Dr. Vern Jones shares his reflections on a career that focused on providing avenues for encouragement for youth and teachers who daily face challenges. His career is marked by an unflagging work ethic regardless of the role in which he was placed. Vern's work in enhancing the field of classroom management has resulted in approaches that have…

Dr. Mary Margaret Wood is best known for developing psychoeducational programs that integrate mental health and special education interventions for children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Developmental Therapy (DT) includes comprehensive assessment of student behavior, communication, social, and cognitive development,…

As a member of Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD) for over 40 years, and having served on the Executive Committee (EC) for over 10, this author is firmly bonded to the organization, and appreciates the EC's efforts to address the challenges facing it today. Obviously, foremost among these challenges is a substantial decline in…

The authors' association goes back more than 40 years, when they were both starting doctoral studies in special education for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) at the University of Kansas. In this article, the authors provide a balanced (albeit biased) account of the good and the bad, including some of the many achievements…

This article is in response to Dr. Jim Kauffman and colleagues' article titled "Problems Related to Underservice of Students With Emotional or Behavioral Disorders," which was published in volume 33, issue 1, of "Behavioral Disorders." The work referenced by Kauffman et al. was a report of a 4-year ethnographic study of the processes by which…

Attention Deficit Disorder, characterized by inattention, impulsiveness, and sometimes hyperactivity, is defined in this article. Symptoms are listed, standard treatments discussed, and strategies for teachers are recommended. (IAH)

How frequently are gifted children misdiagnosed? Frankly, there are no research data, though the authors know it occurs, and perhaps frequently. How do individuals draw this conclusion? Because the authors have tested children whose parents have come to them for a second (or third) opinion, and in their clinical experience it appears that…

This paper argues that the behaviorally disruptive child with aggressive tendencies might function better in a nonmainstreamed situation than in a mainstreamed classroom. Alternative options are presented. (Author/JDD)

An account is given by an eighth-grade English teacher of the ultimately unsuccessful efforts to manage a problem student. Lessons learned from the experience include the realization that classroom teachers can't "fix" every child. (IAH)

"School phobia" has generally referred to children and adolescents avoidant of school due to overwhelming fearfulness. This paper outlines the historical development of school phobia, including its transition from syndrome to symptom. Given the questionable validity of the construct, recommendations are made regarding future classification,…

This editorial introduces the papers in this special issue and contends that aggressive, violent student behavior is not the responsibility of schools alone but of the community. It argues that a strong proactive response to aggressive behavior's origins in childhood and effective interventions in schools will have substantial impact on violent…

This position paper discusses aversive conditioning and other behavior reduction procedures. Environmental modification, differential reinforcement, timeout, overcorrection, and corporal punishment are discussed in terms of current applications, with arguments for and against their inclusion in behavior modification. Eight guidelines are offered…

Teachers of students exhibiting behavioral deficits and excesses should focus on direct teaching of acceptable behavior, but this often does not occur because of teachers' feeling more comfortable teaching academic skills, paucity of curriculum materials, and such trends as minimum competency testing. Behavioral and cognitive approaches to…

Five special educators (Durand, Bambara, Dunlap, Kennedy, and Wacker) respond to an article in the same issue by Horner and Carr entitled "Behavioral Support for Students with Severe Disabilities: Functional Assessment and Comprehensive Intervention." Respondents raise concerns regarding the range of intervention options, the behavioral…

In this article, I examine challenges to better preparing teachers of students with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD). Foremost among these challenges is the lack of agreement regarding a conceptual framework upon which to build quality prevention/intervention practices; instead, various authorities advocate disparate approaches, not all of…