Universal screening for emotional and behavioral risk in schools facilitates early identification and intervention for students as part of multitiered systems of support. Early identification has the potential to mitigate adverse outcomes of emotional and behavioral disorders. The purpose of this study was to extend existing research on the…

Social skills are specific behaviors that individuals exhibit in order to successfully complete social tasks whereas social competence represents judgments by significant others that these social tasks have been successfully accomplished. The present investigation identified the best sociobehavioral predictors obtained from different raters…

Base rate information is important in clinical assessment because one cannot know how unusual or typical a phenomenon is without first knowing its base rate in the population. This study empirically determined the base rates of social skills acquisition and performance deficits, social skills strengths, and problem behaviors using a nationally…

Reviews evidence concerning Interagency Committee on Learning Disabilities's proposal to include social skills deficits as specific learning disability (LD). Proposes three hypotheses: causal, concomitant, and correlational. Found most support for correlational hypothesis, but proposes fourth, functional relationship hypothesis as most…

Reviews and critiques relevance of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition-Revised (DSM-III-R) for school psychological practice. Presents five misguided assumptions upon which DSM-III-R use is based, dealing with medical model conceptualization of behavior; reliability; validity; relevance for special education…

Responds to critiques by Reynolds and by Hynd of previous article (Gresham and Gansle, this issue) which reviewed relevance of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition-Revised (DSM-III-R), and noted irrelevance of DSM-III-R for school psychology practice. Addresses misconceptions/misconstruals of objective facts in…

This article discusses the process of assessing social skills with students who have emotional and/or behavioral disorders. It describes a three-stage problem-solving model of problem identification, problem analysis, and treatment evaluation. Specific social skills assessment strategies are described and linked to a classification system of…

Investigated stability of sociometric classification system. Found that, among 137 students in kindergarten through grade 4, scores upon which sociometric classifications were based were moderately stable, but sociometric status was unstable over 1-year interval. Reclassification rates for extreme groups (rejected, neglected, controversial,…

The multitrait multimethod model of test validation is a conceptual approach for collecting, organizing, and integrating this information in making classification and intervention decisions for handicapped children. Typical problems with assessment practice are discussed with suggestions for overcoming these difficulties using the…

Discusses qualifying students with high-incidence disabilities as eligible for special education. Examines relationships between authoritative definitions of disabilities, federal and state regulations, assessments conducted that are designed to measure the criteria in the regulations, and the use of assessment data in assigning children to…

Learning disabled (LD) students are often poorly accepted by peers and exhibit deficits in social skills. Research on LD students' social behavior is reviewed and the definition, assessment, and classification of social skill deficits are discussed. Needed improvements in professional training, in practice, and in public policy relating to LD…