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This study examined the viability of the Sentence Verification Technique (SVT; Royer, Hastings, & Hook, 1979) assessment tool as a curriculum-based measure of science content learning. Its perceived compatibility with statewide accountability test expectations made SVT a candidate for use in content-focused response to intervention frameworks. Each SVT probe included two science-focused reading passages and 32 accompanying questions (16 per passage). Participants included 486 students in Grades 4 through 6 in a rural school district. Concurrent criterion validity correlations with one state accountability and one nationally standardized test of science content across three grades ranged from 0.18 to 0.55, with predictive correlations ranging from -0.09 to 0.57. Internal consistency reliability correlations for the full probe ranged from 0.43 to 0.83. Test-retest reliability estimates across three grades ranged from 0.68 to 0.70. Study results inform discussions about the nature and structure of secondary school response to intervention assessment frameworks.

The present article provides educators of students with emotional and behavioral disorders with information on how to develop students' math-related self-monitoring skills. A rationale for fostering self-monitoring skills in math is followed by steps and helpful hints on how best to plan, implement, and evaluate a self-monitoring intervention across math content and settings. Readers also learn how to incorporate the self-regulation interventions of self-talk, schema instruction, and Cover-Copy-Compare within math-focused self-monitoring intervention programming.

Many Native American tribes are venturing into the marijuana industry. Tribes often have to rely on new business ventures to generate revenue for services, and marijuana shares some parallels with casino gaming. However, tribes face a bevy of issues entering the marijuana market. For example, tribes are largely prevented from interacting with state-licensed businesses. In addition, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act may preclude tribal use of gaming revenue as an investment source. Simultaneously, tribes have advantages over other businesses. Tribes have important tax exemptions that give tribal businesses an important advantage in the marijuana space. This article provides an overview of the legal challenges and advantages tribes face in the marijuana industry., I. INTRODUCTION For many Native American tribes, the primary decision-maker is usually the tribal council. (1) The tribal council usually consists of a half-dozen to a dozen individuals that the [...]

The study's primary purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of a widely promoted close reading instructional routine for elementary grades students at risk for reading failure. Close reading is designed to help students read complex text independently and proficiently. Participants were six fourth-grade students receiving supplemental instruction in a rural public school. A single subject alternating treatments design was implemented to compare the close reading instructional routine to a validated reading comprehension strategy instruction intervention over a six-week intervention time frame. Results determined through visual inspection of a general outcome reading comprehension measure were mixed, seemingly favoring the validated intervention and not close reading. Limitations of the research and implications for use of close reading with students at risk are discussed.

The practitioner journal article has been suggested as a tool to increase teaching professionals' use of evidence-based educational practices in the classroom. Not much is known about teacher use and opinions of practitioner journal articles. A purposeful sample of 346 preservice teacher candidates and in-service teachers was surveyed about its use of practitioner journal articles and the sample's presentation preferences. Respondents indicated that they did not read journals but did read articles. The average number of articles read was eight, most often accessed from online search engines. There were more similarities than differences in the preferred presentation of articles across preservice, in-service, general education, and special education teachers surveyed. Respondents preferred shorter articles, written from a practitioner perspective, that included real application vignettes and graphics highlighting student outcome and implementation fidelity data. Research implications are discussed.

We conducted conceptual replications for an online-administered general outcome measure known as critical content monitoring in science. Totally, 547 Grades 4 to 6 students from a rural Louisiana school district participated. Research questions addressed criterion validity, diagnostic accuracy, growth, and social validity concerns. Criterion measures included science and reading/literacy subtests from a state accountability test and a nationally standardized test. Findings indicated moderate to strong concurrent and predictive criterion validity correlations for the overall scores, fair diagnostic accuracy statistics for fall and winter and moderate for spring benchmark scores, variable growth scores across grades, and favorable social validity comments from teachers. Study limitations were listed. Research and practice implications were discussed.

The purpose of the research was to replicate commonality analysis for two measures: critical content monitoring and sentence verification technique. Participants were 967 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students across seven public primary schools in a southeastern U.S. district. The predictor variables were administered as benchmarks 3 times in an academic year. Predictor scores were compared with science content test and reading comprehension scores from the "Stanford Achievement Test--Tenth Edition" abbreviated online form and a statewide accountability test. Commonality analysis results indicated that scores from both critical content monitoring and sentence verification technique added unique variance to explanatory models, replicating previous findings. In most cases, critical content monitoring scores provided the greatest percentage of unique and common variance to model explanations.

Self-monitoring interventions can be effective components in the specially designed instruction programs of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. This article provides a self-monitoring definition, rationale for use, and summary of research supporting use of the empirically supported intervention. It also includes a description of how to plan, implement, and evaluate implementation of a self-monitoring procedure and performance tips for professionals.

We sought to extend instrument validation research for the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD) (Walker & Severson, 1990) using convergent validation techniques. Associations between Critical Events, Adaptive Behavior, and Maladaptive Behavior indices of the SSBD were examined in relation to syndrome, broadband, and total scores of the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist-Teacher's Report Form (TRF) (Achenbach, 2001). Both measures were conducted with 65 students with emotional disturbance in grades 6 through 12. Overall convergent validity of the SSBD and TRF was strong, particularly for TRF externalizing problems and associated syndromes. Results provide further support for use of the SSBD in the assessment of behavioral functioning of students with emotional disturbance and extend validation for use of this instrument with secondary students. (Contains 1 table.)

Reviewing manuscripts is an integral part of the publication process. Unfortunately, few scholars receive training in this skill. This article provides an overview of what it takes to conduct a quality review of a manuscript submission for a practitioner journal. The editors describe the manuscript types published by "Beyond Behavior" and a four-step approach for conducting a quality review that is informed by a review of literature and the editors' professional experience.

A growing body of research suggests that children with language disorders are at risk for social adjustment problems and school failure. This paper provides further evidence regarding this situation, assessing the strength of the relationship between receptive language and social adjustment in a sample of the general population of public school children grades K-2. In addition, variables that predict the social adjustment of elementary-aged public school children are investigated. The results of this study indicated that small to moderate correlations between measures of receptive language and social adjustment were significant. Moreover, receptive language scores, particularly receptive vocabulary, predicted the social skills and academic competence of children. The findings, limitations, and future research needs are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

With the number of students with emotional or behavioral disorders who are being served in the general education classroom increasing, co-teaching has become a more common practice than ever before. Through the use of a hypothetical journey of a special educator placed in a co-teaching situation without prior experience, we provide practitioners with the context and rationale for implementing co-teaching effectively in combination with the incorporation of research-based instructional practices in an inclusion classroom.

The amount of research evaluating the technical merits of general outcome measures of science and social studies achievement is growing. This study targeted criterion validity for critical content monitoring. Questions addressed the concurrent criterion validity of alternate presentation formats of critical content monitoring and the measure's predictive validity. Participants were fifth-grade students (N = 51) who completed five different forms of critical content monitoring probes as well as oral reading fluency and maze probes over three benchmarking periods. Criterion measures were the science and social studies subtests of the online abbreviated Stanford Achievement Test-10th edition. Concurrent correlation magnitudes for critical content monitoring ranged from 0.47 to 0.60. Predictive correlations for fall and winter ranged from 0.23 to 0.64. In three of four cases, commonality analyses findings favored critical content monitoring over oral reading fluency and maze as benchmarking choices. Study limitations and benchmark assessment framework implications are discussed.