From its inception as a disability category in the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, serving students under the special education category Emotional Disturbance (ED) has been a challenging task for school psychologists. In particular, the vague and ambiguous federal definition has created an environment in which inconsistent assessment…

Youth exhibiting symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are frequently referred to school psychologists because of academic, social, and behavioral difficulties that they face. To address these difficulties, evidence-based assessment methods have been outlined for multiple purposes of assessment. The goals of this study were to…

This study assessed the convergent and divergent validity of the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA; LeBuffe, Shapiro, & Naglieri, 2008). A total of 227 (n = 94 teachers, n = 133 parents) raters completed the DESSA, in addition to the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scales-2 (BERS-2; Epstein, 2004) and/or the Behavior Assessment…

Exceptionally bright and capable students with learning disabilities, often referred to as being twice exceptional, may fail to meet learning disabilities criteria if a strict psychometric approach is taken. To make an accurate diagnosis, an evaluator must consider their special circumstances, unique abilities, educational histories, and…