In order to qualify for special education services, students must meet criteria that signal a serious behavior disorder. The Executive Committee of the Council for Children with Behavior Disorders (1998) expressed the need to move away from norm-referenced measures and recommended utilizing a more functional assessment approach. Members of the counseling field also are advocating for behavioral assessment alternatives to more formal procedures. In light of these recommendations, this paper reviews four widely utilized behavior rating scales (Behavior Rating Profile, Child Behavior Checklist System, Conners Rating Scales, Walker/McConnell Scales of Social Competence and School Adjustment) regarding their recommended uses and behavioral descriptors. It suggests the following recommendations when considering a rating scale: (1) they should be supplemented with directly observed behavioral data; (2) educators should be aware that scales reflect perceptions about students and multiple informants and inter-rater reliability checks can corroborate or contradict these perceptions; (3) before using a rating scale, educators should make sure it reflects overall goals of the assessment process; (4) care should be taken so that information about the student is not skewed toward the negative; and (5) data on informant perceptions should be carefully considered. (Contains 1 table and 13 references.) (JDM)