Doctor of Education / Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / James M. Teagarden / Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have academic and behavioral deficits that impact their school success. For example, reading achievement of students with EBD is lower than typically developing peers and fails to improve over time without intervention. Despite this, the academic deficits of students with EBD often get overlooked and there are limited evidence-based practices for reading instruction to support them. This study sought to address this limitation by applying the Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS), which has supportive evidence when applied to students with learning disabilities. The study involved eight 5th grade students, three were identified with EBD. The intervention, implemented by the classroom teacher, failed to result in gains in oral reading fluency, comprehension, and targeted social skills due to a variety of factors to be discussed. Limitations and future research are discussed, including considerations for future research.

The importance of looking at student and teacher interactions holistically is essential and results in reflective teaching practices; consequently, the reflective practice of teaching needs to incorporate all facets of the teacher, known and unknown. This study looks at the potential influence of hidden biases towards adolescent Hispanic males and students with Emotional Behavior Disorders by observing preservice teacher (PT) interactions with students within a simulated classroom environment. Factorial MANOVAs and Discriminant analyses revealed statistically significant interactions and relationships between participant level of bias and the identified student avatars. These exchanges were more prevalent with one student avatar by both experimental and control PTs; indicating that student characteristics and their differences are important factors that need to be considered when addressing issues related to bias.

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