruptive, committed, and/or non-attending students (grades 6-12) in Georgia. The CrossRoads program is intended to provide students with the social services, individualized instruction, and/or transitions to other…

Due to the overuse of physical containment within the agency where this practicum study was conducted, an in-service training program was designed and implemented aimed at better preparing staff to de-escalate aggressive behavior. A three hour training session and a conclusive one-and-a-half hour long testing period (involving lecture, role play,…

This report describes first year activities and results of a project comparing two early interventions with 102 children (grades 1 and 2) at risk for emotional or behavior disorders. Fifty-nine children received an intervention involving social skills lessons given on a whole-class basis at least twice a week with information sent home regularly…