Search

In the present study, we sought to extend instrument validation research for a strength-based emotional and behavior rating scale, the "Teacher Rating Scale of the Behavior and Emotional Rating Scale-Second Edition" (BERS-2; Epstein, M. H. (2004). "Behavioral and emotional rating scale" (2nd ed.). Austin, TX: PRO-ED) through the use of convergent validation techniques. The associations between the strength-based domains of the BERS-2 were examined in relation to problem syndrome subscales of the "Teacher's Report Form" (TRF; Achenbach, T. M. (1991b). "Manual for the teacher's report form and 1991 profile". Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry). Both measures were conducted with 58 students with emotional disturbance in grades 2 through 12. The overall convergent validity of the BERS-2 and the TRF was strong, particularly for TRF externalizing problems and associated syndromes. However, less evidence emerged for the convergence of domain subscales characterized by behaviors of an internalizing nature. These results provide further support for the use of the BERS-2 in the assessment of the social and behavioral functioning of students with emotional disturbance.

The results from previous research suggest that there is a relatively small (albeit statistically significant) relationship between the externalizing behavior and academic skills of students with emotional disturbance (ED). Researchers have also found that the majority of these students have language deficits that hinder their academic performance. The purposes of this study were to investigate the mediating role of academic processing speed (i.e., academic fluency) on the relationship between: (a) The externalizing behavior and academic skills of K-12 students with ED; and (b) language skills and academic skills of students with ED. Results indicate that academic processing speed mediated the influence of both language skills and externalizing behavior on academic skills of this population. The findings, limitations, and implications were discussed.

Little is known about the academic processing speed (i.e., rapid automatic naming and academic fluency) of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) served in public school settings. A cross-sectional design was used to investigate the (a) percentage of K-12 students with EBD served in public school settings with academic processing speed deficits; (b) mean level and stability of academic processing speed exhibited by K-12 students with EBD served in public school settings; (c) differences in the academic skills, IQ, social adjustment, and language skills of students with and without processing speed deficits; and (d) the relative contribution of academic processing speed, academic skills, and language to the prediction of the social adjustment problems (i.e., total, externalizing, internalizing, and attention). Results indicated that: (a) a majority of the sample (57%) of students with EBD exhibited academic processing speed deficits; (b) the overall academic fluency standard score was more than three-fourths of a standard deviation below the mean for the norm group; (c) statistically significant differences were found between students with and without processing speed deficits across IQ, language, academic achievement, and social adjustment measures; and (d) with one exception (i.e., internalizing problems), academic fluency predicted all social adjustment domains and predicted total and attention problems above and beyond language or academic skills. Limitations, implications, and areas of future research are discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 1 note.)

Secondary schools--be they middle schools or high schools--are reading-rich environments. Secondary schools provide contexts in which students must regularly read and write competently to demonstrate their literacy achievement. In any given semester, there are short stories and novels to read, comprehend, and analyze; civics and science texts whose content must be mastered; math problems that must be understood and then successfully solved; and even high-stakes tests that must be passed for advancement or graduation to take place. It is for these and other reasons that addressing the likely reading deficits of secondary students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) takes on urgency in middle and high school settings. In this article, the authors provide research-based and practical suggestions for secondary teachers who are faced with educating students with EBD. The authors briefly describe the reading skills of secondary students with EBD, reading research designed to improve these reading skills, and a theoretical framework from which to formulate classroom and schoolwide reading intervention for students with EBD. (Contains 2 figures.)

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to examine the effects of remedial reading instruction on the basic reading skills of elementary and middle school students with high-incidence disabilities (n = 45) and their comparison condition counterparts (n = 23); and (b) to examine the relative responsiveness of participating students with emotional disturbance (ED) and learning disabilities (LD) to such instruction. Statistically and educationally significant differences on measures of basic reading skills and oral reading fluency were found between students who received remedial reading instruction and those in the comparison condition. With the exception of performance on measures of oral reading fluency, students with ED were significantly more responsive than their counterparts with LD on measures of basic reading skills. Results, limitations, and implications are discussed. (Contains 4 tables.)

