Special education law and practice have undergone profound transformation over the past 50 years. Students with disabilities are now more likely to receive a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment possible; however, the ideals of the law have not always been manifested in effective practice. Although special education…

The number of students identified under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) with an emotional disturbance (ED) has remained remarkably stable over the last 30 years. During this time, approximately 1% of the school-aged population has been identified as disabled under the criteria set forth in IDEA (Kim, Forness, & Walker,…

Dealing with the behavioral problems of students is one of many dimensions of most educators' and schools' requirements. While research has repeatedly shown that a large number of children with behavior problems have underlying, unrecognized language difficulties, few schools have implemented programs where children with problem behavior are…

The majority of the literature on universal screening in education is devoted to academic screeners. However, research clearly indicates that other aspects of student functioning are closely associated with outcomes inside and outside of school. As a result, there are gaps in the current literature that call for additional research extending…

To assist states and local districts with planning for RTI, the National Center on Response to Intervention (NCRTI) has developed this information brief, "Essential Components of RTI--A Closer Look at Response to Intervention." This brief provides a definition of RTI, reviews essential RTI components, and responds to frequently asked…

Response to intervention began as a way to identify and teach struggling readers and special education students. It's fast becoming a way to change schooling for everyone. This special report examines the many forms the approach is now taking, its research base, its influence on the educational marketplace, and the federal regulations that both…

Response To Intervention (RTI) integrates assessment and intervention within a school-wide, multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement and reduce behavior problems. With RTI, schools identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based interventions, and adjust the intensity and…

This guide is designed to assist in providing appropriate educational services to secondary students who exhibit behavior problems. The guide discusses what is known about adolescence, as a basis for understanding secondary students. It examines methods of identifying students with behavior problems and proposes two courses of intervention based…

Focus is on a conceptualization of initial assessment and consultation, the problem-solving paradigm as a framework for guiding this activity, and a description of procedures and initial data from a demonstration program. (Author/DLS)

This paper describes the need for and effectiveness of a functional screening and initial assessment system for behavior problems among preschool children, called the Early Screening Project. Critical factors in the assessment of young children with behavior problems include measuring the frequency and intensity of problem behaviors relative to a…

This kit presents the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD) as a tool to identify behavior disorders in elementary-aged students. The SSBD procedure is a three-stage, multiple-gating mass screening system. In the first stage the teacher systematically ranks all students according to either externalizing or internalizing behavioral…

This paper discusses the characteristics, identification, and curriculum needs of gifted students who also have learning disabilities. Three different subgroups of twice-exceptional students are described: (1) students who have been identified as gifted yet are exhibiting difficulties in school; (2) students identified as having learning…

This digest discusses the occurrence of other disabilities which, in combination with diminished hearing, can create additional learning problems for children with hearing impairments. Topics on educational strategies for these children address: (1) the prevalence of other disabilities in children with hearing loss, including learning…

This handbook is intended to serve as a procedural guide for Utah school districts to improve the assessment and classification process for students who are behavior disordered. The handbook reviews Utah's definition of behavior disorders and explains some of the ambiguous terminology in the definition. The topic of social maladjustment is…

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…