Today's classroom differs greatly from the classroom a decade ago. This is due, in part, to the changing demographics of students across the United States where diversity is now the norm. As children enter the educational system with diverse backgrounds, they are exposed to new experiences that facilitate changes in interests, behaviors, and…

A rich array of psychoeducational approaches is available to teach students with behavior disorders, including psychodynamic, behavioral, sociological, and ecological models. A conceptual framework to bind them together is presented, based on the idea of a "reclaiming" educational environment organized to meet the needs of students and society.…

This monograph is a guide to the ecological perspective on the education of children and youth with serious emotional and behavioral problems. An introduction explains that the ecological view defines emotional disturbance not as something existing in the child, but rather as the expression of discord in the ongoing transactions between a child…

This monograph on teaching students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) is divided into two parts, one that offers historical perspectives and one that looks at future directions. Following an introduction, individual sections of Part 1 address the following topics: (1) a brief history of special education for E/BD students; (2) key…

This article reviews eight experimental studies on the effectiveness of cooperative learning as an instructional model for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD). The studies' methodological strengths and weaknesses are noted. The paper concludes that the effectiveness of cooperative learning for improving the academic achievement…

This article describes an approach to reading instruction in which teachers use principles of functional analysis to generate hypotheses for the causes of reading failure, which are then used to guide the selection and implementation of interventions. Five possible causes of reading difficulties are described, and each is accompanied by suggested…

Explains a conceptual model for a comprehensive, multilevel, school-wide discipline program and describes its implementation in one elementary school. Key elements of the program include teaching social norms, a seven-step school-wide classroom management strategy, and targeted, intensive, and comprehensive interventions. (DB)

This paper summarizes the first year experience of the Natrona County (Wyoming) school district in implementing a combined classroom model for educating intermediate grade students with emotional and behavior disorders (E/BD) in a general education setting. The combined classroom model involves two normal size classrooms made into one, three…

This report describes implementation of the Combined Classroom Model to serve 28 students, including 3 with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) and 6 with learning disabilities. Staff included a general education teacher, a resource teacher, and three teaching assistants. Evaluation data indicated reduced problem behavior by EBD students and…

The effects of three conditions (no model, a teacher-presented reading model, and a computer-presented reading model) on the reading of four students with emotional or behavioral disorders, found the teacher model resulted in the greatest number of words read correctly per minute and the greatest percentage of words read correctly. (Contains…

A nationwide random sample of 179 secondary general education math and special education teachers completed a survey asking them about their use of specific instructional practices to help teach math to students with learning disabilities (LD) and emotional/behavioral disorders (EB/D) and their use of specific assessment accommodations with these…

This Digest summarizes what is known about the use of positive behavioral support (PBS) and functional analysis (FA) to change the behaviors of students with a variety of disabilities. The paper notes that both PBS and FA differ from traditional behavioral management in focusing on systems, settings, and lack of skill. The 1997 reauthorization of…

This monograph provides an overview of intervention and programming strategies for students with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) based on the behavioral approach. It reviews the progress of the behavioral perspective in education from its earliest beginnings to the present and describes its major characteristics, chief proponents,…

Discussion of the increasing emphasis of school discipline and zero tolerance procedures and policies suggests there is little evidence that they have resulted in increased school safety or improved student behavior. A preventive, early response disciplinary model is suggested to increase the range of effective options for addressing violence and…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of a 3-year federally supported project that provided in-depth outreach to selected states, local agencies and individuals serving children and youth, K-12, with severe social, emotional, or behavioral disabilities in inclusive, general education, special education, or community service…