Has Public Policy Exceeded our Knowledge Base? This is a Two-Part Question

Abstract

This article is presented as a reaction to the Nelson, Roberts, Mathur, and Rutherford (1999) article as well as the other five follow-up articles appearing in this Forum series. The purpose of the presentation is to expand the focus of the series by widening the discussion of “policy” as originally raised in the article by Nelson and colleagues. Two critical concerns were raised in the series: concerns about the research base for functional assessment and concerns about the practicality of implementing functional assessment. Each of these concerns is addressed within the context of speculation about the possible functions that may have been served by mandating the use of functional assessment within the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It is suggested that the nature of public policy may, at times, deserve as much of our attention as research findings.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Darling-Hammond

(1998). Teachers and teaching: Testing policy hypotheses from a national commission report. Educational Researcher, 27, 5–15.

Gable

R. A.

(1999). Functional assessment in school settings. Behavioral Disorders, 24, 246–248.

Gresham

F. M.

, Quinn

M. M.

, & Restori

(1999). Methodological issues in functional analysis: Generalizability to other disability groups. Behavioral Disorders, 24, 180–182.

Iwata

B. A.

, (1994). Functional analysis methodology: Some closing comments. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27, 413–418.

Kennedy

M. M.

, (1997). The connection between research and practice. Educational Researcher, 26, 4–12.

Lagemann

E. C.

(1997). Contested terrain: A history of education research in the United States, 1890–1990. Educational Researcher, 26, 5–17.

Nelson

J. R.

, Roberts

M. L.

, Mathur

S. R.

, & Rutherford

R. B.

Jr. (1999). Has public policy exceeded our knowledge base? A review of the functional behavioral assessment literature, Behavioral Disorders, 24, 169–179.

Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 334 F. supp. 1257, 343 F. supp. 279 (E.D. Pa. 1971, 1972)

Richardson

J. G.

(1999). Common, delinquent and special: The institutional shape of special education. New York: Falmer.

10.

Scott

T. M.

, & Nelson

C. M.

(1999). Functional behavioral assessment: Implications for training and staff development. Behavioral Disorders, 24, 249–252.

11.

Sugai

, Horner

R. H.

, & Sprague

J. R.

(1999). Functional-assessment-based behavior support planning: Research to practice to research. Behavioral Disorders, 24, 253–257.

12.

Yell

, & Shriner

(1997). The IDEA Amendments of 1997: Implications for special and general education teachers, administrators, and teacher trainers. Focus On Exceptional Children, 30(1).