Dr. Mary Margaret Wood is best known for developing psychoeducational programs that integrate mental health and special education interventions for children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Developmental Therapy (DT) includes comprehensive assessment of student behavior, communication, social, and cognitive development,…

Instruction is the most important variable in special education, but it is often overlooked. Special instruction is what makes special education work, yet it is often neglected. We need to know more about how to teach both academic and behavioral skills more effectively, how behavioral and academic skills are interrelated, and how to choose those…

This paper proposes that the manner in which academic information is delivered to students with severe behavior disorders may be aversive. A case study illustrates how a 12-year old's disruptive behavior can be decreased concurrent with an instructional sequence which provides the information needed to complete a task prior to asking the student…

Aspects of W. Glasser's Control Theory are applied to the education of behaviorally disordered students. It is believed that stimulus/response theory and tools are inadequate with this population and that the stress should be on understanding internal motivating forces. The caring classroom, an approach which emphasizes ways to meet both the…

Teachers of students exhibiting behavioral deficits and excesses should focus on direct teaching of acceptable behavior, but this often does not occur because of teachers' feeling more comfortable teaching academic skills, paucity of curriculum materials, and such trends as minimum competency testing. Behavioral and cognitive approaches to…

This paper examines several major problems confronting special education for students with emotional and behavioral disorders; identifies successful practices and programs; explores factors that contribute to continuation of inadequate practices; and presents recommendations for improving educational practice, policy, research, and professional…

This "White Paper" examines issues surrounding the assessment of culturally diverse learners for behavioral disorders, and argues for use of a more functional assessment approach. The paper also points out that many facets of the functional assessment perspective already exist in two recent educational movements--pre-referral…

In this article, I examine challenges to better preparing teachers of students with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD). Foremost among these challenges is the lack of agreement regarding a conceptual framework upon which to build quality prevention/intervention practices; instead, various authorities advocate disparate approaches, not all of…

The article compares three levels systems (with levels representing stages toward self-management) for elementary, junior and senior high, and residential programs serving behaviorally disordered students. Levels systems offer structure within which various individualized treatments are implemented. A step-by-step procedure for developing a levels…

Reflections on the field of special education include observations, such as a looming crisis for students with emotional/behavioral disorders and future challenges. Associated suggestions include: (1) make prevention appealing; (2) work toward more interdisciplinary collaboration; and (3) advocate for research supported methodologies. (Contains…

Although students with emotional or behavioral disorders have historically experienced poor school outcomes compared to other students with and without disabilities, a number of effective practices are available that can make special education for students with emotional or behavioral disorders special. Within the three broad intervention areas of…

This article describes virtual reality (VR) technology and discusses its potential application to the teaching of social skills to children and youth with behavior disorders through the use of interactive role plays. Limitations of the current technology and difficulties inherent in modeling simulations of human behavior are noted, as are…

This article describes the advantages a functional assessment of instructional conditions offers to teachers dealing with student problem behavior and discusses teacher instructional practices found to be proximal to student learning and on-task behavior. Reasonable hypotheses are suggested for the function of problem behavior as it relates to…

This article proposes the use of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) to evaluate the effectiveness of the academic and behavioral programming for students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders. It suggests that CBM data may reveal features of effective instructional practices and that CBM may be particularly effective in addressing problems in…

Research is reviewed on classroom behavior, demandingness, and beliefs of effective teachers of nonhandicapped students with behavior problems, and the need for different attitudes and additional skills for teaching students with behavioral disorders is discussed. Teacher characteristics analyzed include instructional and management strategies,…