Recently there have been several follow-up studies of students who have exited special education programs (Hasazi, Gordon, & Roe, 1985; Mithaug, Horiuchi, & Fanning, 1985). These studies raise an interesting question: How well have special education programs prepared the youth they were designed to serve? This study reviews findings concerning the postschool adjustment of 160 students who were labeled behaviorally disordered at graduation from public school in the state of Washington between 1978 and 1986.

This study examined (a) the academic performance and social competence of mainstreamed and nonmainstreamed students with serious behavioral disorders, and (b) the accommodations made in general education classroom environments for mainstreamed students with behavioral disorders. Overall, the mainstreamed students had higher reading and written language scores, better work habits, and a higher grade point average. Their teachers reported that they were more attentive, worked harder, and were better adjusted. Students who remained in self-contained classrooms demonstrated more extremes in social behavior. Nonmainstreamed students with serious behavioral disorders were more aggressive and unable to demonstrate self-control, or they were introverted and withdrawn. With regard to the general education classroom environment, the majority of teachers used the same curricula with all students and used the same criteria to evaluate all students. Teachers participating in this study made minimal modifications for students with serious behavioral disorders. Placement in general education settings represented a major reduction, if not complete cessation, of differential programing.

This study compares the social problem-solving goals and strategies of aggressive and nonaggressive preschool children in naturally occurring play situations. Using the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist, 10 aggressive and 9 nonaggressive subjects were selected from among 88 preschool males, aged 3–1/2 to 4–1/2 years. Both aggressive and nonaggressive preschool boys attempted the same repertoire of social goals and used the same social strategies to achieve these goals. There was a difference, however, in the relative frequency with which various goals were sought. Both groups sought initiation and attention goals most often. Nonaggressive children also favored information and alternative goals, while aggressive children sought to stop or prevent action more often. Both groups used a wide range of strategies, but aggressive children were found to use intrusive strategies more often than nonaggressive children. Implications for future research include (a) reexamining the assumption that social skills training should be directed at increasing the number of alternative responses to social situations; (b) re-considering the use of verbal responses and hypothetical-reflective measures to assess the effectiveness of social skills training; and (c) investigating the link between different social situations and effectiveness of various social skills.

Secondary students with behavioral disorders, regular education secondary students, secondary teachers of students with behavioral disorders, regular education secondary teachers, and parents of both student populations from the states of Washington, Iowa, and Colorado were asked to complete the Adolescent Social Skills Survey (Walker, Todis, Holmes, & Horton, 1988). The survey consists of 48 items about how adolescents relate to themselves, to other adolescents, and to adults. Overall, all groups thought all items on the survey were important. As a group, students with serious behavioral disorders rated interpersonal skills higher than other skills on the survey; However, these same students consistently rated all items lower. These students also rated compliance and cooperation skills as less important than the two teacher groups. Discussion centers around the implications these results have on programing for seriously behaviorally disordered students, with future needs being directed toward developing a functionally valid list of critical social skills.

The first item on the National Agenda for Achieving Better Outcomes for Children and Youth with Serious Emotional Disturbance revolves around creating positive environments through the creation of useful, engaging, and positive learning experiences. Over the past 20 years, there has been a significant increase in the types of interventions and programs developed for children with serious emotional disturbance (SED) as well as significant changes in who is serving these children and where they are being served. Despite these changes, outcomes for youth with SED remain problematic. In this article, we review intervention and program examples and outline a framework for increasing their effectiveness. Implications for practitioners, teacher educators, researchers, and policymakers are also discussed.