Marshall Swift

The Devereux Elementary School Behavior Rating Scales A Study of the Nature and Organization of Achievement Related Disturbed Classroom Behavior

Footnotes for fhis article can b e found immediately following references. We assume that classroom behavior, insofar as it reflects attitudes and motivations regarding school learning and achievement, is significant and important to educators and professional persons who are involved in the intellectual growth and academic development of the child. Teachers and guidance counsellors are frequently called upon to make reports about or evaluations of how a child is behaving in class. Report card systems often request that the teacher supplement grades with ratings or comments about classroom behavior that purportedly help to explain the grade given. Similar reports of behavior are often requested by professionals outside of the school system who may come into contact with the student. The management of the classroom, with its frequent connotation of maintaining control over the students, is a frequent topic of discussion among teachers. Many students have certain behavior “reputations,” particularly those students who pose problems. Other student behaviors raise rather baffling questions for the teacher, who wishes to understand what the behavior may mean so as to respond appropriately. With the surge of interest in recent years in “special” education, there has been a heightened focus on disturbed or problem behavior in the classroom. This increased interest can be seen in the rapid development of the profession of school psychology, in publications i n . the area of academic techniques with atypical children, and in studies dealing with prediction of emotional problems that might interfere with academic success (e.g., Bower, 1959). The rapid increase in the development of psychological services in schools has focused attention upon early recognition and remediation.

The Assessment of Achievement-Related Classroom Behavior

Hahnemann Community Mental Health Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania This study was part of an extensive inquiry into the relationship between children’s classroom behavior and their academic success or failure in grades kindergarten through 12. (Spivack & Swift, 1966; Swift & Spivack, 1967a). The initial purpose of the project was to learn how disturbed classroom behaviors are organized in both normal and special classes and to assess the correlation between these behaviors and achievement, intelligence, age, sex, and (among abnormal children) clinical diagnosis. First, teachers were asked to describe the behaviors of the children in their classrooms. Then a factor analytic technique was used to organize the observed behaviors into meaningful clusters (factors). Twelve behavioral factors evolved, ten of which

Syndromes of Disturbed Classroom Behavior: A Behavioral Diagnostic System for Elementary Schools

I The authors express appreciation to Dr. Perry Scheinok and his staff at the Computer Center of Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital for their assistance. The contribution of the third author was supported by USPHS grants 5-RO1-GM-16193 and USPHS PR-15. 2 Now at the Division of Computer Research and Technology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. In the inaugural issue of this journal, the investigators presented the results of a factor analytic study of the classroom behavior of normal and abnormal (special education) elementary school children (Spivack & Swift, 1966). This was the first of a series of studies, the primary aims of which were to better understand the nature

Clarifying the relationship between academic success and overt classroom behavior.

Using the Devereux Elementary School Behavior Rating Scale, a device developed to identify achievement related classroom behaviors in kindergarten through sixth grade, 298 ratings were made of children designated as achievers and underachievers at the fifth grade level. Achievement criteria were subtest scores on a group test and teacher assigned report card marks. The analysis of the relationship between classroom behavior and the achievement criteria indicates that when a child is underachieving, this is evident not only in the grade or test scores he receives but also in his broader functioning in the classroom. In addition to the poor achievement scores they receive, underachievers are clearly different, in terms of maladaptive overt behavior, from their achieving peers. This is particularly true when the achievement criterion is the teachers judgment of the quality of the childs efforts.

Achievement Related Classroom Behavior of Secondary School Normal and Disturbed Students.

How can the educator be helped to focus upon achievement related classroom behavior in an organized, reliable, and communicable fashion? Academically related behaviors were described by teachers of regular (public school) and special class (emotionally disturbed) junior-senior high school students. An initial 102 item scale was used by teachers to rate 882 regular class and 672 special class youngsters. The result was a 45 item scale defining 13 factors, 12 common to both the regular and special class groups. All of the 13 factors were significantly correlated with academic achievement in the special classes, 12 of the 13 in regular classes. The results were interpreted in terms of the relevance of behavior to academic success or failure.

Therapeutic Teaching: A Review of Teaching Methods for Behaviorally Troubled Children

MARSHALL S. SWIFT, Ph.D. GEORGE SPIVACK, Ph.D. Hahnemann Community Mental Health/ Mental Retardation Center In almost every classroom in America today the teacher finds children about whom significant behavioral difficulties have been or will be recorded during their early school years. Support for this contention is abundant. The 1972 report of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Behavior Pat-

Academic Success and Classroom Behavior in Secondary Schools

Described herein is the classroom functioning of 602 students attending eight different urban ghetto schools. Measurement of overt classroom behavior and its relation to achievement success or failure is presented and analyzed. A broad range of behaviors are assessed including levels of reasoning ability, verbal productivity, original and independent thinking, anxiety, rapport, obstreperousness, negativism, withdrawal, and expression of inability to cope with achievement demands. Norms for urban students are presented. No differences were found when the urban sample was compared with a surburban middle class sample for levels of reasoning ability, originality, or independence of thought. Students achieving poorly manifested failure with a variety of identifiable behavior patterns. It was concluded that this information is of value to teachers and mental health workers who wish to communicate about and effectively program for students with achievement difficulties at the high school level.

Patterns of Disturbed Classroom Behavior of Nondelinquent and Delinquent Adolescent Girls

Ten patterns or syndromes of classroom behavior of 337 junior and senior high school girls were derived and analyzed for rela tionship to academic success or failure among special (delin quent) and regular school students. The behavior patterns ac counted for over 98 per cent of the students in both groups and clearly differentiated the academically successful from the un successful. Each of the patterns is described both numerically and graphically to provide a reliable means of analyzing and comparing students in other special and regular class settings. It was concluded that in both settings unsuccessful achievement could not be viewed in only academic or cognitive terms, but rather was an indication of failure of the total child to cope with classroom and teacher expectations.

Use of an Unobtrusive Measure for the Evaluation of Interagency Coordination.

Existing records maintained by an early prevention project for high-risk children were used to evaluate the development of interagency coordination in the first eight months of the project. The records provided information on the extent and form of the interagency contacts, on the staff participating, and on the subjects discussed in the contacts. The process required by use of existing records is described and the advantages and dis advantages of this method are discussed.