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Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children enables earlier access to services and better ability to predict subsequent development. A vast body of literature consistently shows discrepancies in the age of diagnosis between children from varying socio-economic levels, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The present study examines the effect of sociodemographic factors on age of ASD diagnosis among the three primary ethnic sectors in Jerusalem region: secular and modern religious Jews, ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arabs. Findings indicate minimal differences in age of diagnosis prior to the age of six, although Arab children of this age were largely minimally verbal. After age six, no Arab children were referred for an evaluation.

Purpose: This article presents a conceptual synthesis of the international literature on inclusive education while expanding upon, and incorporating, the articles in this special issue. The authors present their 3P model (philosophy, policy and praxis) and relate each paper in this special issue to different aspects of their model. Design/methodology/approach: This article serves as an epilogue to this special issue of the "Journal of Educational Administration" as well as a discussion of historical and conceptual distinctions between mainstreaming and inclusion while examining global trends in understanding the move toward inclusive education. Findings: The authors examined the detrimental effects of ableism and a medical model of disability and their effects on the educational system. They conducted an analysis based on examining the philosophy, policy and practice of the inclusive movement, specifically by examining conceptual models and inclusive decisions, conceptual frameworks for describing inclusive policy and a focus of the application to educational administration. The authors examined the global movement from segregation/exclusion to integration and then to inclusionary praxis. Research limitations/implications: The authors maintain that the inclusion literature lacks a sound positivistic empirical base, and so they present throughout the article possible avenues for such research as well as future directions for comparative research. Practical implications: Understanding the philosophical underpinnings of the inclusive movement is central to developing viable inclusive educational settings. The authors distinguish between inclusive schools and local educational authorities where stakeholders have moved toward an inclusionary system (the minority) versus locales who are reluctant to move systems to actual change. Originality/value: This article takes a wider view of inclusionary practices, from one focusing on children with disabilities to one focusing on historical and traditional exclusionary practices. By widening the scope of the inclusion discussion, to one of exclusion, the authors present a viably wider lens to educational administration.

This study explores correlations between bystanders' intervention styles by means of the bullying circle model. Three aims were examined in this study. First, we reevaluated the number and type of bystander intervention styles in aggressive school incidents. Second, we examined the association between reports of relational aggression and victimization and bystander intervention styles. Third, we estimated relationships between the different bystander intervention styles, by examining two directional paths. Participants were 1,518 adolescents (61.9% boys, 38.1% girls) from 15 Israeli religious and secular middle and high schools. The data analysis indicated two new intervention styles: help-seeker and passive bystander. Two structural models, illustrating the path leading to and from provictim and antivictim bystander intervention styles are presented. The distinction between the "participant-role approach" and the bullying circle is discussed in order to address the theoretical difference between social categorization of fixed bystander roles as opposed to rating bystander intervention styles on a continuum.

Whether to intervene or not during a bullying situation influences how the interaction plays out. The researchers present a theoretical model of social dominance orientation, moral disengagement, and intervention self‐efficacy vis‐à‐vis intervention behaviors. Data were collected from 284 Israeli Hebrew speaking adolescents. Participants were recruited using a snowball sampling technique. The results of structural equation modeling reveals that moral disengagement was a mediator between the association of social dominance orientation with the pro‐bully bystander and outsider behaviors. Pro‐bully bystander and victim‐defender behaviors positively influenced the outsider behavior, and self‐efficacy was related to the victim‐defender behavior. Our results expand the understanding of the relationship between bystander intervention behaviors and motivational factors. Practitioner points: Bystander behavior influences how the interaction plays out.Bystander behavior is associated with social dominance orientation, moral disengagement, and intervention self‐efficacy.In understanding bystander behaviors of the pro‐bully bystander and the outsider, moral disengagement is mediated levels of social dominance orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questionnaires were given to 392 elementary school teachers to examine help-seeking or help-avoidance in dealing with classroom behavioral problems. Scale validity was examined through a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Using a series of multivariate regression analyses and structural equation modeling, we identified predictors of motivational goals, predictors of attitudes toward help-seeking or help-avoidance, and a model of teachers' attitudes toward help-seeking or help-avoidance. Results revealed four types of attitudes. Two reflected a positive approach to seeking help, but for different reasons: the first is intended to end the confrontation rapidly, and the second strives to develop new coping abilities. Also, two avoidant behaviors intended to avoid seeking help were revealed: one from fear of failure, and the other from a desire to deal with the problems independently. These four positions support a model of teacher help-seeking, where seeking or avoiding help arises from a combination of implicit theories, efficacy beliefs, and motivational goals. Suggestions for further research into motivational factors of teachers when seeking help in coping with behavioral problems are suggested, as well as a call for a renewed consideration of the effectiveness of teacher support mechanisms.

