Behaviorally at-risk African American students:The importance of student-teacher relationships for student outcomes

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the associations between the student-teacher relationship and outcomes for African American students who were behaviorally at-risk for referral to special education. Students were identified by their teachers as having behavior problems. Participants were 44 students and 25 teachers from two suburban and three urban elementary schools in a mid-western state. A multi-rater, multi-method approach was used. As teacher-reports of student-teacher relationship quality increased, there were also increases in positive social, behavioral, and engagement outcomes for students. Similarly, as student-reports of student-teacher relationship quality increased, there were increases in positive behavioral, engagement, and academic outcomes. Additional analyses of dyadic relationship patterns showed that as the relationship pattern improved (moving from negative concordance to discordance to positive concordance), there were increases in positive social, behavioral, and engagement outcomes for students. Implications for school practice are discussed.     

A scale to assess the restrictiveness of educational settings

The placement of students into educational settings is perhaps one of the most debated issues in special education, particularly for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). A primary consideration in this decision is the restrictiveness of the setting, yet no scale to assess restrictiveness of educational settings exists. We undertook two surveys that asked respondents to rate the restrictiveness of 18 educational placements. The first survey was sent to a national panel of experts, the second survey was sent to supervisors of programs for students with EBD. The results of the surveys led to the development of theScale to Assess Restrictiveness of Educational Settings. This scale is designed to provide a measure of restrictiveness of educational settings that can provide data to evaluate student progress and program outcomes.     

Inclusion and Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders

Summary

This article presents a point/counterpoint approach to the issue of full inclusion of all students with emotional/behavioral disorders. To set the stage for the discussion that follows, the academic, social, and behavioral characteristics of these students pertinent to classroom performance are reviewed. The pros and cons of these four issues are then presented: (a) appropriateness of the general education curriculum for students with EBD; (b) social acceptance and other social competence issues; (c) mental health interventions and supports in general education settings; and (d) legality of full inclusion. Under the legality issue, case law on full inclusion pertaining to students with EBD is briefly reviewed. The basic premise of the authors who are full inclusion opponents is that a continuum of placements, including full-time placement in general education classrooms, should be preserved so that decisions about appropriate settings can be made on an individual basis. The basic premise of the author who is a full inclusion proponent is that, rather than maintaining two separate systems, we should direct our energies toward correcting the inadequacies of the general education classroom for the benefit of all students, including those with EBD.     

Understanding the bullying dynamic among students in special and general education

Students in general and special education experience bullying. However, few empirical investigations have examined involvement in bullying along the bully/victim continuum (i.e., as a bully, victim, or bully-victim) among students with disabilities. A total of 816 students, ages 9 to 16, participated in the present study. From this total sample 686 were not receiving special education services (categorized as "no disability"), and 130 were receiving special education services (categorized as "observable disability," "non-observable disability," and "behavioral disability"). Data on students' involvement in bullying, office referrals, and prosocial behavior were collected. Results indicated that students with behavioral disorders and those with observable disabilities reported bullying others more and being victimized more than their general education counterparts. Students with behavioral disorders also had significantly more office referrals than students in general education. Seventh graders in general education reported more bullying behavior than sixth graders and ninth grades in general education. Fifth graders in general education reported more victimization than students in all other grades in general education. However, the grade differences were not significant for students in special education. No gender differences on bullying and victimization were found. Students with disabilities reported less engagement in prosocial behaviors than their general education peers. Implications for bullying prevention and intervention across both general and special education are discussed.     

EXTENDED REDUCTIONS IN STEREOTYPIC BEHAVIOR OF STUDENTS WITH AUTISM THROUGH A SELF-MANAGEMENT TREATMENT PACKAGE

The literature suggests that self-management treatment packages have two potential strengths for the reduction or elimination of stereotypic behavior: (a) Self-management may be used for extended periods of time in the absence of a treatment provider, and (b) self-management techniques are easily adapated and used in a wide variety of natural settings. We assessed whether students with severe autistic disabilities could learn to use a self-management treatment package to reduce their stereotypic behavior within a multiple baseline across subjects design with withdrawals. The results showed that all of the students learned to use self-management procedures to reduce greatly levels of stereotypic behavior (typically to zero), and improvement occurred for extended periods of time in new settings without the presence of a treatment provider. The results are discussed in terms of the practical value of the treatment package and in terms of the implications for understanding autism.     

Suicide attempts among adolescent Mexican American students enrolled in special education classes

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among school-aged students between the ages of 15 and 19. There is an increasing frequency of suicide and other self-destructive behaviors among Mexican American youth and students in special education classrooms for emotional and behavioral disabilities. Recognizing Mexican American youth in special education classes as a separate risk group, this study (a) identifies factors that contribute to suicide, (b) reviews the signs and characteristics associated with these factors, (c) interviews Mexican American students in special education who have either exhibited various characteristics of suicidal thoughts and/or have attempted suicide, (d) explores effective prevention programs, and (e) provides suggestions for school personnel. Interviews with five adolescent Mexican American special education students support previous research findings that depression, substance abuse, social and interpersonal conflict, family distress, and school stress are primary characteristics related to suicidal minority youth.     

