Stephen W. Tonelson

Assessing Professional Collaboration in Schools: Knowing What Works

Teacher collaboration has become an legitimate service delivery option for students with disabilities and students at risk for learning and/or behavior problems. Notwithstanding its growing popularity, there is little empirical research on the fidelity of implementation of intervention plans that stem from professional collaboration. The modest body of available research focuses more on process than outcomes. Accordingly, the authors draw on the literature to propose a multidimensional model for school personnel to evaluate the actual impact of collaboration.

Lessons Learned From Research on Early Intervention: What Teachers Can Do to Prevent Children's Behavior Problems

There is mounting evidence that the majority of severe and chronic problem behaviors demonstrated by school-aged children and adolescents stem from behavior patterns that are established during early childhood. Without early identification and proactive prevention/intervention among young children at risk, problem behavior is likely to continue to develop and lead to long-term, chronic, and disabling conditions. Today, early detection and intervention seems to be the most powerful course of action for ameliorating life-long problems associated with children at risk for emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). Notwithstanding mounting support for early intervention, it is not easy to identify the components of a quality program of early intervention. The purpose of the following discussion is threefold: (a) to discuss some of the major factors associated with childrens behavior problems, (b) to summarize the current research on early intervention for the prevention of behavior problems for children at risk, and (c) to offer strategies that teachers can use to identify and treat children at risk of developing behavior problems.

Safe and Effective Schooling for All Students: Putting Into Practice the Disciplinary Provisions of the 1997 IDEA

Abstract The 1997 IDEA stipulates that states address the needs of school personnel as they relate to positive intervention strategies to deal with student behavior that impedes learning. In response to that mandate, the Virginia Department of Education drew upon accumulated literature and input of experts to develop, implement, and evaluate an inservice program on functional behavioral assessment/positive behavioral interventions/supports. Discussion is on the step-by-step training process whereby schools are able to establish pupil-specific, classroom-level, and schoolwide efforts to facilitate positive academic and nonacademic outcomes for all students. We present preliminary data that supports the effectiveness of both the content and delivery of this innovative program.

Students prenatally exposed to drugs and alcohol: A survey of school personnel preparation

Abstract The authors surveyed university faculty regarding preparation of general educators, special educators, and speech‐language pathologists to work with students prenatally exposed to drugs and alcohol. The results confirm that, in general, teacher education and speech‐language pathology programs provide limited information on these students to either preservice or inservice teachers and speech‐language pathologists. The authors also compared the responses of the three groups of faculty and the responses of faculty within their specialization areas. Significant differences were found among the three groups and within the general education faculty group, differences that have significant implications for teacher and speech‐language pathologist preparation programs.

The influence of racial experimenter effects upon mean length of utterance

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of racial experimenter effects upon a group of childrens linguistic output as measured by mean length of utterance (MLU). Forty-two children, equally distributed by race, who were enrolled in a day-care centre were engaged in conversation twice, once by a black examiner and once by a white examiner. MLUs were computed on the basis of the race of both the examiners and subjects. The results of an analysis of variance for repeated measures indicated that the subjects performed almost identically for both black and white examiners. The implications of these results are discussed.