The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) is currently being used in clinical and genetic studies of autism as both a screener and as a quantitative measure of autistic traits. This article assesses the influence of nonspecific factors on SRS scores to aid researchers in their interpretations of these scores. In their commentary, Constantino and…

In this article I outline how and why I have established a self-assessment system for class participation scores in an English-speaking skills course at a Japanese university. I explain how my experience with one particular student, who personally admitted to having abused the system, led me to realize that elements from Yin and Yang have been…

The Communities In Schools (CIS) Model of Integrated Student Supports aims to reduce dropout rates by providing students with integrated and tiered support services based on their levels of need. The model includes preventive services that are available to all students (Level 1 services) as well as intensive, targeted, and sustained services…

The delta-plot method (Angoff, 1972) is a graphical technique used in the context of test equating for identifying common items with aberrant changes in their item difficulties across administrations or alternate forms. This brief research report explores the effects on equated aggregate scores when delta-plot outliers are either retained in or…

This brief is intended to provide State Education Agency (SEA) and Local Education Agency (LEA) educators with a brief overview of key components of Michigan's Integrated Behavior and Learning Support Initiative (MiBLSi), a project designed to help schools develop schoolwide support systems in reading and behavior. The MiBLSi is helping districts…

Young children entering school with poor oral vocabulary skills may be doubly disadvantaged. Their poor oral vocabulary skills will likely impede their attempts to become proficient readers while also possibly increasing the frequency of their problem behaviors. Dialogic reading (DR) is a scientifically validated shared storybook reading…

Corbin High School is located in a small, rural community of approximately 8,000 residents in southeastern Kentucky, midway between Lexington and Knoxville, Tennessee. The mission of Corbin High School is to provide opportunities that will help each student prepare for a successful transition to college, the workplace and life. This report…

This article proposes an unusual identification strategy to estimate the effects of disruptive students on peer behavior and academic outcomes. Because boys with names most commonly given to girls may be more prone to misbehavior as they get older, they may become differentially disruptive in school. In elementary school there is no relationship…

This article presents propensity score matching as a method to implement randomized conditions to analyze service effects using nonexperimental data. Most social work research is challenged to implement randomized clinical trials, whereas administrative and survey data are often available and can provide valuable information about services…

As researchers have examined the so-called "behavioral phenotypes" of different genetic mental retardation conditions, the measurement of behavior becomes increasingly important. From earlier, more global examinations of noteworthy behaviors or profiles, recent researchers have moved from reliance on a single, all-encompassing questionnaire to…

This study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Policy Studies Associates, Inc. finds that regular participation in high-quality afterschool programs is linked to significant gains in standardized test scores and work habits as well as reductions in behavior problems among disadvantaged…