49 L & D s p eDUcating stUDents emotionaL or BehavioraL ...

Page 49 Law & Disorder

Educating Students
with Emotional or
Behavioral Disorders

Hallie Salmon

Elementary General Education, Senior, Indiana University

ABSTRACT

Because of the large number of students with Emotional and Behavioral
Disorders (EBD) being mainstreamed into general education classrooms,
it is important and essential for teachers to learn effective practices to
educate this group of students. Some methods that have proven to be ef-
fective are increasing praise and student opportunities to respond to aca-
demic requests. Additional procedures include setting up the classroom
in an organized manner and improving the education preservice teachers
receive. While research has identified these as helpful practices, few teach-
ers actually employ these strategies in the classroom, which has led to high
burnout rates among teachers of students with EBD. Preparing teachers
on how to educate students with EBD will lead to less teacher stress and
increased opportunities for students with EBD to be successful.

W ith the rise of the inclusion classes per year (Sutherland & Wehby,
movement, more and more 2001). Additionally, Sutherland and We-
students with Emotional and hby (2001) argue students with EBD
Behavioral Disorders (EBD) are being have high dropout rates, and even higher
placed in general education classrooms unemployment rates among those who
where they are taught primarily by gen- do complete school. Several strategies
eral educators. While research has prov- for improving education exist to help stu-
en that these students are fully capable dents with EBD have a greater chance for
of being successful in this environment success. Some of these ideas include in-
(Cook, Landrum, Tankersley, & Kauff- creasing praise and student opportunities
man, 2003), this group of students tends to respond to academic requests, setting
to have the lowest grade-point average up the classroom in an organized manner,
of all students with disabilities, with ap- and improving the training and education
proximately 50% failing one or more preservice teachers receive in educating

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Salmon Page 50

students with EBD. Due to the large num- during a lesson. This strategy allows for
ber of mainstreamed students with EBD, students’ active participation in class,
it is not only important but absolutely es- leading to fewer behavior problems
sential that teachers begin learning how and more retention of information. The
to effectively educate this unique group Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
of students. has established effective rates of OTR
ranging from four to six responses per
According to Wehby, Lane, and Falk minute with 80% accuracy to 8 to 12 re-
(2003), emotionally disturbed refers to sponses per minute with 90% accuracy,
students who exhibit some type of in- depending on the material being taught.
appropriate behavior that adversely in- However, descriptive research indicates
fluences their education and ability to that most teachers of students with EBD
achieve. Students with EBD are charac- rarely provide adequate OTR (Suther-
terized by an inability to build acceptable land & Wehby, 2001). In their review
relationships in their home and school en- of the literature related to OTR and stu-
vironment, inappropriate behavior under dents with EBD, Sutherland and Wehby
normal circumstances, and/or a persistent examined the effects of increased OTR
mood of unhappiness. In academic situ- on the education of students with EBD.
ations, students with EBD are inclined The research indicated that increased
to act out, frequently fall off-task, and rates of OTR resulted in increased edu-
defy rules. Good and Brophy (as cited cational outcomes, increased task man-
in Gunter, Coutinho, & Cade, 2002) in- agement, and decreased inappropriate
dicate that students spend 70% of the and disruptive behavior of students with
school day doing independent work. EBD. An additional study by Sutherland,
During this time students with EBD have Wehby, and Yoder (2002) examined the
difficulty with social behaviors and stay- relationship between OTR and teacher
ing on task. Because of the frequency of praise. This study confirmed the results
these behaviors, teachers often become in Sutherland and Wehby’s article that
frustrated when handling problematic sit- increased OTR does lead to increased ac-
uations. In response to their frustration, ademic achievement and decreased dis-
teachers usually provide less instruction ruptive behavior. Moreover, Sutherland
for students who are disruptive, instead et al. (2002) discovered that teachers who
of helping them cope and succeed in praise students frequently provide high
school (Wehby et al., 2003). Addition- rates of OTR, and teachers who seldom
ally, Sutherland and Wehby (2001) assert praise students have low rates of OTR.
that there is a strong inverse relationship Consequently, increasing OTR provides
between problematic behavior and in- teachers with more opportunities to praise
struction. The teacher usually attributes students. These two strategies prove to
higher rates of student misconduct with be effective methods of helping students
lower rates of instruction. with EBD achieve academically while
minimizing the disruptive behavior that
A significant amount of research in often occurs with this group of students.
educating students with EBD has focused These findings indicate that the current
on the rates of Opportunities To Respond trend of teachers ignoring and providing
to academic requests (OTR). An effec- less instruction for students with EBD,
tive method of educating students with who exhibit undesired behavior(s), can
disabilities revolves around the teacher significantly inhibit their chances at suc-
providing a significant number of occa-
sions for students to respond to questions

