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Recognizing the association between self-determination and improved educational and postschool outcomes for children and youth with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBo), increased attention has focused on efforts to promote the skills and attitudes that enhance self-determination. We conducted a comprehensive, systematic review of school-based intervention studies addressing nine component elements of self-determination for students with and at risk for EBo. These 81 studies primarily addressed a narrow range of self-determination elements as intervention components (i.e"! self-management and self-regulation, problem solving goal setting and attainment) or outcome measures (i.e., self-efficacy, problem solving), with relatively few studies addressing students from culturally diverse backgrounds. Additional research is needed to address kf~y gaps related to the school contexts within which these interventions have been delivered. We offer recommendations for future research aimed at expanding this knowledge base to address the full spectrum of students and school contexts in which they are served.

We report findings of an exploratory validation study of a revised instrument: the Student Risk Screening Scale-Internalizing and Externalizing (SRSS-IE). The SRSS-IE was modified to include seven additional items reflecting characteristics of internalizing behaviors, with proposed items generated from the current literature base, review of current measures, and teaching experience with students with emotional and behavioral disorders. The original seven items developed by Drummond (1994) were retained in the exact form, yielding an instrument containing 14 items (SRSS-IE14), each rated on a 4-point Likert-type scale. First, we explore the reliability of the SRSS-IE14 by examining item-level data, internal consistency, and factor structure with 2,460 elementary students. Results of a data analytic plan grounded in classical test theory support retention of five additional items, yielding the SRSS-IE12. Second, we established convergent validity of the SRSS-IE12 with two well-established screening tools: the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997) and the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (Walker & Severson, 1992). Limitations and future directions are offered.

We developed this special issue, Effective Low-Intensity Strategies to Enhance School Success: What Every Educator Needs to Know, for Beyond Behavior as a resource for educators and parents. Each article provides easy-to-access resources for readers to learn about effective, efficient, low-intensity strategies to support student engagement and limit challenging behavior. In this introductory article, we provide a rationale for focusing on these low-intensity strategies and an overview of the features of each article to follow.

Reaching disadvantaged groups for smoking cessation represents a significant challenge. Not-for-profit community service organizations (CSOs) represent a promising setting for the delivery of quit smoking support to disadvantaged smokers. However, their potential has not yet been explored. This qualitative study examined the acceptability of community service-delivered smoking cessation care. In-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted with 8 managers, 35 staff and 32 clients of CSOs between December 2008 and March 2009 in New South Wales, Australia. Discussions were audiotaped, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis techniques. Quantitative surveys were also conducted to explore preferences for cessation support. Results showed that the acceptability of providing and receiving cessation support in the community service setting was high. Staff perceived the provision of quit support to be compatible with their role but reported barriers to providing care including competing priorities, insufficient resources and inadequate staff training. Brief intervention approaches were preferred by managers and staff, while financial incentives and access to free or subsidized nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) were desired by clients. The community service setting represents a promising access point for engaging disadvantaged smokers for cessation and further research exploring the effectiveness of support delivered in this setting is clearly warranted.