Perspectives on Seminal Achievements and Challenges in the Field of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

This commentary for a special issue of Remedial and Special Education (RASE) on the perspectives of senior scholars (a) opens with some comments regarding the role of measures we use in behavioral science to pursue scientific truth and then (b) discusses the three most impactful developments in emotional and behavioral disorders over the past several decades, followed by commentary on three problems or issues that need addressing going forward. In the author’s view, the three most impactful developments have been the advent of school-wide positive behavior supports, the growth in approaches to conduct universal behavioral disorder screenings in schools, and the acceptance of teacher judgment in the appraisal of student behavior. Challenges going forward are the need to contextualize school interventions, solve the problem of decay of achieved intervention effects over time, and plan/manage school transitions better.