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Students who are diagnosed with an emotional disturbance experience the greatest levels of school failure and poor social outcomes after leaving school than any other disability group. Current diagnostic practices are subjective and often do not address the underlying cognitive processes associated with the disability. Because executive function skills are innately tied to the display of externalizing and internalizing behavior, an investigation into the pattern of executive function in children identified as emotionally disturbed may begin to determine the root of the problem and, in turn, properly address the needs of these students. Forty students diagnosed with an emotional disturbance along with a comparison group of 40 non-disabled students from inner-city public schools were selected for this quantitative investigation of teachers' reports of the executive function skills of these students with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Baron, 2000). T-test, MANOVA, ANOVA, and Mann-Whitney U test analyses comparing the students with an emotional disturbance to the comparison group of non-disabled students as well as to the normative sample of students used to standardize the BRIEF, revealed that students with an emotional disturbance do exhibit elevated levels of executive function skill deficits and get progressively worse as they get older. The non-disabled students, while not to the same extent, also exhibited elevated levels of executive function deficits. In addition, female students identified as having an emotional disturbance exhibited much more severe deficits in executive function skills than male students. Recommendations with regard to intervention as well as directions for future research in the area of assessment of executive function skill deficits in students with an emotional disturbance from more diverse backgrounds are also suggested. / School Psychology

The purpose of this study was to examine whether removing disruptive students to a behavior support office (BSO) is an effective intervention in reducing disruptive behaviors in a school exclusively serving students diagnosed with emotional disturbance. The study also examined the effect of the BSO on academic success and school attendance. Staff attitudes toward the BSO were also examined. Finally, demographic categories were evaluated. Archival data from two school years were collected. There were 35 students during the 2007-2008 school year when the BSO was in effect, and 65 students during the 2008-2009 school year when the BSO was not in effect. There was also an evaluation of the 23 students who were present during both years. It was hypothesized that use of the behavior support office would reduce the number and intensity of behavior incidents, and ultimately, reduce the amount of time spent out of class due to those behaviors. The data, however, demonstrated that students exhibited more behavior incidents and spent more time out of the classroom due to those behaviors with the BSO in place. It is believed that this increase was most likely due to the reinforcement of escape motivated behaviors. These behaviors in the BSO were, however, of a lower intensity. This researcher further hypothesized that students would demonstrate higher grade point averages and higher rates of attendance with the behavior support office in place. There was no significant difference in GPA or attendance. School staff were administered the Intervention Rating Profile - 15 to examine levels of staff acceptance for the behavior support office. Teaching staff had the highest level of acceptance for the BSO, while administrators had a lower level of acceptance, and behavior staff had the lowest level of acceptance. The higher level of teaching staff acceptance did not appear to impact the success of the intervention. Finally, demographic information was evaluated. There were no significant effects for age or gender. However, African American students demonstrated a significantly greater decrease than Caucasian students in time out of the classroom due to behavior incidents after the Behavior Support Office was discontinued. / School Psychology

The purpose of this study was to examine if certified special education teachers who instruct emotionally disabled students experience the same barriers to retention when compared to other special educators. Also, this study answered the hypothesis whether significant relationships exists between the variables of staff development, stress and burnout, compensation, student discipline, role conflict, workload, and administrative support and teacher retention. One hundred forty two certified special education teachers from school districts in regions six and seven of southwestern Virginia completed a seventy-nine Likert style questionnaire for this study. Demographic profiles were outlined based on responses from special education teachers. Gender of participants was twenty-two males and seventy-eight females. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to validate predictor variables and aided in the development of the special education teacher survey. Principal component analysis interpreted the loadings of survey items on identified constructs. Results of the analysis revealed a strong correlation between the factors of Administrative Support, Compensation, Staff Development and the retention of special education teachers who work with emotionally disabled students. Fourteen percent of respondents chose to leave their positions compared to eighty-six percent who planned to stay. Findings indicated that administrative support, compensation, and staff development were the three most significant factors that influenced certified special educators' decisions to stay or leave their assigned positions. In addition, results of this study revealed that additional factors of student discipline, role conflict, stress and burnout, and workload were less significant, but were considered to have relevancy with minor roles towards a teacher's retention. It can be perceived that the three major constructs serve as a foundation that supports the four remaining individual constructs (stress and burnout, student discipline, role conflict and workload). These constructs were considered to be secondary underlying issues of teacher retention that surface and negatively impact teacher performance and job satisfaction, if not supported by the three major constructs over an extended period of time. Further, results confirmed that Administrative Support exhibited the strongest correlation among survey items and was found to have the most influence on the retention of special education teachers. / Ed. D.

