The number of Social Stories TM studies and reviews has increased in recent years, yet concerns regarding quality and effect sizes continue to be expressed. With the emphasis on evidence-based practices (EBPs) for the education and treatment of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), this issue becomes of paramount importance as professionals and parents attempt to select interventions for the people with ASD in their care. The current study makes a unique contribution in its use of an extensive EBP evaluation model to examine 33 single-subject studies across 13 peer-reviewed journals, a 12-year period, and a wide range of grouping variables. Using the Mayton, Wheeler, Menendez and Zhang (2010) EBP evaluation protocol, studies were investigated in terms of eight quality indicators comprised 23 operationally defined standards. Studies included in this analysis met the following criteria: (1) they were intervention studies using single-subject research designs; (2) they included only participants with disorders on the autism spectrum; and (3) the primary intervention was the use of a Social Story. Findings included onor above-standard acceptability in EBP indicators related to important aspects of dependent variables within studies and below-standard acceptability in indicators related to both internal and external validity of studies.

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that parents who have children diagnosed with autism can obtain and apply knowledge of a research-based support for their children by utilizing a prescribed, self-directed, online program, giving families another possible method of obtaining training to help meet the discrepancy that exists between need and service. The design was a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group, pretest-posttest design that was used to test knowledge obtained from treatment. Additionally, the researcher examined parents' application of knowledge and perceptions regarding the treatment. The results demonstrate that parents who receive training using this method can obtain and apply knowledge of a researchbased support. Furthermore, participant feedback indicates parental support for this method of obtaining knowledge. The results suggest that using a self-directed, online program may serve to give families another possible method of obtaining informational training. Using this method of parental instruction may help fill a portion of the gap between the need for services and the lack of availability of services. Interventions based on the study could give parents the ability to act as their children's direct service provider to fulfill a part their intervention needs, especially when a family is facing a discrepancy between need and service. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like thank the individual members of my committee who helped me come to the completion of my degree and to the beginning of a new career path. First, I want to give a special thank you to Dr. Mayton, my committee chair, for putting up with my "craziness" and steering me through this entire process. I want to thank Dr. Ludlow for accepting me into the program and believing in me. I want to thank Dr. Galyon-Keramidas who told me I could do this even when I believed I could not. I want to thank Dr. Hursh for his valuable input during my committee meetings. I also want to give thanks to Dr. Mitchem. She became my mentor during my Master's degree, encouraged me to obtain my doctorate, and has continued to guide into this new adventure. To my husband of 18 years, Del Suppo, Jr., words cannot express my gratitude for all of the support you have provided me throughout our lives together, and yes, I am finally done with school! Thank you for being the husband and father you are. To my two beautiful daughters, Lauren "Angel Baby" and Rebecca "Becca Boo," thank you for being the wonderful, inspirational kids that you are. Lauren, your kindness to others and determination to be the best in all that you do inspires mom every day. Becca, you changed our family's life and made us stronger, all while you continue to amaze all of us every day. I could not ask for two better daughters and thank God everyday for blessing me with my beautiful family. To my mom, Judy Mattozzi, my first mentor: you have continued to support me, mentor me, and above all else, love me. You showed me how to be both a mom and a teacher. To my brother, Jon Matt...

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When rural school districts employ Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) to assist in meeting the needs of students with disabilities, it is important that they be aware of the ethical and professional guidelines to which BCBAs are required to adhere. This article describes the role of these guidelines within the practice of BCBAs and presents several fictitious scenarios depicting ethical dilemmas faced by BCBAs working in school settings. The authors present specific guidelines from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s Professional and Ethical Compliance Code related to each scenario and provide a response to each scenario that identifies some of the key ethical and professional considerations.

How well doctoral students in special education are prepared to evaluate research as evidence‐based practice (EBP) is likely to impact their careers, as well as the teachers they will train. In developing a method for evaluating the readiness of small cohort groups of doctoral students to apply a research‐based model of EBP, an instrument and procedure were refined in a pilot evaluation and implemented within a multiple baseline design across participants. Participants’ independent and instrument‐guided performance in rating published research was compared to the ratings of two experts in single‐case research design, yielding proportions of agreement across evaluation conditions. Results indicated group readiness to independently conduct the EBP evaluation and individual differences in readiness indicating the need for remediation.

This study contributes to the existing literature on treatment integrity (TI) by presenting TI findings across interventions aimed at the development of social emotional skills in learners with emotional and behavioural disorders. Social and emotional skills were selected as the target for our investigation given the significance of these skills in relation to the academic and behavioural success of learners and the challenges most often faced in these skill areas by students with emotional and behaviour disorders (E/BD). The study analysed single‐subject experimental studies from 2000 to 2009 in two leading journals in the field of emotional and behaviour disorders: Behavior Disorders and The Journal of Emotional Behavioral Disorders. The degree to which studies operationally defined independent variables and evaluated and reported measures of treatment integrity and associated risk factors is reported. Thirty‐three studies met the inclusion criteria for the present study and TI was evaluated across six variables (1) year published, (2) dependent variable(s), (3) independent variables(s), (4) participant characteristics, (5) treatment agent and (6) assessment of TI. Results indicated that approximately 49% of the studies monitored and reported TI, meaning that they provided a description of the TI procedure and resultant data. Findings from the study point to the need for attention to TI both in the description of methods used and in the reporting of TI data.