A study of the status of alternative education (AE) in Pennsylvania surveyed 220 administrators and 234 teachers and counselors in AE settings. Results indicate that discipline programming was common to most programs, probably because Pennsylvania's AE legislation specifically states that AE programs are "designed to modify disruptive…

This new edition updates and expands the previous volume and continues to reflect the concepts and the reasons behind learning and behavior problems of low achieving and disadvantaged students. Through the chapters, the author describes instructional levels and independent levels, emphasizing that success is produced by finding the place on the…

Through direct observations of activities, conversations, and social interactions involving children with emotional or behavioral challenges, this study investigated practices child care staff used to include these children in their program, as well as child to child interactions, and supports put in place for times of transition between…

This resource helps special and general education teachers prepare for encounters with disruptive, defiant, or hostile students by showing them how to defuse undesirable behaviors and structure "face-saving" alternatives. Tips cover setting limits, arranging the classroom for safety, providing a sense of purpose, dealing with parents, and…

This study used the Parenting Puppet Interview, an age-appropriate measure of the child's perspective of the mother-child relationship, as well as maternal report of the relationship, to predict teacher reports of behavioral and emotional problems. Forty-three children, ages 4 through 6 years, and their mothers and teachers participated in this…

This study compared the well-being of children born to mothers younger than 17 years old(very young teens), 18 to 19 years old (older teens), and mothers in their early twenties. Measures of well-being were assessed in five domains: (1) health and psychological well-being; (2) quality of home environment; (3) cognitive development and educational…

The report describes activities and achievements of the Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) Teacher Inservice Project. The inservice program was developed using a formal process to identify the critical issues related to ADD awareness, assessment, and intervention. Program content was designed to address critical issues identified in the research…

Every year, approximately six million children transfer to new schools, leaving them vulnerable to social, behavioral, and academic problems. This book provides a look at this stressful and frequent life event for children, and offers practical strategies for easing the transition and helping children adjust to new environments. Research has…

In the context of a national discussion regarding behavior management in child and youth care settings, and in an effort to address the need to care safely and appropriately for children and youth, the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) formed the National Task Force on Behavior Management. The task force includes representatives of advocacy…

In order to examine the responsiveness of federal policies to the known risk and protective factors for academic and behavior problems at the beginning of school, the Child Mental Health Foundations and Agencies Network commissioned the two papers that make up this publication. One paper reviews the last two decades of relevant scientific…

This study monitored classroom quality throughout three Head Start programs in the Southeastern United States, using the "Assessment Profile for Early Childhood Programs: Research Edition II." A random sample of classrooms was selected to represent high and low quality classrooms in urban and rural settings. Parents and teachers rated…

This paper discusses the outcomes of a study that examined social skills as a contextual factor of African American male students with and without behavior problems. Forty-four African American male students (grades 3-5) reported three placement designations: mainstreamed with learning disabilities, mainstreamed with emotional disturbances, or…

In 1996, North Carolina began a 5-year evaluation of alternative learning programs (ALPs). This report contains in-depth case studies of four ALPs during the 1996-97 school year. The ALPs were selected to represent different types of programs in the state, and include one middle school, two high school, and one elementary school programs. The case…

Certain characteristics of schools make them adequate to the task of primary prevention of behavior disorders. Current preventative efforts center on two strategies: modification of school environments and competence building. Implications for school psychologists are discussed. (Author/MH)

A study involving 17 elementary school teachers investigated the effects of directly training teachers in problem-solving skills to enhance their performance on a consultation-related activity (parent-teacher conferences) regarding student-related problems. Results found the direct training enhanced the teachers' skills in describing students'…