The goal of this study was to examine the perceptions of disability, parental rights, roles, and advocacy actions of Mexican American parents with elementary-aged children classified as having an emotional disturbance. It explored parents’ understanding of their child’s disability, knowledge of their educational rights, and their perceived roles in special education. It also examined how parents ensure their children’s needs are met by the special education system. Six parents from five elementary schools in a Texas urban school district were interviewed. In addition to data gathered from the semi-structured interviews, data was also collected through direct observation of parent participation in ARD (Admission, Review, and Dismissal) meetings and a review of the students’ special education file for documentation of parent participation, such as questions, input, and concerns given by parents. Inductive coding was used to analyze the data. Findings generated by the study revealed that despite the complexity of the special education system, parents educated and empowered themselves to ensure their children’s needs were met. They constructed various understandings of their children’s disability, perceiving it to be a genetic illness, gender specific (“boys will be boys”), or the result of having an absent parent. In regards to the parents’ understanding of their rights in the special education process, parents had a general understanding or limited awareness of these rights. Parents also perceived themselves in a variety of roles, from advocate to educator to caretaker, within the special education system. Parents engaged in a number of actions to ensure their children’s needs were met; they questioned the special education process, maintained high expectations, met with administrators, researched their rights, and pursued outside resources. Contrary to previous research that suggested low rates of parent participation in special education, the parents in this study actively participated in their children’s special education. These findings contributed to the limited research in this area, providing valuable insight into the perceptions of Mexican American parents of children classified as emotionally disturbed. / text

The present study identified factors influencing determination of educational setting for students with Emotional Disturbance (ED). Determination of most appropriate educational setting, a key provision of students' individualized education programs (IEP) continues to be one the most contentious issues in special education. Focus group interviews were conducted to identify and understand factors contributing to placement decisions for IEP teams. Qualitative analysis of interviews produced three themes. First, IEP team members' beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes of ED influenced their recommendations for placement decisions. Second, teacher and resource-based factors played as critical a role as student-based factors in where students were placed. Third, needs of school-based stakeholders (i.e. teachers, principals, district officials) competed with those of the student with ED. Previous interview-based research on factors related to the determination of educational setting for students with ED relied predominantly on a single population: teachers. This study extends the research literature by including psychologists and principals as participants. The findings, provided by a cross section of school districts and personnel, highlight challenges related to the provision of high quality educational services for students with ED.

Students with emotional disturbance experience many problems that affect their academic and social success in the school environment, including academic performance, relationships with teachers and peers, and a lack of engagement in the school community (Anderson, Kutash, & Duchnowski, 2001; Villarreal, 2015). Currently, a handful of interventions exist to assist students with behavioral challenges. Many of these interventions aim to increase academic achievement, or to curb disruptive behavior in students with ED so that they can achieve improved school success (Algozzine, Wang, & Violette, 2011). Research with students with emotional disabilities also suggests that improving their self-determination skills and providing opportunities for self-determination are also effective in improving school success (Green, Mays, & Jolivette, 2011; Sebag, 2010; Skerbetz & Kostewicz, 2013). While some research has been conducted with middle and high school students with ED, fewer research studies exist on strategies that promote self-determination in elementary students. This purpose of this study was to explore the effect of a choice-making intervention on the academic engagement and disruptive behaviors of elementary students with ED. Findings revealed a functional relationship between the offering of choice and the students' disruptive behaviors and academic engagement. Students also increased in their work completion and social interactions with one another and with the adults. Social validity data indicated that the teacher viewed the intervention as being feasible and valuable in his classroom.

The purpose of this study was to identify individual characteristics and school experiences of youth with serious emotional disturbance (SED) that may influence their postsecondary employment status.

