The purpose of this study was to contribute to the literature by examining a systematic set of methods to assess and treat the problem behavior of young at-risk children. This study examined the use of the Decision Model (Umbreit, Ferro, Liaupsin, & Lane, 2007) with two kindergarten students and one first grade student who were exhibiting chronic behavior problems despite implementation of interventions through their school's existing support system. The study was conducted across three phases including: Phase I (Descriptive Functional Assessment), Phase II (Intervention Development/Testing) and Phase III (Intervention Implementation). Interventions in Phase III, were systematically introduced to each student using a Multiple Baseline Design. The Decision Model was used to develop interventions that resulted in reductions in each child's disruptive behavior and increases in on-task academic behavior. Social validity was examined using the TARF-R and resulted in high acceptability ratings from each teacher responsible for implementing the intervention for each student. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Students with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) are more likely than other students with disabilities to drop out of school (Blackorby & Wagner, 1996) and suffer societal consequences that include higher probabilities and rates of incarceration, poverty, drug abuse, homelessness, low wages, and unemployment (Bradley, Doolittle, & Bartolotta, 2008; Wagner, 1995). High school graduation is a critical factor to improve post-secondary outcomes for students with EBD; yet it is often mathematics, specifically algebra, that stands in the way of graduation (Blackorby & Wagner). Students with EBD often enter middle school lacking foundational mathematics skills, such as fractions, which sets them up to struggle with pre-algebra and ultimately fail algebra (U.S. Department of Education, 2008). The purpose of this study was to improve the ability of middle school students with EBD to access online grade-level mathematics content by providing fraction remediation to improve conceptual fraction knowledge and procedural fluency. The intervention consisted of Initial Fraction Ideas, an intervention curriculum from the Rational Number Project (RNP; Cramer, Behr, Post, & Lesh, 2009), in conjunction with three online virtual manipulatives (VM). The unique blended learning environment of this study provided the opportunity to evaluate the use of an evidence-based fraction intervention, in conjunction with VMs, in a single subject, multiple baseline across subjects design. Fluency data was gathered from daily fraction addition assessments (FAA) administered after each intervention session. A second component of the study featured a non-experimental repeated measures design that assessed student conceptual understanding of fraction equivalency through the administration of pre, post, and delayed-post Equivalent Fraction Tests (EFT). The intervention was effective in producing increases in median group fluency with high effect sizes, across three replications, establishing a functional relationship between the intervention and the dependent variable for these groups of students with EBD. In addition, all groups posted mean gains in equivalent fraction knowledge from pre to post-EFT, and maintained those gains for at least 15 days after the intervention concluded.

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