School Context and the Problem Behavior and Social Skills of Students with Emotional Disturbance

Variability in the social and behavioral characteristics of students with emotional disturbance (ED) in the public schools may impact special education effectiveness; yet very little evidence exists on how such variability may express itself from school to school. One place to begin such investigation involves school context as expressed by income level and academic performance. In this study, we selected 140 children (grades kindergarten through 6) receiving special education services for ED in schools in a large east-coast urban area. We gathered school-wide test results from state achievement testing and school poverty levels from eligibility for free or reduced lunch on each school. For each child, we collected teacher ratings of problem behavior and social skills. Findings from regression analyses revealed significant relationships between school context and children’s externalizing and internalizing behavior. We discuss the implications of these findings for the concept of ED as a unitary disability category in special education research and practice.     

Acceptability of behavioral staff management techniques

This study describes an extension of Kazdin's work on acceptability of behavior therapy methods to the assessment of acceptability in the developing field of behavioral staff management. An instrument for assessing acceptability of behavioral staff management techniques was developed and then used to assess staff evaluations of four techniques that have been researched in the staff management literature (instruction, reinforcement, punishment, self-management). The effects on acceptability of problem difficulty and duration of supervisor-staff interaction were also investigated. Staff identified the techniques as having differing degrees of acceptability, with instruction rated most acceptable, followed in order by self-management, reinforcement, and punishment. Ancillary studies supported the reliability and validity of the scale. Results are placed within the context of a recent behavioral supervision model, and discussed in terms of social validity and consumer satisfaction issues. Implications for delivering behavioral staff management interventions are presented.     

Process Evaluation of A Physical Activity Self-Management Program For Children: Spark

Abstract

SPARK is a controlled field study of a multi-component elementary school program to promote physical activity. One component is a weekly classroom-based self-management program, with the goal of increasing physical activity outside of school. The curriculum included goal setting, behavioral skills training, a reward system, and parent involvement. An evaluation of curriculum implementation and association between process and outcome was conducted using direct observation of lessons, subjective ratings by 24 teachers and 391 parents, and participation records of 549 students. Teachers viewed the self-management curriculum less positively than the physical education curriculum. Teachers were observed implementing an average of 65% of curriculum elements, which may have contributed to the limited effects of the self-management program. Student participation in the program, measured by points earned for doing out of school physical activity, was correlated significantly with changes in body mass index and multiple psychosocial variables among boys but not girls. Barriers to full program implementation were identified, and a remaining challenge is to improve self-management curriculum implementation by teachers.     

Would We Recognize Progress if We Saw it? A Commentary

Comments on the nature of special education as an enterprise and judgment of its progress are offered. Five independent but necessary and sufficient criteria for judgment of progress in special education for students with emotional or behavioral disorders are suggested. Comments are made on each of the articles in the series, and concluding remarks call for more data and better thinking.     

The role of social support in fostering school engagement in urban schools characterised by high risk of early leaving from education and training

Tackling early leaving from education and training (ELET) is one of the main education policy targets of the European Union and many of its member states. This paper offers new insights on this issue by studying how so-called at-risk students develop their educational trajectory by embedding their attitudes towards and engagement in schooling within the various support networks they navigate. We argue that the concept of school engagement, operationalized within the broader theoretical framework of the self-system model of motivational development, is crucial for better understanding ELET. The structural equation modelling is based upon survey data from 1401 students in grade 10 and 12 of vocational tracks across 26 different urban school locations in Flanders, Belgium. The results show that parental, peer and in particular teacher support directly and indirectly strengthen students’ academic and behavioural engagement. We argue that universal and targeted support by educators can positively impact pro-school attitudes and school engagement of so-called at-risk students and may be one of the most important strategies in addressing ELET.

     

Teacher efficacy: A model for teacher development and inclusion

Students with special needs must have the opportunity to learn in inclusive classrooms. However, this requires that classroom teachers believe that (a) students can learn in spite of any negative environmental influences in their lives, and (b) they personally have the ability to reach any student. Securing this teaching efficacy for teachers in inclusive classroom settings requires paradigm shifts in preservice and inservice teacher development programs with the precept that all students can learn and that we can assist them. The authors, one a regular and the other a special education teacher educator, collaborate to explore the issue of how best to provide and maintain a positive personal teaching efficacy among regular teacher education candidates who are faced with the challenges of having students with varying levels of ability and behavioral responses in their classrooms.     

An Evaluation of a Classwide Intervention Package Involving Self-Management and a Group Contingency on Classroom Behavior of Middle School Students

The effectiveness of an intervention package involving self-management and a group contingency at increasing appropriate classroom behaviors was evaluated in a sample of middle school students. Participants included all students in each of the 3 eighth-grade general education classrooms and their teachers. The intervention package included strategies recommended as part of best practice in classroom management to involve both building skill (self-management) and reinforcing appropriate behavior (group contingency). Data sources involved assessment of targeted behaviors using Direct Behavior Rating—single item scales completed by students and systematic direct observations completed by external observers. Outcomes suggested that, on average, student behavior moderately improved during intervention as compared to baseline when examining observational data for off-task behavior. Results for Direct Behavior Rating data were not as pronounced across all targets and classrooms in suggesting improvement for students. Limitations and future directions, along with implications for school-based practitioners working in middle school general education settings, are discussed.     

