The increase of students with an emotional and/or behavioral disorder (EBD) and the increased time they are in the regular education classroom presents multiple challenges for untrained regular classroom teachers. At the local site it was noted that leadership needed a deeper understanding of the practices used by the teachers with EBD students. The purpose of this study was to identify educator's descriptions of effective instructional strategies when working with EBD students. Using Vygotsky's theories of defectology and zone of proximal development as the framework, the guiding questions for this study focused on training, instructional strategies, and behavior management tools that teachers deemed successful in the inclusion classroom. Data were collected using a case study exploring the design with purposeful sampling strategies for participant recruitment. Two focus groups with 14 regular Kindergarten through fifth grade classroom teachers were conducted along with personal interviews with 5 behavior specialists. Data were analyzed using open and axial coding with iterative re-categorization strategies. The findings highlighted effective teaching strategies that focused on improving the overall educational experience in the inclusive classroom by targeting improvement of academic performance, social skills, communication techniques, and behavior management strategies. This study focused on a positive social change by positioning teachers to create a successful educational environment for all students. The study's project provided a culminating professional development project that presented the various strategies discovered during the data collection and analysis process.

Teacher-student relationships can influence the academic, social, and behavioral adjustment of children and youth. Students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) experience poor quality relationships with teachers. The current study explores the importance of working alliance (i.e., agreement on tasks and goals, bond) among teachers and their students. Seventy-six teacher-student dyads completed measures of classroom working alliance, perceptions of the student-teacher relationship, student engagement, and student behavior (i.e., externalizing and internalizing behavior). Findings indicated that (a) students and teachers have weak agreement about the quality of their alliance, (b) working alliance was associated with student engagement, and (c) students’ externalizing symptomology predicted teacher ratings of alliance. Interpretation of these findings, study limitations, and suggestions for future research and practice are discussed.

The current literature lacks empirically-supported preventative approaches for kindergarten students who are socially withdrawn and behind in the development of social skills. Furthermore, parents are underutilized in interventions during this critical period of social development. In response to this need, a classroom-based intervention consisting of (a) social skills training, (b) self-evaluation and reinforcement, (c) home notes and parent involvement, and (d) adult mediation was implemented to increase the positive social engagement of three kindergarten students. The effects of this intervention were evaluated on the playground during recess using partial interval recording of target students’ positive or negative engagement with at least one peer. Improvements of social interactions on the playground were demonstrated by each target student during the implementation of the intervention, but only one student maintained these improvements in the follow-up phase. Future studies should investigate whether addressing the limitations of this study would yield stronger results with this under-identified population of students.

Current research shows that school’s behavior intervention plans are lacking in key components, indicating a need for a standardized model of assessment that sustains teacher adherence, acceptance, and feasibility. Prevent-Teach-Reinforce (PTR) is a model that combines the principles of applied behavior analysis and positive behavior support to provide a standardized approach to conducting a functional assessment and creating a behavior plan. Studies have indicated that PTR is effective in improving student behavior and academic engagement. The current study evaluated the use of PTR for three high school students classified as emotional behavioral disorder (EBD). Results indicated that teacher-implemented functional assessment and intervention planning through the use of PTR was effective at creating substantial reductions in problem behaviors and improvements in replacement behaviors for all three students. In addition, teachers were able to implement the interventions with high levels of fidelity, and social validity scores obtained from both the teachers and students indicated that the acceptability of the PTR procedures and results was relatively high.

Teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have among the highest attrition rates of any teaching discipline in the United States. High attrition rates affect EBD teachers, school districts, and students with EBD. Through the theoretical lenses of Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory and Eisenberger's organizational support theory (OST), this study sought to determine if there was a difference in college preparation, job support, and job benefit/amenity factors identified by EBD teachers who intended to leave the discipline (n = 6) and those who intended to stay (n = 9). This quantitative, survey-based study yielded data from 15 EBD teachers. Results of independent-samples t-tests indicated there were no statistically significance differences in responses between the 2 groups. However, there were notable differences when the highest and lowest means scores of individual survey items were examined. The importance both groups placed on job supports when compared to college preparation and job benefit/amenities was evident. Additionally, the results indicated that EBD teachers planning on leaving the profession placed more importance on direct contact with school administrators when compared with those intending to stay. Results of this study should be taken with caution as they are drawn from a relatively small sample of EBD teachers. The results of the study may add to the field of research on EBD teacher attrition rates and possibly assist universities, educational leaders, and education policy makers in developing means to address this issue. Importantly, the results of the study could promote the professional success of EBD teachers as well as the academic, behavioral, and social growth of the students they teach.