Thesis advisor: Mary E. Walsh / Out-of-school factors including poverty, mobility, and violence contribute to student learning and development where need often influences negative outcome gaps over time (Coalition for Community Schools, 2018; Mattison & Aber, 2007; Moore, 2014; Moore & Emig, 2014). A subset of students face these and additional challenges with emotional disturbance (ED). The ED designation is a strong predictor of poorer outcomes even with special education practice in place (de Voursney & Huang, 2016; IDEA, 2004; Lewis et al., 2017; Moore et al., 2017; Olivier et al., 2018). These findings heighten calls to reform support systems around students, especially those students facing the most need. Integrated Student Supports (ISS) emerged as a systemic approach to comprehensively service in and out-of-school needs (Moore, 2014; Moore & Emig, 2014; Lee-St. John et al., 2018; Moore et al., 2017). However, limited research exists on the impact of tandem ISS services on special education accommodation for students with ED. This study focused on an approach to ISS, City Connects, on academic and behavior outcomes for students with ED impairment. City Connects offers tailored support for the whole child and implementation has resulted in positive outcomes (City Connects, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2020; Walsh et al., 2014). The study had two aims. First, to determine if students with ED designation (N=4,427) scored lower on academic and thriving outcomes than students never in special education (N=14,475). The second was to assess if ever participating in City Connects (N=5,067) moderated the relationship between ED impairment and outcomes. School-fixed effects regressions assessed these aims. Results revealed that students with ED scored significantly lower across all outcomes. Analyses for the second study aim were variable. Math scores were significantly higher for City Connects students than children without these supports. Writing and MCAS-ELA scores did not significantly differ between the two groups. Reading and behavior marks were significantly lower for City Connects students. The predicted moderation of City Connects only met significance for reading scores. Findings partially support hypotheses and promote greater attention to investigations of subsets of students and the mechanisms behind the response to City Connects and ISS more broadly. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

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The purpose of this mixed methods study was to identify the perceptions of educators regarding the potential impact of technology as a motivator to elicit desirable behaviors within students that have been identified with an educational diagnosis of emotional disturbance at the elementary school level. A review of the literature focused on key words such as (a) technology, (b) emotional disturbance, and (c) behavior management. The perceptions of educators were collected through the use of an on-line questionnaire, in addition to individual, face-to-face interviews. The study intended to collect the perceptions of classroom teachers to determine whether or not educators who work closely with elementary-aged students with emotional disturbance are more likely to exhibit desirable behaviors at school when the student is aware that access to technology is an option as a reward or even if the technology is available for general use in the classroom. The implications of the study show that the majority of teachers who participated do perceive that technology plays a role in promoting desirable behaviors within their students. Future studies can look at the role specific types of technology play in behavior management. It can be stated that the implications from this study promote the use of technology in emotional support classrooms at the elementary level. Ensuring that teachers have access to technology is an important factor that school districts will want to examine. / Educational Leadership

The initial session play therapy behaviors of maladjusted and adjusted children were compared to investigate the value of children's play for diagnostic purposes. The frequency and the intensity of 13 categories of play behaviors were considered as factors in discriminating maladjusted children from adjusted children. The 15 children in the maladjusted group had been referred by their parents for counseling but had not been in counseling previously, and their teachers had reported that they had exhibited two or more behaviors indicative of emotional disturbance. The 15 children in the adjusted group were rated by their teachers as exhibiting none of the behaviors Indicating emotional disturbance, and their parents recognized no need for counseling. All subjects were 5 to 9 years of age, and the two groups were matched for age and sex. The Play Behaviors Adjustment Rating Scale (PBARS) was used to rate each child's play behaviors in an initial videotaped 36-minute play therapy session. The frequency and the intensity were rated for thirteen play categories: exploratory, incidental, creative or coping, dramatic or role, relationship building, relationship testing, self-accepting, self-rejecting, acceptance of environment, nonacceptance of environment, positive attitudinal, ambivalent attitudinal, and negative attitudinal. The results of the chi-square analysis indicated that maladjusted children exhibited significantly more self-accepting and nonacceptance of environment behaviors as well as more intense dramatic or role behaviors and acceptance of environment behaviors than did adjusted children. Further investigation showed: (a) maladjusted girls expressed dramatic or role behaviors more often and more intensely than maladjusted boys, (b) maladjusted boys showed more self-accepting and nonacceptance of environment behaviors than maladjusted girls, (c) maladjusted boys exhibited more self-accepting behaviors than adjusted boys, (d) adjusted girls expressed more positive attitudinal behaviors than adjusted boys, and (e) adjusted boys engaged in more exploratory play and were more intense in negative attitudinal play than adjusted girls.