Students with Disabilities Use of Various Options to Access Alternative Schools and Area Learning Centers

Alternative schools that were developed to encourage students experiencing difficulties in conventional schools to graduate from high school have been in existence since the 1970s. Alternative schools represent a form of school choice available to parents and students. This investigation focused on the extent to which students with disabilities are accessing Alternative Schools and Area Learning Centers (ALC) in Minnesota. More specifically, attention centered on (a) the option used by both students with and without disabilities to enroll in the school, (b) the extent to which students crossed district boundaries to attend the school, and (c) differential participation by category of disability. Results indicate that students with disabilities are accessing Alternative SchooVALC programs in ways similar to non-disabled students. Moreover, students with emotionalhehavioral disorders are heavily represented in these schools. It also was discovered that when students enter these programs, special education labels are often dropped and services discontinued. Implications for students with emotional and behavioral disorders are discussed.     

Teacher performance goal practices and elementary students' behavioral engagement: a developmental perspective

We investigated growth trajectories for classroom performance goal practices and for student behavioral engagement across grades 2 to 5 for 497 academically at-risk elementary students. This study is the first longitudinal investigation of performance goal practices in the early elementary years. On average, teacher use of performance goal practices increased and students' behavioral engagement declined across the four years. Using autoregressive latent trajectory (ALT) models, we examined the synchronous relations between teacher-reported performance goal practices and teacher-reported student behavioral engagement. As expected, as students move into classrooms with a new teacher with less emphasis on performance goal practices, they become more behaviorally engaged in school. Gender did not moderate these results. Implications for teacher professional development are discussed.     

Evidence-Based Parental Involvement Programs in the United States of America and Korea

Offering a family involvement program is a typical approach for helping students with or at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders and other behaviors of concern. The present paper examines evidence-based parental involvement programs in the United States and Korea. Several differences exist between programs in the two countries including evaluation, collaboration, the support of the government and related institutions, differences in perception of administrators, and the professional staff. The authors suggested several recommendations including considering the requirements of guidance for developing effective programs, designing ways to evaluate programs, encouraging collaboration, preparing qualified professional staff, and developing culturally appropriate programs for children and youth with special needs.     

How do included and excluded students with SEBD function socially and academically after 1,5 year of special education services?

ABSTRACT

The present study tested three conflicting hypotheses as to how students with social/emotional/behavioural difficulties (SEBD), who showed similar social-emotional, behavioural and academic functioning prior to placement, function socially and academically after they have received additional support either in inclusive regular education or in exclusive special education. Thirty-six included and 15 excluded students with SEBD participated. We collected data from students and teachers with classroom surveys, individual testing sessions with students with SEBD, and from application files. Using Bayesian statistics, our results suggest that excluded students are better socially embedded in exclusive special education and that they perform better academically than comparable included students with SEBD. Special education services in exclusive settings may thus afford certain benefits to some students with SEBD, not typically found in regular education, which can be considered a first indication that there may be valid counterarguments against the ‘inclusion for all’ perspective on educational needs.     

Development of an Intervention for Foster Parents of Young Foster Children with Externalizing Behavior: Theoretical Basis and Program Description

Foster parents are often faced with serious externalizing behaviors of their foster child. These behavioral problems may induce family stress and are related to less effective parenting and often increase. Foster children with behavioral problems are also more at risk of placement breakdown. An intervention to support foster parents of young foster children with externalizing behaviors is necessary to improve the effectiveness of foster placements. Based on research on effective parenting interventions and special needs of foster children, a treatment protocol was developed. This paper describes theoretical foundations for the content and form of the intervention and gives an overview of the modular treatment protocol. Preliminary outcomes of this intervention as well as challenges and future developments and research activities are discussed.     

Effects of contact with individuals with disabilities: positive attitudes and majoring in education

Attitudes toward and contact with individuals with disabilities have been topics of research for years. The major purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of contact with individuals with disabilities on attitudes and choosing to major in education. Participants were 211 undergraduate students who completed a survey of attitudes and contact with individuals with physical, developmental, and behavioral disabilities. Results demonstrated that lower misconceptions about disabilities mediated the relation between increased contact with individuals with behavioral disabilities and being an education major. The results of this study (a) can be used to determine how future teachers should be trained and (b) highlight the need for future teachers to engage in certain field experiences.     

Analysis of the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale: public school version

Many state agencies have ruled that assignment of students to special education classes for the mentally retarded must be determined by assessment of verbal, performance, and adaptive behaviors. The AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale: Public School Version was subjected to a normative and validation study using 291 subjects from the southcentral area of Texas. Data were collected from groups of regular and special education students, both white and nonwhite, at 8, 10, and 12 yr. of age. Results were compared to the original normative data provided in the AAMD manual and indicated that (1) the instrument is effective in discriminating between regular and special education groups; (2) a shortened version may be feasible and more practical; and (3) the derived total score may be useful and effective when used as a cut-off score for placement in special education for the mentally retarded.