Classroom-Based Interventions for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

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Classroom-Based Interventions for Students with
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

• Joseph Wehby
• Associate Professor
• Special Education, Peabody College

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Overview

• Interaction patterns in classrooms
• Child effects on adult teaching behaviors
• Academic problems associated with
  emotional/behavioral disorders
• Recommend treatment of emotional/behavioral
  disorders in classrooms

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Classroom instruction for students with EBD

• Several descriptive studies on children with or
  at-risk for EBD have shown that teacher behavior
  may occasion and maintain some of the problem
  behaviors that are characteristic of these
  children.

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Descriptive Classrooms Studies of Children with
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

• Less than 2 praise statements per hour
• More engaged students received more positive
  teacher behaviors, less engaged students received
  more neglect and coercion from teachers, and were
  treated with less consistency
• Twice a many negative statement to students with
  or at-risk for EBD
• Over sixty percent of to do statements are
  social in nature
• High risk students received more reprimands, more
  behavior requests, and few opportunities to
  respond academically
• Students rated as aggressive are twice as likely
  to receive reprimands following inappropriate
  classroom behavior
• Compared to students with EBD, students without
  EBD are treated less harshly when committing
  similar behavioral offenses.

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Child Effect on Adult Behavior

• In effective schools literature, practices
  highlight the role teacher plays in directing
  students.
• This adult focus suggests that children play a
  passive role in these interactions.
• However, research has shown that children may
  actively influence the behavior of adults.

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An Emerging Model of Deprivation within Classrooms

• Students with emotional and behavioral disorders
  enter school with poor self-control, inadequate
  social skills, and above average levels of
  inappropriate behavior.
• Current classroom interactions focus primarily on
  behavior (not academics) however, this focus is
  typically punitive and somewhat inconsistent.
• When interactions occur, most often around
  non-academic issues.
• Instructional interactions the teachers do
  initiate often involved less challenging tasks
  that typically elicited lower levels of student
  problem behavior.
• Correct academic responses by a student does not
  occasion teacher praise above chance levels.
• Curriculum of non-instruction.

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• This deprivation model suggest that a molar
  perspective of the causes of classroom
  misbehavior should be incorporated within the
  more tradition molecular focus by looking at
  generalized patterns of teacher-student
  interactions.
• A molar perspective assumes the need for
  assessing the relation between problem behaviors
  and events that may be seemingly unrelated (at
  least on a temporal basis).

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• How do children who exhibit significant behavior
  problems behavior respond when more consistent
  and appropriate teacher interactions occur?

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• It appears that one solution to addressing the
  relationship between school performance and
  students with EBD is to change the nature of
  teacher-student interaction patterns within
  classrooms.

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Instructional Interactions

• Teaching Behaviors Targeted for Intervention
• Instructional Talk
• Opportunities to respond
• Feedback
• Contingent Praise

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Opportunities to Respond

• Studies indicate increased OTR leads to
• increased academic outcomes
• increased task engagement
• decreased inappropriate behavior

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Teacher Praise

• Studies indicate increased praise leads to
• increased academic outcomes
• increased task engagement
• decreased inappropriate behavior
• It has been suggested that ratios of praise to
  reprimands should range from 31 to 41
• Descriptive research indicates ratios of praise
  to reprimands of 12 to 14

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Possible Solutions

• Determine ways to help teachers monitor their
  instructional behavior toward students who engage
  in problem behavior.

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Self-Evaluation

• Prediction
• Sharing of observed rates of praise.
• Examples of effective praise.
• Training
• Goal setting.

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Total Praise
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Total OTR
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Students Correct Responses
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Academic Characteristics of Students with EBD

• Relationship between behavioral problems and
  academic underachievement has been well
  documented in research literature
• Prognosis for students who have both behavioral
  and learning problems is extremely poor they
  experience school failure and drop out of school
  at much higher rates than any other disability
  group

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Ineffective Classrooms As a Cause of Antisocial
Behavior

• Academic failure leads to little reinforcement
  for students.
• School begins to take on aversive properties.
• Increase in negative behavior.
• Students influence teacher instructional behavior
• If this cycle continues, may lead to more
  delinquent acts and school failure or dropout.
• With increased academic standards, an increasing
  number of children who are at-risk for academic
  problems may show problem behavior.

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• Overemphasis on behavior control
• Teacher reliance on ineffective strategies
• Inadequate teacher preparation and support
• Lack of an effective on academic instruction

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Conclusions from Classroom Interactions Research

• It seems clear that children with
  emotional/behavioral disorders actively influence
  the behavior of adults in classrooms.
• Yet, when appropriate adult instructional
  patterns are observed, students seem to engage in
  higher levels of engagement and lower levels of
  inappropriate behavior.
• An unanswered question is what levels of support
  are needed to maintain good teaching when
  working with students who display
  emotional/behavioral disorders.

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Keys to Effective Support

• Early intervention is key, before behavioral and
  academic deficits become too pronounced.
• Target both child and adult behavior in order to
  promote development and maintenance of new
  skills.
• Emphasize the importance of addressing both
  academic and social behaviors simultaneously.
• Provide ongoing support for both teachers and
  students.
• Increase the frequency of critical teaching
  behaviors like praise and opportunities to
  respond.
• Interventions should be comprehensive.

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Vanderbilt Behavior Research Center

• The purpose of the project is to focus on
  assessing the impact of a classroom- and
  teacher-focused intervention. More specifically,
  using research sites across three states, random
  assignment of participants, and multiple
  behavioral and academic measures, we will assess
  the impact of an empirically-valid classroom
  management program supplemented with teacher
  self-evaluation, a group contingency
  reinforcement system, and academic tutoring on
  the social and academic performance of students
  identified as having emotional and behavioral
  disorders.

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Intervention Components

• Classroom Organization and Management Program
  (COMP)
• Teacher Self-Monitoring
• Good Behavior Game
• 3-5 hours of behavior consultant in classrooms
  each week.
• Reading tutoring 3 times per week

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Vanderbilt Behavior Research Center

• Vanderbilt University
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• University of Minnesota

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Participants

• 90 elementary and special education classrooms.
• 217 elementary age students
• 67 1st graders
• 81 2nd graders
• 69 3rd graders
• 83 students identified as at-risk
• 134 students receiving special education students
  for behavior problems (e.g. emotional
  disturbance, learning disabilities, mild mental
  retardation)

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VBRC

• Intervention is designed to last 12 months
• Assessment will take place at 5 time points plus
  a 1 year follow-up.
• Data will include evaluation of intervention for
  sample as a whole as well as special education
  classrooms versus general education classrooms.