In this article, we discuss the importance of systematic screenings to monitor K—12 students’ behavioral and academic performance, with an emphasis on the need to identify and support students with emotional and behavioral disorders before they develop significant learning and behavior problems requiring special education services under the category of emotional disturbances. We emphasize the importance of conducting systematic screenings across the K—12 grade span within the context of comprehensive, integrated, three-tiered models of prevention. We provide brief descriptions of some of the current tools available to assess academic and behavioral performance patterns over time and present a balanced discussion of the benefits and challenges associated with the screening. Specifically, we describe how these measures can be used to (a) assess overall levels of performance within and across the school years and (b) identify students who may require secondary and tertiary levels of prevention beyond primary prevention efforts. We conclude with responsibilities that come with conducting screenings, with specific considerations for practitioners, researchers, and policy makers.

This paper provides outcomes of a study examining the effectiveness of a year-long professional development training series designed to support in-service educators in learning a systematic approach to functional assessment-based interventions developed by Umbreit and colleagues (2007) that has met with demonstrated success when implemented with university supports. Forty-eight educators attended a 4-day, practice-based professional development series, with coaching and applied practice occurring between sessions. Participants completed pre- and post-training surveys to evaluate their perceived knowledge, confidence, and usefulness as well as actual knowledge of 15 concepts and strategies addressed in the training series. Outcomes as well as implications for professional development to support in-service teachers and school personnel in learning how to design, implement, and evaluate functional assessment-based interventions are offered. Results indicated statistically significant improvements in each concept and strategy measured. Findings are discussed in light of noted limitations, with recommendations offered to improve subsequent professional development efforts.

Bullying is a serious issue affecting the psychological, social, and physical well-being of students. Although a substantial amount of bullying research has been conducted with general education students, there is a paucity of experimental prevention or intervention studies specifically focused on students with disabilities. The aim of this article is twofold. First, we introduce a special issue on bullying and students with disabilities. Summaries of recent studies conducted on the bullying and students with disabilities are described. Next, we report the findings from a systematic literature review on bully intervention studies focused on students with disabilities. We identified six experimental studies meeting the search criteria. One study met all of the quality research indicators. Findings, future directions, and conclusions are discussed taking into consideration quality research indicators for evidence-based bullying prevention or intervention studies.

We report findings of a convergent validity study examining the internalizing subscale (SRSS-15) of the newly adapted Student Risk Screening Scale for Internalizing and Externalizing (SRSS-IE12) with the internalizing subscale of the Teacher Report Form (TRF; Achenbach, 1991) conducted in 13 schools across three states with 195 kindergarten through fifth-grade elementary students. Results of logistic regression and receiver operating characteristics curves suggest the following cut scores for the SRSS-15: 0–1 low risk, 2–3 moderate risk, and 4–15 high risk for internalizing behavior patterns, relative to the internalizing subscale of the TRF subscale. Limitations and future directions are discussed, along with illustrations of how to use the SRSS-15 scores for decision making in a tiered system of supports.

In comprehensive, integrated, three-tiered models, it is essential to have a systematic method for identifying students who need supports at Tier 2 or Tier 3. This article provides explicit information on how to use multiple sources of data to determine which students might benefit from these supports. First, the authors provide an overview of how to make an assessment schedule for all schoolwide data. Second, the authors outline how to create a blueprint for Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports in a given school, including a description of the strategy or practice; inclusionary criteria; data to monitor progress; and exit criteria. Last, the authors provide an overview of how to connect students to support and monitor their progress.