This study aims to understand special education teachers' lived experience of encountering Disruptive Classroom Behavior (DCB) among middle school students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD) in self-contained classrooms. Employing an interpretative phenomenological approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight teachers…

Cooperative group activities in classrooms provide an opportunity for children to learn and demonstrate relationship skills, particularly when clear expectations and explicit instruction are provided. Relationship skills are one of the five competency areas of social and emotional learning. This article provides directions and illustrations for…

Students who are actively engaged in learning have a higher probability of academic and behavioral success in the classroom. One effective teaching practice that increases student engagement is providing students with frequent opportunities to respond (OTR). This article provides practitioners with a range of OTR strategies that include verbal,…

African American students have been overrepresented in school discipline and the criminal justice system for years. The tendency for this overrepresentation increases when the African American student has a disability, particularly emotional or behavioral disabilities. The problem addressed in this study is that African American students…

Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations in the United States. This is especially true for teachers who are responsible for meeting the complex needs of students with disabilities, particularly those with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). In fact, EBD teachers have a higher risk of experiencing burnout than their special education…

As schools expand access to technology devices and internet connectivity improves throughout the United States, educators can utilize technology for continuity of instruction during school disruptions (e.g., out-of-school suspension, catastrophes, disasters, or illnesses). Remote learning provides students with instruction outside of the physical…

This article offers a rationale for using a low-intensity support, increasing opportunities to respond, to promote students' academic engagement and decrease disruptive behaviors. A step-by-step guide to implementing this strategy in the classroom setting is presented.

In an article published in 2000, Flora indicated that 5:1 is the "magic" ratio of positive-to-negative interactions. Flora's position is characteristic of the pervasive idea that there is a "magic" ratio of positive-to-negative interactions for improving interpersonal relationships. In the field of education, teachers are often…

Educators who work with students with emotional and behavioral disorders may seek instructional strategies that are effective yet practical in the classroom. These strategies need a research base to support them and minimal time and/or effort to prepare or implement. One research-based option for educators across a variety of contexts is…

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of immediately prompting a general education teacher to increase her rate of Opportunities to Respond (OTR) through bug-in-ear technology on the academic engagement of a first-grade student with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In…

The purpose of this article is to share principles and strategies that may be used to teach appropriate behaviors to students that that may struggle with an emotional behavior disorder. Operating from the principle that music is naturally rewarding, classroom procedures and lessons that address preparation, imagination, effortful control, pacing,…

Students with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) often display significant intrusive behaviors and need specific behavioral, social-emotional, and academic supports. Given the background of trauma consistent with a RAD diagnosis, it is imperative that school personnel understand the social-emotional behavioral supports needed to help children with…

An increasing challenge for many secondary special education teachers is preparing students for the writing demands in postsecondary settings. The self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) model of writing instruction, considered an evidence-based practice, is an effective strategy for enhancing the writing skills of students with disabilities,…

Class-wide interventions have strong empirical support for improving behavior in general education classes but are rarely tested in special education classes. The present study examined the effects of the Class-wide Function-related Intervention Team (CW-FIT) program, a group contingency intervention, on the on-task behavior of six elementary…

This qualitative phenomenological research study investigated the experiences of teachers' in the general education classroom with students with emotional behavior disorders. The five questions that guided the research examined teacher's use of strategies, administration support, and need the training to educate students with emotional behavioral…