This paper discusses the results of a study that investigated the effectiveness of the Vermont Best Practices for Educating Students with Serious Emotional Disturbances in Their Local Public Schools and Communities project. The purpose of the project was to use best practices in the development of programs and services for students with serious emotional disturbances (SED) and their families, so that the students could remain at their local public schools, or plans could be developed so that the students could return from alternative placements. The model programs and support services that were developed through involvement of the Best Practices project focused on parent and student centered services, family-school collaboration, collaborative teaming, classroom accommodations, peer support, instructional support services, teaching prosocial skills, interagency involvement, behavior management, and transition planning. The effectiveness study included 36 students (grades K-12) in 27 Vermont schools. Results indicated that all but two of these students were successfully educated within the regular education classroom in their local public school. (CR)