Special education teachers are tasked with ensuring the implementation of a free appropriate public education, which might also include supporting students who demonstrate severe problem behavior (SPB). Often, students with emotional and behavioral disorders are likely to engage in SPB in various forms such as physical aggression and property…

Goal setting is a research-informed intervention that has demonstrated improved behavioral outcomes for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. However, not all students will respond to goal-setting interventions delivered in a standard format, requiring planning, implementation, and ongoing evaluation of more intensive goal-setting…

This archival small-study meta-analysis was an examination of the across-study and in-study effects of functional behavioral assessment--based interventions on time-on-task for students with or at risk of emotional disturbance (ED)/emotional behavioral disorder (EBD). A sample of 15 across-study K-6 learners (11 males, 4 females; ages 5-13) was…

Research has shown that most children with emotional disturbance (ED) are struggling to use communication skills and they may tend to use inappropriate behaviours as a form of communication to disclose their needs. A function-based communication intervention might be an effective approach to decrease inappropriate behaviours of children with ED.…

In my brief commentary, I offer a look to the past to celebrate lessons learned in social, emotional, and behavioral assessment. Then, I respectfully pose considerations for researchers and practitioners committed to early detection, intervention, and assessment of students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Specifically, I…

The most common behaviors eliciting a student referral for special education evaluation related to emotional disturbance (ED) are adult- and peer-targeted aggression. Curiously, the word aggression, which is an externalizing behavior, does not appear anywhere in the federal description of ED. Despite the lack of clarity surrounding definitions, as…

Special education teachers have one of the most challenging and stressful jobs in public education, which often leads to increased burnout. High levels of burnout have, in turn, been related to lower levels of fidelity of implementation in delivery of evidence-based behavior interventions. The purpose of this position paper is to (a) propose…