Justin D. Garwood

Improving Reading Comprehension and Fluency Outcomes for Adolescents With Emotional-Behavioral Disorders: Recent Research Synthesized

As the reading difficulties experienced by students with emotional-behavioral disorders (EBD) receive more attention, the corresponding call for evidence-based practices has become more pronounced. We conducted a systematic review of comprehension and fluency interventions for middle and high school students with EBD served outside of the general education classroom in the years since the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004). This literature synthesis represents a response to previous reviews to provide an updated state of the field regarding reading intervention research for students with EBD. The nine studies meeting inclusion criteria, all of which employed a single-subject design, contained a variety of intervention procedures and practices. Results indicated an increased amount of research involving middle and high school students with EBD. Effect sizes are reported, in addition to implications and recommendations for school-based practitioners and directions for future research.

Views from the Trenches: Teacher and Student Supports Needed for Full Inclusion of Students with ASD.

The current prevalence rates for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) coupled with the mandate to provide services to students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms warrants the need to examine the dynamics of inclusion for students with ASD. Focus groups were conducted with special and general educators at the elementary, middle, and high school levels to determine the needs of students with ASD in fully inclusive settings as well as teachers’ needs in facilitating their students’ success. The study was translational in nature by focusing on the practice and daily experiences of teachers for informing professional development. Teachers highlighted the knowledge and skills teachers need for students with ASD to fully benefit from inclusive educational placements. Those included the need to fully understand ASD, differentiation, and social support strategies for students with autism as well as the strong need for increased collaboration between general and special educators.

Classroom Management Affects Literacy Development of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.

Many children with behavior problems perform poorly academically and can disrupt regular classroom instruction. Although good classroom management strategies can benefit children with behavior problems, it is not clear whether these students need consistently good classroom management across the early elementary school years to improve their academic performance. The current study examined the quality of classroom management from kindergarten through third grade experienced by children who were rated as exhibiting symptoms of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in the classroom to understand the cumulative effects in relationship to third-grade reading performance. Results indicated that higher-quality classroom management in the first 4 years of school was significantly related to higher scores on standardized measures of reading achievement in third grade for boys exhibiting EBD, but girls exhibiting EBD appeared unaffected by the quality of teachers’ classroom management during this same time. Practitioner implications and future research needs are discussed.

Take CHARGE!: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Social Problem-Solving Curriculum to Support Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders:

Using a pre–post randomized controlled trial, the purpose of this study was to determine whether a social problem-solving curriculum, Take CHARGE!, based on a cognitive-behavioral approach, could improve students’ knowledge of problem-solving skills, as well as self-report of social behaviors for 92 middle school students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in 11 self-contained classrooms. Dependent variables included student-report measures of problem-solving knowledge and skills. Findings indicated that the Take CHARGE! curriculum was related to significant increases in students’ social skills knowledge and problem-solving skills for middle school students with EBD. Teachers were able to implement the curriculum with a high degree of fidelity, and they indicated they would like to continue using it in the future. Implications for practicing teachers support the use of role-plays, think-alouds, and explicit instruction in problem-solving steps. Future research methodologies including observational research and longitudinal exploration are discussed.

Mixed-Methods Analysis of Rural Special Educators’ Role Stressors, Behavior Management, and Burnout:

The researchers of this study used a mixed-methods approach to understand issues of rural special education teacher burnout. Results of survey responses (n = 64) and follow-up focus group interviews (n = 12) from rural special education teachers indicated several factors contributing to stress and burnout. Teachers noted that lack of clarity in their roles, too many facets to the roles, emotional exhaustion, and lack of accomplishment contributed to their perceptions. Good working relationships with colleagues and administrators, building relationships with students, and a high level of self-advocacy were noted as helping to maintain mental health and a work–life balance. Possible steps to alleviate risk factors of rural special education teacher burnout are discussed.

Mindset of Paraprofessionals Serving Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.

