This article addresses legal concerns regarding the use of level systems to manage students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Concerns pertain to a failure to individualize the program, including restricted access to the least restrictive environment, curricular issues, and procedural concerns. A decision-making model to aid in designing…

This study surveyed 12 journals in the field of emotional and behavior disorders to explore trends in five dimensions of research: (1) subject characteristics; (2) settings; (3)research design; (4) dependent variables; and (5) independent variables (interventions). Negligible trends were found and few studies reported interventions that were…

Records for 463 students with behavior disorders were analyzed for behavioral, social/emotional, academic, and other deficits and educational objectives. Calculation of congruence between diagnostic information and the individualized education programs indicated a moderate lack of agreement, especially with respect to social/emotional areas.…

Both law and pedagogy require that educators address behavior interfering with educational progress for students with disabilities. The reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA, 2004) and its predecessor, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1997a), require individualized education program (IEP)…

Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) specifies that a behavioral intervention plan (BIP) must be developed for students with disabilities under certain disciplinary exclusions. IDEA, however, does not provide details as to what should be included in BIPs, and this lack of specific guidance often results in…