Barriers of Including Students with EBD into the General Education Classroom
The number of students being identified with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) has increased exponentially over the last decade and it continues to rise every year. Responses to students that are labelled as having emotional/behavioral disabilities have been to keep them in the exclusionary models that have resulted in their removal from the general education setting all together (Ferguson, Naraian, & Thomas, 2012). As special educators, it is our ultimate goal for students with EBD to participate in the general education and interact with their peers as much as possible. However, once these students are put into general education classes, they are met with numerous barriers that hinder their opportunities to thrive there. In this dyad we have outlined the barriers that students with EBD face in general education classrooms as well as the barriers to implementing behavior plans in the general education classrooms.
Current Research Related to Issue
Many of the students in programs for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities demonstrate their behaviors in a physical way. They are also at more risk for poor outcomes than any other student population (Mannella, McCurdy, & Sawka, 2002). They receive most of their education services in environments that are separated from the general education, tend to miss more school and have the highest dropout rate. Also, according to Strengthening Emotional Support Services: An Empirically Based Model for Training Teachers of Students with Behavior Disorders, ‘about 20% of these students are arrested at least once before leaving school and about 58% are arrested within 5 years of leaving school’ (Mannella, McCurdy, & Sawka, 2002. P.224). Students with EBD are the most difficult to include in mainstream environments and general education teachers are least tolerant of the behavior and placement of these students in their classes (Cartledge & Jonson). When these such students are placed into general education classes there is much said by teachers about the correctness of placement of the student that eventually leads to developments of barriers to educating that child in the general education setting. Potential barriers include lack of proper teacher trainings, teacher attitudes, ineffective instruction given by teachers and lack of structure, the lack of social skills on the part of the student with EBD, lack of evidence based practices being used within the classroom, and time constraints to teach social skills within the general education setting.
Teacher Variables
In five out of the eight articles listed in the references page below, the need for proper and frequent teacher trainings for teachers that educate students with EBD is stated and emphasized. It was noted by Landers, Park, Scott, and Swain-Bradway that research has shown beginning teachers consistently enter the field feeling unprepared for managing a classroom and that most of the behavior management skills they do receive are as part of in-service as opposed to in degree required courses. (Landers, Park, Scott & Swain-Bradway, 2007). They also lack effective teacher management within the classroom. They rely on strategies that are reactive vs proactive strategies and upon excessive use of punitive discipline. They are stuck in the mindset that it is their way or nothing at all and that students must do everything right.
This goes along with teacher attitudes, which was also listed; Noting that general education teachers are less tolerant of student problem behaviors and are more likely to refer externalizing or aggressive adolescents than withdrawn students to special education classes (Cartledge & Johnson, 1996).
Effective instruction may also prevent students from falling behind and beginning an escalating pattern of failure (Landers, Park, Scott & Swain-Bradway, 2007).
Student Variables
Due to the social and educational deficits that many students with EBD have, they show problems interacting appropriately with their peers. The population of EBD students accounts for only one to five percent of the student population on a school campus however, they typically account for more than half of the school’s discipline referrals (Landers, Scott, Swain-Bradway, & Park, 2004). This leads to the conclusion that they frequently have problems interacting with peers and staff. To have an effective outcome for students with EBD in general education, students’ must be allotted time to practice appropriate social interactions within the general education setting. (Cartledge & Johnson, 1996.)
Students with EBD also face deficits in learning due to their disability. During instruction in the general education classrooms, students with EBD struggle with acquiring and retaining critical knowledge because of the deficits they have in core academic skills and behavior (Watt, Kaldenberg, & Therrien, 2014). This can come from behavior impeding their learning IE: off task behavior, being absent from school due to discipline reasons, or being removed from the class because of behavior. These barriers have shown that students with EBD come into the general education classes with a serious and distinct disadvantage.
Recommendations for Practice
Teacher Education and Professional Development Recommendations
The need for frequent professional development for general education teachers on issues facing special education students has been longstanding. However, a majority of schools are still not giving this the proper attention that it needs.
• Schools should provide active training for teachers of students with disabilities in general. Sawaka, Mccurdy, & Mannella propose active training that includes brainstorming about the topic, providing direct instruction, demonstrating or modeling skill, using discrimination tasks and guided practice and providing ongoing feedback about the performance. This gives teachers opportunities to practice the skills being taught and they can receive immediate feedback on scenarios they might encounter in the classroom. The added component of teacher reflection will allow teachers time to think of how this applies to them and their students.
• Teachers must also receive specialized training in how to properly read and implement a behavior intervention plan within their classroom. How to follow antecedent strategies written in the behavior contract and what to do if the behavior escalates before the student is sent out of their class. Antecedent strategies should also be used across the board as a universal design, that all students that are struggling with behavior issues might be benefited.
• The last recommendation is to train teachers on how to implement positive behavior supports (PBS) within their classroom. This is a proactive step toward improving behaviors will help reduce the amount of frustration students with EBD might feel within the general education setting and will benefit other students not identified as EBD, but struggle with behaviors.
Classroom and School Recommendations
There needs to be time set aside for teaching behaviors within the general education setting. Students with EBD need that structured time to be able to work on addressing targeted behaviors outlined specifically for them.
• There is a great need for a more empathetic relationship with students, especially those students with EBD.
• Praising students should outweigh the amount of criticism given out and should focus specifically on the student’s behavior and not the student themselves. This should be immediately followed by opportunities for the student to make amends
Community and Home Recommendations
Parents and schools should be working together as a team to allow the student the most successful outcome possible. Within the community we must come to accept those students with EBD and welcome them into the classroom community without the cause for shame or exclusion for the behaviors they are struggling with. At the heart of everyone is the sense of belonging. Students with EBD have that as well, however when they feel they are not welcome in the environment they are in, they will do all that it takes to push against where they are at.
Reflections on Issue Relative to Current Practice
In my own practice, I think about how I might inadvertently be like the general education teachers that cause barriers to our students with EBD. Over the course of studying these articles, as well as over the course of this nine weeks, there have been many times I have given pause to what my classroom looks like and how I approach students with EBD in the classroom setting. As a special education teacher, I like to believe that I am more equipped to handle students with emotional and behavioral disabilities, however that is not necessarily that case. Moving forward, I would like to push for more effective teacher trainings for interacting with students with EBD at my school. Specifically, to teach teachers ways to avoid power struggles, anticipate and prevent problem behaviors, reward desired behaviors, create positive teacher-student relationships, engage students actively in the learning process, help students develop positive peer relationships and help students make continuous progress in academic and social competence (Cartiedge & Johnson).