Chapter 4 Effective Practices/Interventions for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) present unique challenges to the families and educators supporting them. Even though families and educators report that behavioral issues can be identified by age 3 (Walker, Ramsey, & Gresham, 2004), the commonly used wait-and-see approach to intervening results in children with E/BD not receiving services until after the age of 10 (Park & Scott, 2009). By this time, behaviors have become chronic (Lewis, Jones, Horner, & Sugai, 2010) and educators primarily focus interventions on the child's social skills and behavioral deficits while there is a lack of focus on the student's academic needs (Lane, 2007). The purpose of this chapter is to review trends in E/BD research and practice that specifically focus on social emotional and academic interventions. While there is a strong history and direction for behavioral interventions for students with E/BD, researchers have only begun to investigate the academic learning needs of this population of students. The documented deficits in reading, writing, and mathematics for students with E/BD make it clear that further research is needed in these areas. The use of strategies including self-mediated, group/peer-mediated interventions, and explicit instruction may be effective teaching strategies across content areas. Initial studies show not only improved academic outcomes but also increases in positive behavior. The need for teachers and researchers to focus on the whole child, both the social emotional needs and the academic deficits, is imperative in order to improve the lives of children with E/BD.

Citation

Jones Bock, S. and Borders, C. (2012), "Chapter 4 Effective Practices/Interventions for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders", Bakken, J.P., Obiakor, F.E. and Rotatori, A.F. (Ed.) Behavioral Disorders: Practice Concerns and Students with EBD (Advances in Special Education, Vol. 23), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 61-82. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0270-4013(2012)0000023007