Strength‐based assessment of behavior competencies to distinguish students referred for disciplinary intervention from nonreferred peers

Abstract

Abstract Early identification of the lack of behavioral competencies followed by subsequent intervention is critical to reducing the number of students at risk for increasing disciplinary responses and school failure. This study examined scores on the Behavior Objective Sequence (BOS) of elementary school students referred for out‐of‐classroom disciplinary intervention. The results of this study indicated a distinction between the BOS scores of students referred for disciplinary problems and the scores of students who were never referred. In addition, differences among demographic variables of the sample population were found. These findings provide initial data that support use of the BOS as a strength‐based assessment for identifying behavioral competencies of students who may be at risk for increasing rates of disciplinary referrals so skill‐focused intervention strategies may be implemented in a timely manner. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.