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Page 51 Law & Disorder

cess. Therefore, educators need to focus rather than a packet of worksheets. In ad-
heavily on implementing these strategies dition, teachers need to be careful to se-
into their classroom in order to increase lect work that is neither too hard nor too
opportunities for students with EBD to easy for students because students with
succeed. EBD will often exhibit disruptive behav-
ior in order to stop working. When this
Besides the alterations educators can disruptive behavior begins, teachers usu-
make in their teaching styles, teachers ally interrupt the class in order to termi-
can also institute specific classroom man- nate the problem behavior, which leads
agement strategies that have been proven the disruptive behavior to be reinforced
to lead to increased rates of success in by the continual avoidance of work.
students with EBD (Gunter et al., 2002). Thus, teachers should be aware of their
These strategies include establishing and students’ abilities and assign work that is
posting five rules and the consequences doable, yet challenging.
of breaking these rules where all students
can see them, designing the classroom to While the research has suggested sev-
increase interactions between the teacher eral strategies to minimize disruptive be-
and student, and setting up a token econ- havior of students with EBD, seemingly,
omy to assist in behavior management. very few educators actually incorporate
Token economies, where fake money is these strategies into their daily practice
awarded for positive behavior and ex- (Wehby et al., 2003). Without these strat-
changed for tangible items such as food egies, educators might be failing to man-
or playtime, have received a significant age these students, and this is evidenced
amount of support. The positive results by the high burnout rates that teachers of
are indicative of success for all students, students with EBD exhibit. Wehby et al.
not just those with EBD (Cook et al., (2003) hypothesize the frequent burnout
2003; Gunter et al., 2002). Furthermore, rate is related to the lack of teacher prep-
Cook et al. highly recommend self-moni- aration during preservice years. What is
toring and class wide peer tutoring, both yet to be answered is why teachers fail
leading to increased on-task behavior and to employ evidence-based strategies as
academic engagement. However, neither opposed to those lacking effectiveness.
Cook et al. nor Gunter et al. detail how Most preservice educators receive in-
to implement these strategies in the class- struction on managing anti-social be-
room. While they list what has been prov- havior but learn little about effective
en to work, they provide few strategies or academic instruction. This may be one
suggestions as to where to begin and how reason why teachers do not use proven
to establish such a system. strategies in their classrooms. Unfortu-
nately, most teachers may not have been
When instructing students with EBD taught specific strategies to use and how
on academic subjects, research sug- to implement them.
gests educators should teach new mate-
rial through direct, teacher-led instruc- Furthermore, most students with EBD
tion and provide opportunities to practice are often educated by teachers who are
learned skills through independent seat- not certified in EBD (Wehby et al., 2003).
work. However, in order to keep students With the emergence of the inclusion
with EBD from becoming discouraged movement, the opportunity for students
during independent work time, Gunter with EBD to only be educated by spe-
et al. (2002) recommend giving students cial educators who are certified in EBD
one task at a time, such as one worksheet is dwindling. This is partly due to the

