Behavioral consultation has been shown to be an effective way for school psychologists to work with teachers in implementing interventions for student problem behavior. Some teachers are resistant to the behavioral consultation process and thereby fail to implement agreed upon interventions with integrity, which is problematic considering the…

The author was favorably impressed with the breadth, scope, and quality of the articles in this issue that dealt with the various aspects and correlates of social behavioral functioning as well as assessment and intervention considerations. Each of these articles dealt with a unique aspect of social behavioral functioning in children and youth and…

Research has been unsuccessful at revealing an analogue to curriculum-based measurement in the area of progress monitoring for social behavior. As a result, there is a need to develop change-sensitive, technically adequate, feasible progress monitoring tools for social behavior that represent general outcome measures of performance. The purpose of…

The concept of treatment integrity cuts across a diversity of fields involved with providing treatments or interventions to individuals. In medical treatments, the concept of "treatment compliance" or "treatment adherence" is an important and problematic issue. In the field of nutrition, the concept of "dietary adherence" is important for…

Emotional and behavioral problems of students in the classroom have been rated as a major concern for teachers, administrators, and the public (Hardman & Smith, 2003; Macciomei, 1999). Without effective behavior management, a positive and productive classroom environment is impossible to achieve. The most effective model for producing behavior…

This article describes the current status and future directions for school-based behavioral interventions. The article is centered on four themes that are considered critical for future research and practice in school-based behavioral intervention work. First, conceptual interventions based on intensity level and purpose (universal, selected, and…

Although functional behavioral assessments (FBA) have long been considered "best practice" in the field of applied behavior analysis, their use by school psychologists has a much briefer history. To assist school psychologists in becoming better acquainted with FBA, this article overviews the conceptual foundations and underlying principles of FBA…

Assesses discriminate validity of teacher judgments in differentiating various groups of students who are at risk for learning difficulties based on referral to School Study Teams (SSTs). Large differences are found between controls and at-risk groups. Results from cross-validated discriminate function analyses shows teacher judgment correctly…

Describes the conditional probability methods (positive/negative predictive power, sensitivity, and specificity) used to differentiate children, judged by teachers as belonging to Social Competence (SC) or Low Social Competence (LSC) groups. Large differences were found in the number of social skills predicting LSC group membership for females and…

School psychologists have experienced difficulties in assessing students' behavior disorders, because of lack of training and problems associated with the traditional medical model of abnormal behavior. An alternative assessment model is described in terms of its five principles: problem solving; functional analysis; multiple operationalism;…

This study, an approach to controlling "acting-out" behaviors of handicapped children in elementary schools, describes the use of a home-based dependent group contingency to eliminate the destructive behavior (fire-setting, vandalizing property) of a mildly retarded eight-year-old boy. (Author/PN)

The multitrait multimethod model of test validation is a conceptual approach for collecting, organizing, and integrating this information in making classification and intervention decisions for handicapped children. Typical problems with assessment practice are discussed with suggestions for overcoming these difficulties using the…

The school consultation and pre-referral intervention literature has ignored a fundamental aspect of behavior change--treatment integrity (the degree to which a treatment is implemented as planned). Treatment integrity is discussed as it relates to the design, implementation, and monitoring of such intervention plans. (TJH)

The relative accuracy of teacher judgments of academic performance in classifying students as learning disabled (LD) or nonhandicapped (NH) was contrasted to standardized tests of intelligence and academic achievement. Results indicated that teacher judgments were as accurate in separating LD and NH groups as standardized tests of intelligence and…

Six methods for assessing children's social skills are described and evaluated. They are sociometrics, ratings by others, naturalistic observations, behavioral role plays, behavioral interviews, and self-report measures. Issues of definition, classification, and social validity are examined to provide a context for understanding problems and…