The quality of classrooms serving students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) is a continuing concern because of its influence on students' educational outcomes. Program evaluation of classrooms for students with EBD has been a recommended practice for many years since Grosenick, George, and George (1987) conducted their…

This article urges a more scientific approach to evaluation of effective practices in the field of emotional or behavioral disorders. It suggests that the rigor of analytical narrative synthesis and meta-analyses are more useful than qualitative approaches. The evaluative power of these two approaches is illustrated by examples related to…

Discusses hypotheses and methodologies needed to extend understanding of the ethnic representation of students with serious emotional disturbances. Technical methods are discussed to ensure that estimates for the extent of disproportionate representation are accurate. Research needed to produce better conceptual understanding of why…

This article reviews research conducted by the author and colleagues over a 27-year period on enhancement of peer-related social skills in young children with behavioral disorders or autism. It argues that a logical positivist approach has yielded significant quality-of-life benefits to participants while effectively challenging many outdated…

This paper identifies factors possibly influencing long-term effectiveness of social skills training with students having emotional or behavioral disorders. These include: lack of a sound conceptual framework, questionable social validity of target skills, controversies surrounding the nature of social skills deficits, imprecise assessment…

This paper postulates that cultural and societal factors have exerted a powerful force on the conceptualization and treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. A functional assessment approach is presented, along with a model for classifying performance deficits and methods for selecting intervention strategies based on the model.…

This "White Paper" examines issues surrounding the assessment of culturally diverse learners for behavioral disorders, and argues for use of a more functional assessment approach. The paper also points out that many facets of the functional assessment perspective already exist in two recent educational movements--pre-referral…

The role of functional behavioral assessment is contrasted with a longitudinal risk-factors exposure model for understanding and predicting maladaptive behavioral outcomes in applied settings. The strengths and weaknesses of each approach are discussed and the need for integration of the two approaches to gain a comprehensive understanding is…

Discusses issues and challenges inherent in early research in the field of intervention and prevention of conduct disorders, including recruiting and working with parents who are stressed by the effects of poverty; designing appropriate interventions for young children; and using outcomes measures that reflect developmental continuities, subject…

This article discusses evidence for functional behavioral assessment (FBA) procedures in terms of the meaning and interpretation of different forms of reliability and validity in FBA. It concludes that additional research needs to be conducted with various target behaviors across different settings to support the continued use of FBA. (Contains…

Describes functional assessment, discusses the need to translate research findings into formats and processes that can be used efficiently in applied settings, and stresses the need for research to continue to build a technology of functional assessment that meets the range of situations faced in schools and communities. (Author/CR)

Twenty-four studies involving functional assessment of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) or those at risk for E/BD are reviewed in three main areas: (1) characteristics of participants; (2) types of functional assessment procedures and instruments employed; and (3) the reliability and validity of these instruments and…

Discusses the paucity of research investigating the academic instruction of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Issues of measurements related to academic performance are reviewed, with the conclusion that the rate of academic responses provides the most desirable measure for research as well as for clinical application. (Author/CR)

Discusses logic and interpretation problems inherent in doing quantitative syntheses of single-case research. Addresses the meta-analytic method of using percentage of nonoverlapping data, highlighting special concerns related to withdrawal designs, sensitivity to variability in behavior, social significance of behavior change, and variables that…