As schools across the United States move toward more inclusive models and as caseloads for special education teachers increase, special education paraprofessionals are being hired to fill service delivery gaps. Most often, paraprofessionals are asked to provide social and behavioral support to students with disabilities, and much of their time is spent in direct support of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Special education teachers have reported that students with emotional and behavioral disorders are some of the hardest to serve, and those working in this field have the highest rate of burnout. Although there has been increased recognition of the importance of mental health and wellbeing for special education teachers, little attention has been paid to paraprofessionals’ needs. Based on recommendations for special education teachers in the extant literature, 12 survival mindsets to be adopted by paraprofessionals are proposed that may prevent burnout by promoting greater resiliency, emotional wellbeing, and self-awareness.

Inclusion of Students With Learning, Emotional, and Behavioral Disabilities Through Strength-Based Approaches:

As more and more students with learning disabilities (LD) and emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) find themselves in an inclusive, general education setting, there is a need to find ways to maximize their educational performance. One promising approach is to use growth mindset training to help students move away from deficit thinking and instead use strengths-based thinking. This column explains the meaning of growth mindset theory and includes a rationale that explains why this approach may be particularly beneficial for students with LD and EBD. A brief review of past studies investigating the use of growth mindset that highlights the positive potential of this inexpensive, easy-to-implement approach is presented. Finally, a nine-step process for incorporating a growth mindset into the inclusive classroom setting is provided and tools to be used by teachers working with students with LD and EBD are included.

Pre-service educators’ dispositions toward inclusive practices for students with emotional and behavioural difficulties

ABSTRACT In response to challenging behaviour from students with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD), teachers around the world often label students as challenging, defining them by their disability. Negative views of students with EBD are a barrier to their inclusion and a major challenge for policy in the United States and elsewhere associated with access to the education system for students with disabilities. Pre-service teacher education has been highlighted as an optimum time to instil in pre-service educators a more equitable disposition toward behaviour management and inclusive practices. Therefore, the purpose of the current mixed-methods study was to assess whether or not an undergraduate course focused on relationship-based approaches to positive behaviour support could impact pre-service educators’ dispositions toward inclusive classroom practices for students with EBD. Survey results from 41 pre-service educators indicated that participants made significant improvements in their knowledge and understanding of compassionate behaviour management, intentional relationship building, and establishment of a welcoming classroom environment. Analysis of participants’ written responses to open-ended questions revealed several themes regarding changes in dispositions toward students with EBD. Implications for pre-service educator preparation and inclusion of students with EBD are discussed.

Improving Struggling Readers' Early Literacy Skills through a Tier 2 Professional Development Program for Rural Classroom Teachers: The Targeted Reading Intervention.

This article reports the results of a randomized controlled trial that replicated and extended research on the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), a professional development program for kindergarten and first-grade teachers in low-wealth rural schools that helps enhance literacy skills of struggling readers. In weekly webcam coaching sessions, literacy coaches delivered real-time feedback to classroom teachers as they worked one-on-one with struggling readers. Teachers worked with 1 child for 15 minutes a day for 6 to 8 weeks before moving to another struggling reader. Hierarchical linear models replicated previous findings that struggling readers in TRI treatment classrooms showed greater gains in early literacy compared with struggling readers in control classrooms. This study extended previous TRI work by examining whether teachers who received a second year of TRI training produced greater gains for their students compared with their first year. Results showed no advantage of teachers’ 2-year TRI participation.

Measuring Relationships Between Adolescents With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and Their Teachers: A Psychometric Report:

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have difficulty forming and maintaining high-quality relationships with their teachers, yet they have the most to gain from positive relationships. The majority of studies examining teacher–student relationships have been correlational, focused on preschool and elementary-aged children, and relied solely on teacher ratings. To extend this line of research, we examined the internal consistency and internal construct validity of two new teacher- and student-report instruments assessing relationship quality. This brief psychometric study was conducted with 92 middle school students with EBD and their 11 teachers. Results showed strong psychometric properties for both instruments. Utility of the instruments in intervention work and future directions for research on the instruments are discussed.