Functional assessment and functional analysis are processes that have been applied successfully in work with people who have developmental disabilities, but they have been used rarely with students who experience emotional or behavioral disorders. In the present study, five students in elementary school programs for severe emotional disturbance…

Children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk for emotional dysregulation and behavior problems that can escalate to levels requiring psychiatric hospitalization. Evaluating the etiology of such behaviors can be challenging for health care providers, as individuals with ASD can have difficulty self-reporting concerns.…

Two functionally-indicated choice-making interventions were implemented by a classroom teacher to determine the effects on the percentage of task completion, accuracy, and classroom disruption for 9 sixth through eighth grade participants with emotional and behavioral disorders in a residential math classroom using a reversal design. Results…

Over the past several decades, the Latino population throughout the USA has demonstrated significant growth and exceeded that of other ethnic minority groups. This influx is particularly evident in the student enrollment of US schools as the number of Latino students has increased by approximately 10 million within the past 10 years. With this…

A high school student with a learning disability struggles under intense pressure to meet standards of a state's standardized testing. Fearing that his failure will cause teachers to be fired, he acts out in ways to be punished. This interview shows how valuable it is to drain off intense emotions and make sense of a situation following a…

Three adolescents (ages 14-17) with emotional and behavioral disorders displayed chronic disruptive behavior in their self-contained classrooms at a self-contained alternative school. A descriptive functional behavioral assessment was conducted for each student. Data from file review, structured interviews, and direct observations were used to…

The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to describe current instructional policies and practices in a one-day treatment center in North Carolina for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The following research questions guided the study: (1) What are the curriculum policies, practices, and philosophies of day…

Assessment and identification of children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) is complex and involves multiple techniques, levels, and participants. While federal law sets the general parameters for identification in school settings, these criteria are vague and may lead to inconsistencies in selection and interpretation of assessment…

Systems of care can be used to help coordinate and direct resources both external and internal to a school, thereby providing critical supports for students with emotional and behavioral challenges that historically have not been available to educators. In this study, hierarchical linear modeling was used to longitudinally examine school…

The purpose of this article is to describe an applied method of assessing and manipulating environmental factors influencing student behavior. The assessment procedure is called structural analysis (SA) and can be a part of a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) process or a stand-alone set of procedures for teachers to use in their classrooms.…

Eighteen students (K-11th grade) with emotional/behavioral disorders who were at-risk for change of placement to more restrictive settings participated. Construct validity of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) was assessed with a multifunction-multimethod matrix that showed excellent convergent and divergent agreement with combined FBA methods…

This study looks at the utilization of assessments on developing behavior intervention plans (BIPs) and their use in designing actual implementation for the children (elementary through high school) labeled EBD in a mid-sized district in eastern Washington. Files were reviewed to determine the types of assessments used, FBA components addressed,…

There is currently controversy over the validity and applicability of function behavioral assessment (FBA) procedures with students with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD). A set of FBA procedures, including teacher and student interviews and direct classroom observations, were carried out with eight students with disabilities (7 classified…