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Salmon Page 52

Individuals with Disabilities Education education topics, including EBD. For
Act of 1997 (IDEA). According to IDEA, example, at Indiana University, general
all individuals between the ages of three elementary education majors have only
and twenty-one have the right to a free, one class to prepare them for teach-
appropriate public education despite the ing students with various special needs.
severity of the disability the person may However, the research discussed here co-
have. Another mandate of IDEA is the incides heavily with what has been talked
right for students with disabilities to be about in Indiana University education
educated in the Least Restrictive Environ- class K305, Teaching Exceptional Learn-
ment (LRE), meaning children with dis- ers. Because of the nature of K305 and
abilities must be educated in as normal an the amount of material to be covered, this
environment as possible, most often with class can only briefly discuss special edu-
their nondisabled classmates (Hallahan cation issues, and therefore cannot pro-
& Kauffman, 2003). For many students vide future teachers with all the informa-
with EBD, the LRE is in the general edu- tion they need to be an effective educator
cation classroom with a general educa- of students with special needs. However,
tion instructor. However, general educa- with the increase in mainstreaming stu-
tors often do not receive enough training dents with special needs into the general
in EBD, become stressed when handling education setting, it is likely teachers will
problematic behaviors demonstrated by be forced to educate students with special
students with EBD, and tend to quit early needs early in their career. As a result,
in their career. future educators need to dedicate them-
selves to exploring research and effective
A study by Nelson (2001) examined teaching strategies for students with all
stress levels of teachers whose students types of disabilities, not just EBD.
have EBD. Prior to Nelson’s study, re-
search had indicated a definite relation- In conclusion, effective education for
ship between occupational stress and job students with EBD reaches far beyond un-
satisfaction. Nelson concluded from his derstanding the internalizing and external-
research that teachers who were confident izing characteristics of this unique group
in their abilities to handle externalizing of students. Just because educators can
properly handle and minimize disruptive
behaviors of students with EBD and had behavior often exhibited by students with
EBD does not mean that these students
a good relationship with their colleagues will automatically be given opportunities
to be successful. Rather, teachers need a
were under little stress in their job. This combination of academic instruction and
classroom management strategies to es-
was the general consensus of most of the tablish a classroom environment condu-
cive to learning. Further research needs
participants. Nelson’s study, however, re- to explore these aspects together as well,
because current research focuses on either
viewed mostly older, experienced teach- classroom management or academic in-
ers, while in actuality most teachers of struction. In addition, it would be benefi-
students with EBD are young and inex- cial to continue research on burnout rates
perienced. Therefore, Nelson’s research is and stress among teachers of students
controversial because it is not an adequate with EBD because, as stated previously,
representation of the teachers who typi- there are discrepancies in this area.
cally educate students with EBD.

Due to time constraints, it is difficult
for the undergraduate curriculum to fully
accommodate the needs of preservice
teachers. Therefore, most future educa-
tors receive minimal training on special

Issue 1 • January 2006

Page 53 Law & Disorder

references Journal of Emotional & Behavioral
Disorders, 10. Retrieved April 20,
Cook, B. G., Landrum, T. J., Tankersley, 2004, from Academic Search Premier
M., & Kauffman, J. M. (2003). database.
Bringing research to bear on practice:
effecting evidence-based instruction Wehby, J. H., Lane, K. L., & Falk, K. B.
for students with emotional or (2003). Academic instruction for
behavioral disorders. Education and students with emotional and behavioral
Treatment of Children, 26, 345-361. disorders. Journal of Emotional and
Retrieved April 20, 2004, from Behavioral Disorders, 11, 194-197.
Academic Search Premier database.

Gunter, P. L., Coutinho, M. J., & Cade, T.
(2002). Classroom factors linked
with academic gains among students
with emotional and behavioral
problems. Preventing School Failure,
46, 126-132.

Hallahan, D. P., & Kauffman, J. M. (2003).
Exceptional learners: Introduction to
special education. (9th ed.). Boston:
Allyn and Bacon.

Nelson, R. J. (2001). Sources of
occupational stress for teachers of
students with emotional and behavioral
disorders. Journal of Emotional &
Behavioral Disorders, 9, 123-131.
Retrieved April 21, 2004, from
Academic Search Premier database.

Sutherland, K. S., & Wehby, J. H. (2001).
Exploring the relationship between
increased opportunities to respond to
academic requests and the academic
and behavioral outcomes of students
with EBD. Remedial and Special
Education, 22, 113-121. Retrieved
April 15, 2004, from Academic
Search Premier database.

Sutherland, K. S., Wehby, J. H., & Yoder,
P. J. (2002). Examination of the
relationship between teacher praise
and opportunities for students with
EBD to respond to academic requests.

Issue 1 • January 2006