This study had three primary goals: to explore the relationship between narcissism, participant roles, and aggression; to examine the role of gender as a moderating influence on narcissism-based aggression; and to examine how these variables work together to influence aggressive outcomes in a sample of aggressive middle and high school students. Narcissism and aggression appear to be similarly related for males and females; however, when examining high aggression males and high aggression females, we found that males were more influenced by leadership and authority aspects of narcissism and females were more influenced by self-absorption/self-admiration aspects of narcissism. Participants break down into three primary groups: perpetrators, helpers, and bystanders. For both genders, being a helper (either as a help-seeker or defender) is positively correlated with exploitiveness.

Antisocial behavior and school aggression in youth has been linked with affective, interpersonal, self-attributional, and behavioral characteristics; these traits have often been associated with psychopathic behaviors among adults. Psychopathic traits were examined in nonclinically-referred youth exhibiting antisocial and aggressive behavior. Using the School Violence Inventory and the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD), two participant roles (pure aggressors and aggressive victims) involved in school aggression were examined in a sample of middle and high school students (N = 3,981). A series of within and between-subjects analyses, followed by hierarchical regressions showed that different scales of the APSD, primarily the narcissism and impulsivity scales, were associated with aggression and that the aggressive victims' scores were highest on these measures; nonaggressors did not have elevated narcissism scores. Findings partially support the hypothesis that some psychopathy traits are related to the aggressor rather than the nonaggressor participant roles.

This study presents an attempt to widen the study of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) to include children not formally identified by the school as having EBD through examining the case of extreme school aggressors and their victims. The research describes the validation of the School Violence Inventory (SVI) and its use to map participant roles in six types of school aggression and victimization. Middle and high school students in Israel (N = 10,383) completed the SVI and were designated as uninvolved, pure aggressors, pure victims, and mixed aggressor--victims for direct physical, relational, and sexual aggression and victimization. Results showed a main effect for grade level for all types of aggression. Multiple hierarchical regressions showed different trajectories for each of the four participant roles. Implications for future research delineating the psychological markers of each of the different roles and implications for the future study of EBD are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 9 tables.)

We present an analysis of the current state of practice in the diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities (LD) in Israel. Through an examination of the cultural, historical, and demographic background of the country ("deep structures"), we show how a fragmented society has developed; it segregates different ethnicities and social groups and has led to an educational system ("surface structures") that perpetuates that separation. Special education law also reflects and perpetuates that social reality. However, since 2002, the Israeli Ministry of Education, through legislation and ministerial guidelines, has embarked on a mission to include children with LD fully in the general education curriculum. This change is meaningful, because it is foreign to the Israeli educational perspective. The development of a response-to-intervention model that includes a specialist (called a "Matal") charged with providing diagnostic and prescriptive case management is still in its experimental phase and its efficacy has yet to be evaluated. However, adoption of this model has already had an effect on the testing and diagnosis of LD. Future trajectories of Israeli LD are also discussed.

We conducted three studies which examined the performance vs. skill acquisition model of social skills deficits. In Study 1, baseline social behaviors for a random sample of 12 boys with comorbid emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), learning disabilities (LD), language delays, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) revealed that prosocial behaviors as well as inappropriate behaviors exist comorbidly in behavioral repertoires, supporting a performance rather than acquisition model of social competence difficulties. In Study 2, an ABAC design was used to examine the efficacy of a self-management intervention with noncontingent (B) and contingent (C) reinforcement for three elementary aged boys with EBD. Generalization was demonstrated in natural settings for the contingent reinforcement phase only, but was not observed over time. Study 3 replicated Study 2's procedures using an ABAC multiple baseline across participants design with a sample of adolescents with varying degrees of mental retardation. Two of the three participants responded favorably to the self-monitoring training and showed marked improvements in prosocial play skills during recess; for the third participant, no behavioral changes were observed. Results from all three studies are discussed from a social learning theory perspective. The efficacy of the data collecting procedure and implications of the results are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 6 figures.)

