Portfolio assessment is a method of teacher evaluation that is consistent with a professional rather than a technical view of teaching, enabling graduate students to document their creativity and wide-ranging skills. This article describes the development of a portfolio model of evaluation in a graduate program in behavior disorders at Western…

This study of risk characteristics of 100 Illinois children/adolescents with emotional/behavior disorders admitted to programs to prevent the need for residential placements found that most of the children were in single parent families; almost 85% had average or above average intelligence; and almost half were exposed to divorce, poverty,…

Reactions to Lloyd Dunn's 1968 paper and Evelyn Deno's 1970 paper calling for educational reform for students with disabilities are discussed from the perspective of an emotional and behavior disorders specialist. Several underlying issues are highlighted, such as the relationship of special education to general education, the mutability of…

This study investigated adult adjustment of 82 students with behavioral disorders 1 and 3 years after exiting high school. Results are reported for general status (e.g., marital status and living arrangements); employment (percent employed, job classification); and "successful" adult adjustment. Results are also compared by graduation status…

Reports the responses of families in Kansas who live with a seriously emotionally disturbed and violent child. Contains interview responses to specific questions posed to family members about how they counter the child's aggression, how they deal with acting out, how they de-escalate tension, how they rebuild the caring bonds, and how they manage.…

The Parent Education and Guidance Program is an eight-month program that utilizes parent support groups and professionals from various fields to involve parents of handicapped children in a group process directed toward meeting the child's social, emotional, and intellectual needs. The program attempts to create a positive, ongoing relationship…

Examined the relationships between family members' internal images of their hospitalized adolescents and those adolescents' actual pathological behaviors during the months prior to hospitalization. Assessed images held by parents of the adolescents and the adolescents' self-images along six dimensions of individual and interpersonal functioning.…

This paper summarizes brief functional assessments of 79 cases of people with developmental disabilities and self-injurious, aggressive, stereotypic, or other aberrant behavior. Outcomes were evaluated across three variables: (1) referring topography, (2) control over behavior, and (3) the identified maintaining conditions for aberrant behavior.…

Three elementary students with behavioral disorders were trained to use a cognitive "cover, copy, and compare" strategy to learn division facts. Two students increased their rate of correct responding to mastery level, the third student required additional feedback and goal setting, and all three students maintained increased rates of…

Investigated factors considered by 118 school psychologists, 119 principals, and 108 special education teachers in making distinction between students with serious emotional disturbance and those with social maladjustment. Found moderate disagreement between groups on behavioral or background descriptors differentiating emotionally disturbed and…

Describes a treatment program which combines cognitive, behavioral, and expressive therapies targeted at reducing dysfunctional patterns of cognition, affect, and behavior of aggressive youths. Also presents interventions for unwilling and resistant clients. (HTH)

Describes the Supervised Independent Living Orientation Program (Michigan), which provides a transition into relatively unstructured independent living to adolescents and youths with a history of behavioral and emotional disturbances, including delinquency and psychiatric hospitalization. Discusses contracts used in the program. (BB)

This study with 65 individuals with mental retardation and additional seizure and/or psychiatric or behavioral disorders found that 9.2 percent experienced medication (carbamazepine) side effects, ranging from irritability to mania. More side effects were experienced by individuals with behavioral or psychiatric disorders than by those with an…

A survey of Wisconsin teachers of 230 students with emotional/behavioral disorders found that classroom observations, student interviews, and behavior rating scales were most helpful in instructional planning. Teachers generally found student evaluation data helpful in planning Individualized Education Programs. Teachers chose evaluation…

This study compared teacher and parent ratings on the Homework Problem Checklist for 111 children (either learning disabled, behavior disordered, or typical; ages 7 to 17). The study found that both groups with disabilities experienced more problems than the typical children, and the group with behavioral disorders had the most pronounced…