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Strength-based assessment has achieved acceptance from educational, mental health, and social service professionals as a means to measuring emotional and behavioral strengths of children. Several standardized, norm-referenced tests have been developed to assess these strengths; however, the primary mode of assessment is via informal interviews of parents and caregivers. In many cases, these interviews lack psychometric support, including basic validity and reliability. The purpose of this study was to document the multistep process used to establish the content validity of a newly developed instrument: Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale: Strength-Based Interview. Specifically, the results of a survey of 40 U.S. professional mental health staff and educators are described where respondents rated the importance of interview questions to the construct of strength-based assessment. The findings of the survey as well as the 18 items deemed most important are reported. Research limitations, future research, and implications for mental health and educational professionals are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges of working within rural schools can impact successful implementation of a multitiered system of supports (MTSS). Although special education and general education teachers’ responsibilities within a MTSS framework have been addressed through a myriad of school districts across the nation, rural districts face unique challenges that can impact successful MTSS implementation. Some of these rural challenges include, but are not limited to, teacher preparation and training, recruitment and retention, limited flexibility of teacher time, and inadequate access to material and space resources. This article addresses critical issues related to successful rural implementation of a MTSS, including the presentation of three data-based strategies rural districts can employ, referred to as the rural A-B-C’s: (a) approach academic and behavior instruction simultaneously, (b) be creative with data opportunities, and (c) collaborate with purpose. Case study application and tables are provided for ease of implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Emotional and Behavioral Screener (EBS) is a recently developed teacher-reported brief screening instrument for identifying students who are at-risk of an emotional or behavioral disorder (EBD). Although prior research supports the technical adequacy of scores from the EBS, there is a gap in the literature regarding strong evidence of the factor structure underlying EBS scores. This study investigated the latent structure of scores from the EBS in a sample of 646 elementary students who were rated by their teachers in a 2-week screening period. Single-factor confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and bifactor models were used to test the hypothesis that EBS scores are a measure of both overall emotional and behavioral risk and students’ externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results supported a bifactor structure, in that scores from the EBS can be considered to represent a general factor (i.e., risk of EBD) and two group factors (i.e., externalizing and internalizing domains). Findings have implications for interpreting scores when using the EBS as a universal screener for the risk of EBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early identification of student behavioral needs allows educators the opportunity to apply appropriate interventions before negative behaviors become more intensive and persistent. A variety of screening tools are available to identify which students are at risk for persistent behavior problems in school. This article provides two examples in which the Emotional and Behavioral Screener (EBS) was used to identify students at risk of emotional or behavioral problems. Example 1 demonstrates how the EBS can be used within a schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports framework to inform decision making. Example 2 demonstrates how the EBS can be used to inform behavioral intervention decisions in an individual teacher's classroom. Finally, suggestions for using the EBS across various school formats are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents research findings which examine students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). One research found the effectiveness of peer-mediated interventions in improving academic performance of students with EBD. Another research indicated the efficiency of self-mediated interventions as academic interventions for students with EBD. Researchers who examined teacher-mediated interventions indicated positive findings, with more than 90% of the studies showed positive outcome.

The article reports on the dynamics of early literacy development with emphasis on several concepts regarding learning process. The two fundamental skills which were cited as having a significant influence in academic success are the sound-letter correspondence and basic decoding activities. This confirms the proposition that a young child's understanding of letter sounds and their respective patterns guarantees a better reading skill.

Objective: This article reports findings of three studies addressing convergent validity and test-retest reliability of the Youth Rating Scale of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-Second Edition (BERS-2). Method: Pearson product-moment correlations were used in all three studies, the first two addressing convergent validity and the third addressing test-retest reliability. Results: Analysis indicated that (a) the six BERS-2 subscales and overall strength index were generally highly positively correlated with the social skills composite score from the Social Skills Rating System-Student Form (Secondary Level, Grades 7 to 12), (b) the BERS-2 subscales and strength index were generally moderately negatively correlated with the Problem scales of Achenbach's Youth Self-Report, and (c) test-retest reliability coefficients over a 1-week period were all above .80. Conclusions: Results provide evidence that the BERS-2 Youth Rating Scale has acceptable psychometric properties and may be considered for use by social work practitioners in assessment and intervention activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review examined the effectiveness of teacher-mediated interventions with respect to the academic functioning of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Thirty studies using a variety of teacher-mediated interventions met the criteria for inclusion in this review. Findings from these studies indicate teacher-mediated interventions are successful across academic subject areas. However, the participant characteristics were defined poorly, and the settings used within these studies did not accurately reflect the current EBD population's actual classroom placement. Finally, a lack of programmatic research on teacher-mediated interventions has made it difficult, if not impossible, to generalize the outcomes of these studies to broader populations of students with EBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review conducted a comprehensive examination of the current state of the literature on the academic status of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The authors examined the literature to assess (a) student characteristics, (b) placement settings, (c) academic subject areas, and (d) measures used to assess academic achievement. Second, when possible, the functioning level of students was examined. Third, trends in the research over the past 4 decades were assessed. Although several investigators have researched the academic status of these students, significant limitations exist in the research, including incomplete reporting of student information, inadequate research on specific academic skill sets, and limited numbers of studies assessing students served in general education settings. Implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]