A study involving 1,107 teachers and student-teachers compared special educational policies in Israel and under the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian teachers tended to have a more radical view of issues concerning education and equity as they pertained to the necessity of educating all children in order to build a strong nation. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This article describes changes taking place in Israeli special education. It discusses the goals of special education, diagnosis and placement, special education procedures, criticism of the special education law, and the current status of special education in Israel. The movement towards increased inclusion is highlighted. (Contains 7 references.) (CR)

Two multiple baseline designs were used to evaluate a two-stage model for training four young adults with visual and cognitive impairments to grocery shop. A task-analytical flow chart of the behavioral skills involved in grocery shopping was used to increase completed skill steps and the number of correct items purchased. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

An alternative model of social skills instruction that does not assume social skill deficits, but rather deficits in self-regulatory behavior, was used with three boys with severe behavior disorders. Self monitoring procedures were used to cue social skills, were effective in altering participant's social behaviors, and created maintained positive change. (Contains extensive references.) (Author/CR)

Examines an alternative model of social skills and social competence training through conceptualizing social skills deficits according to a dichotomous model with elementary school special education students. Data suggests increases in prosocial behaviors as a result of the monitoring procedures. Presents suggestions for further research. (Author/JDM)

A study compared qualitative aspects of social problem-solving skills of 79 persons with developmental disabilities and 104 typical adults. Individuals with developmental disabilities found employment-related social problems were difficult to solve effectively followed by social skills in the community and in an independent living situation. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Describes the development of the Readiness Inventory (RI), a measure of readiness for first grade. The RI was completed on 139 first-grade children and analyzed using a model of Item Response Theory. Findings indicate that behaviors dealing with academic skills are less indicative of readiness than abilities dealing with role-governed behaviors or strategic learning behaviors. (Author/GCP)

This study examined the effects of a cross-age peer-tutoring program on the social skills of two sixth-grade and two socially rejected and isolated kindergarten boys. Peer tutoring consisted of the older boys conducting social-skills training with their younger tutees. The frequency of positive social interactions increased for all four boys, with maintenance of treatment gains at five weeks post-treatment. (Author/DB)

A study involving 453 pairs of Israeli parents and teachers used an item response theory measurement model(IRT) to examine the 28-item Conners Teacher's Rating Scale (CTRS) for diagnosing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. IRT analyses revealed structural inadequacies involving the inappropriateness of the 4-point Likert-type scale used by the CTRS. (Author/CR)

Peer-to-peer aggression and bullying is a social phenomenon and is related to social structures in the school. In-group membership as well as construction of the other and differentiation from other potential groups is an important predictor of one's social identity. Social Dominance Orientation is an important addition to social identity theory as it examines both issues of social dominance and social egalitarianism and is related to out-group denigration. In this study, we examined whether social dominance theory (both the dominance and egalitarian forms) will add to the prediction of physical and relational aggression among adolescents. Using a bias-corrected 3-step approach, we used Latent Profile Analyses to examine the responses of 1617 Israeli adolescents on measures of social dominance and egalitarian orientation, salience of their social groups and moral disengagement. Based on the analysis, we identified four classes of respondents, which can be broken down into two distinct categories: high social dominance and moral disengagement and high social egalitarianism. We compared male and female adolescent respondents and group salience. We then compared the four latent profiles on the two distal variables of physical and relational peer-to-peer aggression. Findings have theoretical and applied relevance to further investigating issues of group dynamics and construction of the other as potential predictive factors in understanding peer-to-peer aggression and bullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the extent to which the perceived behavioral control factors of pro-social, emotional, or verbal-social self-efficacy (SE) as well as external locus of control (LOC) explain the variance between different participant roles: relational aggressors, relational victims, relational aggressive-victims, and bystanders. Participants included 1,518 adolescents (61.6% boys and 38.4% girls) from 15 Israeli middle and high schools. Multinomial logistic regression models indicated relational aggressors, and aggressive-victims had lower pro-social SE and higher verbal-social SE than relational victims and bystanders. Relational aggressors, aggressive-victims, and victims had more extensive external LOC than bystanders. The theoretical contribution of verbal-social SE is discussed, and practical implications are highlighted, in particular, regarding the relational aggressive-victim, who exhibits high-risk behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on understanding learning disabilities (LDs) as a non-specific risk factor for delinquency among adolescent at-risk girls and investigates academic, social and emotional self-efficacy of adolescent girls with and without LDs in three educational settings: youth protection authority facilities (YPA), special education (SE) and general education (GE). In addition to self-efficacy variables, the study also gathered emotional-behavioural data. The sample included 46 girls adjudicated in YPA facilities, 31 with LDs, and 15 without LDs, 7 girls placed in SE settings due to their LDs, 23 girls attending GE settings, 14 with LDs, and 9 without LDs. Non-parametric analysis indicated that GE girls without LDs had the highest general and academic self-efficacy beliefs compared to all other research groups. YPA girls with LDs had the lowest general self-efficacy beliefs among research groups, and SE girls had the lowest academic self-efficacy. Regression analyses indicated LDs as main effect variable predicting all types of self-efficacy, except emotional self-efficacy beliefs. SES, institution type and anxiety were also frequent variables predicting variations in self-efficacy beliefs. Reasonable academic self-efficacy beliefs found among adjudicated girls with LDs can indicate academic self-efficacy as an achievable resilience factor, especially when working with at-risk girls suffering LDs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]