Severe behavior disorders of children and youth: introduction.

This special issue of Education and Treatment of Children represents a peer-reviewed sample of the best research presented at the 32nd Annual Teacher Educators for Children with Behavioral Disorders. The eight articles presented in this special issue were reviewed and selected for publication by consulting editors from Education and Treatment of Children and other researchers from the field with specific expertise in the topic of the article. The articles address a broad range of topics in the field of emotional and behavioral disorders.

The current focus on implementation of empirically supported practices requires not only the conduct of new research and the review of previous findings, but information that assists practitioners in putting effective strategies to use. In "Forty Years Later--The Value of Praise, Ignoring, and Rules for Preschoolers at Risk for Behavior Disorders," Hester, Hendrickson and Gable revisit three commonly recommended classroom intervention strategies; praise, planned ignoring, and classroom rules. The authors describe the research supporting each strategy and provide guidelines to assist teachers in implementing them effectively.

The theme of empirically supported practice is continued in an article by Jeffrey, McCurdy, Ewing, and Polis. In, "Class-wide PBIS for Students with EBD: Initial Evaluation of an Integrity Tool," these authors focus on a key to effective use of evidence-based practice: treatment integrity, or the degree to which an intervention is implemented as intended. The authors describe the outcomes of a pilot project that provided frequent monitoring and performance feedback to nine classroom teachers on their use of specific classroom management strategies with students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Initial findings showed improved consistency in teacher behavior and increases in student on-task behavior. The authors discuss the possibilities for large-scale implementation of treatment integrity monitoring.

While the use of effective interventions often focuses on the classroom setting, Wheatley, West, Charlton, Sanders, and Smith demonstrate an economical intervention for improving behavior in a school common area; the lunchroom. In "Sustainable Behavior Support: A Praise Note System for Improving Behavior in an Elementary School Lunchroom," the authors show how an evidence based practice (differential reinforcement for incompatible behaviors) can be effectively implemented by attending to critical elements of a systematic approach: program intensity, delivery, and sustainability.

The development and implementation of function-based interventions continues to be an important topic in the field of emotional and behavioral disorders. Lane, Eisner, Kretzer, Bruhn, Crnobori, Funke, Lerner, and Casey add to the literature base in this area with "Outcomes of Functional Assessment-Based Interventions for Students With and At Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in a Job-share Setting." In this study, they apply a systematic function-based intervention methodology with two first-grade students in a job-share classroom. The authors describe the functional relationship between the intervention procedures and student academic engaged time as well as the teacher and student ratings of social validity.

One of the challenges in developing high quality intervention plans is dealing with multiple competing reinforcers. While some research has investigated the effects of two concurrently available response options, Peterson, Smith, Quigley, Frieder, and Van Norman extend the literature by increasing the number of response options available in "The Effects of Varying Quality and Duration of Reinforcement on Mands to Work, Mands for Break, and Problem Behavior." The authors discuss the implications for practice and the importance of future research.

Some evidence has suggested that the academic and social problems of students with behavioral disorders can be linked to language disorders. Brenner, Mattison, Nelson, and Ralston present a study that sheds some light on the relationship of these problems in "Types of Language Disorders in Students Classified ED: Prevalence and Association with Learning Disabilities and Psychopathology." The authors examine the association between the language disorders, learning disabilities, academic achievement, and clinical levels of psychopathology. They also discuss the implications of these findings for the identification and treatment of students with emotional and behavioral disorders.

Given the nature of the behavior generally attributed to them, one might expect that students with behavior disorders would make up a significant proportion of those identified as bullies. In "Bullying Status and Behavior Patterns of Middle and High School Students with Behavioral Disorders," Cho, Henderson, and Mock present data that provide some insight on the question of whether students with behavioral disorders are perceived by peers as bullies, victims, or both.

The final article in this issue deals with another challenge of our field: addressing the educational outcomes of youth with emotional and behavioral disorders who are incarcerated. The work of juvenile correctional schools is complicated by a broad range of competing issues: providing individualized educational services in compliance with special education law, adhering to a standardized general education curriculum, preparing students for GED testing, and maintaining a secure facility. In "Juvenile Correctional Schools: Characteristics, and Curriculum Policies, Practices, and Philosophies," Gagnon, Barber, Van Loan and Leone report the results of a national survey that will help researchers and practitioners draw a clearer picture of juvenile correctional schools and the interaction between their general characteristic and their curriculum policies, practices, and philosophies.

We hope that this selection of peer-reviewed, original research provides readers with knowledge and insight that promotes more effective supports and services for youth with and at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. We also would like to thank the many reviewers who have made this special issue of ETC possible by sharing their valuable time and expertise. We extend our special thanks to Ms. Katie Sprouls, who served as the Assistant Editor for the special issue of ETC. Her diligent attention to the logistics of the review process has made this publication possible. Finally, we want to invite readers to join us at the next TECBD Conference (http://tecbd.asu.edu).

Sarup Mathur, Heather Griller-Clark, and Carl J. Liaupsin

Co-editors