By looking at the positive strengths of your students with special needs, you can help those students flourish, ensure their success, and align their instruction to Common Core State Standards. One of our most popular authors, Thomas Armstrong, shows you the steps you need to take to establish a more favorable, productive learning environment for…

Presenting a broad range of instructional programs and practices that are proven effective for students with behavioral disorders, this is the first resource of its kind for K-3 teachers and special educators. Described are clear-cut strategies for promoting mastery and fluency in early reading, writing, and math, while tailoring instruction to…

The paper describes for elementary and secondary teachers a planned, direct, and systematic way of teaching prosocial behaviors to behaviorally disordered students. The assessment process involves a pre-teaching assessment in which students and specific instructional skills are selected and a post-teaching assessment phase which includes…

The article discusses the value of teaching self-monitoring skills to students with mild behavior disorders and offers specific strategies for teaching them to use the process. Among procedures recommended are to define the behavior explicitly, simplify behavior counting and recording, and practice the process. (CL)

The author explains the five-pronged approach to reading and spelling through classifying words into "simple,""fancy,""insane,""tricky," and "scrunched up" categories, and reports average gains of two grade levels in one semester by junior high school students with severe behavioral problems who learned the approach. Examples of the five word…

Teachers of behaviorally disordered students can supplement their basic intervention program by teaching self-monitoring, setting goals for and with students, stating the consequences, suggesting alternative behaviors, and rehearsing alternative behaviors. (CL)

Teaching social routines to behavior-disordered children is addressed, with an emphasis on determining and maintaining the critical effect of a behavior and on providing contextual instruction. Assessment of behavioral problems in functional terms is discussed and procedures for assessing social functions and social skills are analyzed. The…

Discusses how an investigative approach to mathematics can help develop mathematical power in children with behavioral disorders using the story of one such boy. (KHR)

Argues that behaviorally disordered students can benefit from the use of newspapers in their formal instruction. Presents a series of teaching suggestions for affective development, daily living, and vocational awareness including: categorizing, cause and effect, use of graphs, and arithmetic skills. (RS)

The process approach to teaching writing can be a useful tool to develop important skills in emotionally disturbed/behavior disordered students. Skills such as self-exploration, self-expression, problem solving, risk taking, and interaction with others can be improved through the writing process. An enhanced self-concept is another product of this…

This article explains how cooperative-learning behaviors can be taught systematically and directly to students with behavior disorders using a four-step procedure in conjunction with an enhanced cooperative-learning environment to encourage generalization. Application with five primary grade students is reported. (DB)

This article suggests ways in which special educators of students with emotional and behavioral disorders can introduce puppets into their classrooms as educational and therapeutic instruments. Puppets are able to help students identify problems and find rational solutions in a nonthreatening situation. Two sample applications are included. (DB)

Studying photography helped bring about positive behavior changes in high school students with severe behavior disorders. Because the students were most interested in and impressed with the technology of photography, technical aspects of photography were emphasized in the course. A course outline is included. (RM)

Interviews Katherine McNeil, a special education teacher and behavioral specialist for the Northwood JAG ("Just Achieving Greatness") Program for middle school students with severe behavioral disorders. Notes the JAG website provides an overview of this successful program, samples of student work, rubrics, and resources for teachers. Outlines how…

The chapter outlines an approach to teaching behavior-disordered students to follow the largely unwritten rules of being "good students." A section on research and theory addresses attributions and perceptions, dependence, study skills, and social skills training. Assessment philosophy and procedures are reviewed, including the collection of…