Students with emotional behavioral disorders (EBD) are at greater risk for dropping out of high school than other students, and are likely to experience fewer employment options and more societal marginalization. Alternative schools have been viewed as a last chance and best option for educating many students with EBD who have not actually been diagnosed. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore persistence and retention in the alternative school setting for students who may or may not have been diagnosed with EBD. Students in this study will be referred to as EBD. Although they have not been formally diagnosed, all of the students suffered with symptoms of emotional and behavioral disorders. Interview and observational data were examined through the theoretical lens of the Bandura's theory of self-efficacy and Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. The research questions focused on the meaning of academic persistence for students in an alternative school, the institutional efforts to retain students, and the processes and consequences to improve student engagement and retention. Seven teachers and administrators from an alternative school in Georgia were interviewed, and analysis and interpretation of data from the interviews, observations, and field notes revealed five major themes: support, acknowledgment for incremental gains, struggle to focus, and we are family. These results indicated that some of the most challenging students can persist when they are provided with support (parental, academic, emotional, and community), and future longitudinal research is needed on students' post-high school functioning. The results also showed the need for systemic changes that include formal assessments and diagnoses because access to psychological services are not provided until students have been properly diagnosed.

This study assessed the influence of language on the ability of children identified as being at risk for internalizing behavior disorders to successfully participate in a social skills intervention program. Fourth and fifth grade students participated in Strong Kids: A Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum in Grades 4-8, a program which promotes emotional resiliency. The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition (CELF-4) and Children's Communication Checklist-Second Edition (CCC-2) were both completed to obtain a global language score and pragmatic language score. The Teacher's Report Form (TRF), a shortened 10-item version of the Internalizing Student Symptom Scale (ISSC), and a 20-item knowledge based assessment relating to the Strong Kids curriculum were completed prior to and after the intervention. These behavioral assessments were administered in order to determine improvement in academic performance, adaptive functioning, and behavioral/emotional problems with relation to language functioning. It was found that children with higher general language abilities made significantly positive improvements with regard to withdrawal than children with lower general language abilities on measures taken prior to and directly after the Strong Kids curriculum. Additionally, the ISSC revealed that children with lower general language abilities rated themselves as having significantly more positive changes in behavior than children with higher general language abilities on measures taken prior to and six weeks following the Strong Kids curriculum. Pragmatic functioning, determined by the CCC-2, was not associated with significant behavioral improvements between children with high and low pragmatic language skills.

Universal school-wide social-emotional screeners identify at-risk students with social-emotional behavior problems (Romer et al., 2020). Identifying such students alone cannot prevent these social, emotional, and behavioral concerns from becoming problematic. However, data gathered from social-emotional screening can guide the development of strategies, supports, interventions, and progress monitoring students at risk across all tiers (Yates et al., 2008), leading to the prevention of social-emotional and behavioral problems from turning maladaptive (Humphrey & Wigelsworth, 2016; Walker et al., 2004). A school district in the Mountain West area of the United States developed a screening survey that addresses school climate, culture, and connectedness to administer to their student body. Their survey aims to identify students' needs in the following character social-emotional learning (SEL) skills that contribute to student well-being: self-awareness, compassion, resilience, and respect. Their screening survey can potentially identify the general student body's social-emotional behavioral needs. The data gathered may be used to create tiered supports that address students' needs. In this study, we conducted two focus groups that provided a forum for school psychologists in this Mountain West school district who work in an elementary school to discuss what tiered supports may be appropriate to implement in response to needs identified by the survey. The discussion also included professional development topics the participants perceived necessary for school teams responding to the survey data. The findings from this study contribute to the existing literature by recognizing that school psychologists may understand implementation science and can help lay the needed groundwork before implementing social-emotional screeners so that the process can be more efficient and effective. The findings emphasize the understanding that from the perspective of school psychologists, social-emotional learning should be applied universally and collaboratively at school and at home. School teams need to allocate time to teach social-emotional learning at school. The findings also suggest that school psychologists can determine appropriate interventions if screening data suggest a weakness in social-emotional and behavioral areas and that data collected from the screener can be used to guide topics for professional development.

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