Broadly, the purpose of this study was to address the gaps in the knowledge base of caregiver strain through an examination of this and other theoretically related constructs in a sample of parents of high-risk youth. In the last two decades, a growing body of research has pointed to the significance of strain that can result from this caregiving experience, particularly as it relates to patterns of mental health services utilization. Despite the fact that the majority of children who receive mental health receive them from the school, few studies have examined caregiver strain in the context of school-based mental health services or with caregivers of youth in special education for Emotional Disturbance (ED). Additionally, while the Modified Double ABCX Model of family stress and coping has been identified as a useful model to understand caregiver strain and its related constructs, questions remain about how all of the components of this model work together to influence caregiver strain and the mechanism by which caregiver strain influences youth mental health service use and parent engagement in services. The specific aims of this study were to: (1) explore the construct of caregiver strain and its relationship with theoretically related constructs in caregivers of youth in special education for ED, and (2) examine the factors, including caregiver strain, that predict school-based mental health services utilization and parent engagement in services. Secondary analyses were conducted using data collected as part of a randomized controlled trial of a parent support intervention for caregivers of youth in special education for ED. Participants included 112 caregivers and you their youth recruited from 22 schools and special education centers. Data were provided by caregivers and school-based mental health service providers. Caregivers completed phone interviews conducted upon entry into the study and again approximately nine months later. These semi-structured interviews included measures of youth functioning, caregiver strain, and caregivers’ perceptions related to their child’s problems and engagement in services. School-based mental health service providers supplied data related to the amount of school-based mental health counseling services received by youth and whether caregivers consulted with service providers during the study period. Data were analyzed using a variety of quantitative methods, including descriptive statistics, dependent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), multiple linear regression, and multiple logistic regression. Results revealed that caregivers reported the highest levels of subjective-internalizing strain, and that the level of three types of caregiver strain decreased from time 1 to time 2. Additionally, caregivers of males tended to report higher levels of strain than caregivers of females, and parents tended to report higher levels of strain than other caregivers. Consistent with previous studies, non-Hispanic Black caregivers tended to report the lowest levels of caregiver strain compared to all other racial/ethnic groups. Findings from SEM analyses revealed that following slight modifications to the originally hypothesized model, the model tested fit the data well and all of the paths included in the model (other than those related to race/ethnicity) had statistically significant parameter estimates. Findings from the multiple linear regression analyses revealed that collectively the predictors included in the model accounted for only a small percentage of the variance in the outcome (11.9%), and none of the predictors included in the regression model significantly predicted the amount of school-based counseling received by students. Results from the multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that only youth gender and youth conduct problems were significant predictors of the outcome; caregivers of male youth and caregivers of youth with more conduct problems were less likely than caregivers of female youth and caregivers of youth with fewer conduct problems, respectively, to have consulted with their child’s school-based mental health services provider during the school year. Collectively, findings from this study demonstrate that caregivers of youth in special education for ED experience caregiver strain to a similar degree as caregivers of youth receiving services through mental health systems. Further, findings provide evidence for the usefulness of the Modified Double ABCX Model in studying and understanding caregiver strain in this population. While findings from this study provide support for the relationships among the constructs of this model, findings from this study also suggest that this model may not hold up in terms of predicting the amount of school-based services received by youth or the likelihood of parent engagement with their child’s school-based mental health service provider. Additional research is needed that includes a more complete representation of the constructs of this model to determine if this model holds for school-based service use and engagement.

Historically, youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have experienced higher rates of absenteeism, lower grade point averages, and higher course failure than their non-disabled peers; as a result, students with EBD are at significant risk of school failure, dropping out of school, and experiencing poor life outcomes. Emerging literature suggests that teaching self-determination to students with EBD may be an effective strategy to address the in-school and post-school challenges faced by youth with EBD. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of teaching self-determination on adolescents with EBD's on- and off-task behavior, grades, progress towards self-selected goals, and global self-determination. The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) was implemented with four high school students with EBD between the ages of 14 and 16 years who were having difficulty meeting classroom behavioral expectations in two general education classrooms. The SDLMI teaches key components of self-determination, is suitable for diverse students, and is compatible with major academic content areas. Twelve lessons were taught as a separate curriculum individually to each participant. The entire study took 25-weeks, between October and April, to complete. A multiple baseline across participants design was used to examine the functional relation between SDLMI intervention and the on- and off-task behaviors of high school students with EBD. The results showed that all four students significantly increased on-task behaviors and decreased off-task behaviors and all four participants maintained the increase of on-task behaviors and the decrease of off-task behaviors after the intervention was withdrawn. Moreover, all four students made progress towards their goal of implementing on-task behavior in the classroom and generalized on-task behavior to a second general education classroom. However, data regarding the impact on students' grades and self-determination were inconclusive. The study provides evidence of effective self-determination instruction that supports students to improve their behavior in a general education classroom. It also provides direction for future research exploring the relationship between behavior and academic skills. Contributions to the field, limitations, and implications for practice and future research are provided. / text

This paper analyses and describes sorne importan! characteristics of families and the school affecting the students both in their psychosocial development and their school performance. It also emphasizes the characteristics of anxiety that can be trigger by the school and that together with sorne family anxiety peculiarities can increase the number of children who are at risk of having a low school performance and school failure. This paper suggest that in order to improve student's psychosocial development together with school performance, it is important to have an efficient intersystemic communication between the family and the school. It is also importan! to apply reliable strategies, as those contained in the Chilean Educational Reform so as to achieve these goals. / El artículo analiza algunas particularidades familiares y de la escuela que contribuyen a la aparición de estados ansiosos en los alumnos, que afectan tanto su desarrollo psicosocial como su rendimiento escolar. Enfatiza las características de los estados ansiosos que pueden ser provocados o exacerbados por la escuela y que junto con algunas peculiaridades familiares ansiogénicas pueden aumentar el número de niños en riesgo de bajo rendimiento y de fracaso escolar. Sostiene que tanto a través de una comunicación intersistémica eficiente familia-escuela como en el desarrollo de los Objetivos Fundamentales Transversales contenidos en la Reforma educacional chilena, es posible aminorar la sintomatología ansiosa, con el consecuente beneficio tanto para el desarrollo personal afectivo, como en el rendimiento escolar de los alumnos.