This book is intended to help parents and professionals understand the communication difficulties of children and adults who do not speak, including those with autism spectrum disorders. The first four chapters describe typical characteristics of nonverbal individuals and offer examples of the authors' approach to communication and the…

This paper describes Camp Ramah, a residential summer camp in Central Ontario that offers a one month program for adolescents with developmental disabilities. Up to 15 special needs campers, ages 12-25, participate with up to 400 campers and 150 staff in a residential camping experience. Most campers have mild to moderate mental retardation, some…

This study examined the extent to which an After-School Peer Tutoring (ASPT) program in a rural southeastern school district was effective in elevating achievement levels of 89 at-risk middle school students enrolled in the program for one semester. End-of-semester grade was used as a measure of performance. The study also analyzed indicators of…

The time for school psychologists to invest concentrated and intensive intervention is when students are very young and still in general education settings. This paper presents suggestions on ways to accomplish this through data collection, design of an intervention, staff training, modifying an intervention, and teamwork. To illustrate the…

School violence is an increasingly serious problem, especially in big cities and public schools. This publication surveys popular methods of violence prevention and divides them into three classes: school-management measures, environmental modification, and educational and curriculum-based measures. The review also considers structural conditions…

Prepared in support of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), which will examine children's early school experiences beginning with kindergarten, this working paper focuses on research regarding the measurement of young children's social competence, adaptive behavior, and approaches to learning. The paper reviews the key variables and…

A solution for high school male athletes who demonstrate unsportsmanlike behavior during competition is discussed. In recent years, there has been an increase in unsportsmanlike conduct among high school athletes, including the use of profanity and obscene gestures, public expressions of dissatisfaction, negative comments, incidents of vandalism,…

This brief presents an overview of findings from a U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) study that investigated how the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) affected the ability of schools to maintain a safe environment conducive to learning. A study surveyed 272 public middle and high school principals…

This paper examines the extent to which alternative education can meet the needs of disconnected youth who are at risk of economic and social hardship. It summarizes characteristics of disconnected youth, risk factors associated with disconnection, and characteristics of students in selected alternative education settings. The most common factors…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 requires Individualized Education Program teams to consider positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) based on functional behavioral assessment for students with disabilities whose behavior impedes their learning or the learning of others. To meet federal mandates, educational…

This paper examines how policies on student behavior and attendance are used to push students into dropping out of school. Although in the public mind the proliferation of dropouts is associated with a drain on the economy, there is no real evidence to indicate either that there actually are large numbers of dropouts or that dropping out is…

Youth Change presents on site workshops to train staff to deal with youth with problems. This workbook introduces the Youth Change curriculum and workshop, outlining some of the ways the program promotes social skill, school skills, and coping skills and introducing the Youth Change structured curriculum. Eight sample lessons are presented with…

This project was undertaken to develop a comprehensive account of the levels of problem behaviors in schools. It also looked at what schools do to prevent problem behaviors and how they promote a safe and orderly environment. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the study and explains some school-based interventions such as social competency…

The Survey of School-Based Gang Prevention and Intervention Programs is a study of approaches used by schools to reduce or prevent gang involvement among schools. Principals in a probability sample of 1,287 schools were asked what they were doing in their schools to prevent problem behavior or to promote a safe and orderly school environment.…