There is growing interest in understanding the factors that influence the academic achievement of students with emotional disturbance (ED). Structural equation modeling was used to test the interrelationships among language skills, externalizing behavior, and academic fluency and their impact on the academic skills of students with ED. Results showed that language skills exerted a significant proximal effect and distal effect on academic skills. The effect of language skills was mediated through academic fluency (path coefficient = 0.389) but also had a proximal effect on academic skills (path coefficient = 0.359). However, externalizing behavior failed to have a statistically significant effect on language skills, academic fluency, or academic skills. Overall, fit indices suggested a marginally acceptable fit of the data. Results and implications are discussed.

Although fundamental beginning reading skills are highly related to later reading success (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000), it remains unclear how these beginning reading skills impact the social adjustment of kindergarten through second grade children. Therefore, the purposes of this study were: (a) to examine the strength of the relationship between beginning reading skills (i.e., letter-word identification, word attack, passage comprehension, and auditory comprehension) and social adjustment (i.e., social skills, problem behaviors, and academic competence); and (b) to assess the beginning reading skills that predict the social adjustment of elementary aged public school children (K-2). A range of significant correlations was present between measures of beginning reading skills and ratings of social adjustment. In general, early literacy skills and skills of auditory comprehension were significantly and positively associated with measures of social skills and academic competence. In addition, early literacy skills and vocabulary were negatively associated with measures of problem behaviors. Letter-word identification was the best predictor of social skills (? = .41), problem behaviors (? = -.31), and academic competence (? = .66). In addition, vocabulary (? = .17) and overall auditory comprehension (? = .18) predicted social skills and academic competence, respectively. Findings, limitations, and future research needs are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a cohesive and intensive preventive prereading intervention on the phonological awareness, word reading, and rapid naming skills of children at risk of emotional disturbance and reading problems. Thirty-six children were assigned randomly to an experimental or comparison condition. Children in the experimental condition received "Stepping Stones to Literacy". "Stepping Stones" includes 25 lessons designed to teach children pivotal prereading skills (e. g., phonological awareness, letter identification). Children in the experimental condition showed statistically significant improvements in their phonological awareness, word reading, and rapid naming skills relative to children in the comparison condition. Effect size estimates indicate that the improvements were moderate to large across all of the phonological awareness, word reading, and rapid naming measures. Treatment nonresponder analyses indicated that a relatively small number of children in the experimental group failed to show satisfactory gains in their phonological awareness (n = 3), word reading (n = 1), and rapid naming (n = 3) skills.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the "Corrective Reading Decoding B1" program on the basic reading skills, social adjustment, and treatment responsiveness of elementary and middle school students with high-incidence disabilities (N = 51). Students were provided an average of 3 40-45 min lessons per week over the course of nearly 4 months. Statistically and educationally significant improvements were found between students who received "Corrective Reading Decoding Level B1" (n = 28) and those in the comparison condition (n = 23) on measures of basic reading skills and social adjustment. Statistically significant differences were found in the pretest and posttest percentages of the "Corrective Reading" condition nonresponders (i.e., students who fail to acquire beginning reading skills within the normal range) on measures of reading fluency (pretest = 79% and posttest = 36%) and basic reading skills (pretest = 50% and posttest = 25%). Thus, a large percentage of students who experienced below average basic reading skills (i.e., nonresponders) at pretest performed in the average range at posttest (i.e., responders). Results, limitations, and implications are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

Improving the reading outcomes of children with concomitant emotional and behavior disorders (BD) and phonological processing deficits represents one of the greatest challenges facing educators today. For example, the results from a meta-analysis indicated that problem behavior (Z[sub r]=.46) was as important as phonological processing skills in predicting the effectiveness of early literacy interventions (Nelson, Benner, & Gonzalez, 2003). It is clear that children with BD and concomitant phonological processing deficits require intensive early literacy interventions that are delivered at school entry. In this paper, we describe such an intensive early literacy support program that has been validated with young children with BD and phonological processing deficits (Banner, 2003), provide justification for the practical use of this program, and discuss detailed guidelines for the use of this program in an inclusive setting.

This article reports on a pilot study of the Integrated Literacy Study Group, a digitally delivered professional learning intervention to prepare elementary school teachers to provide evidence‐based reading instruction and behavioral strategies to students with or are at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Using broadcast methods, we recruited 72 teachers across five states in the western United States to participate in the randomized controlled trial. Intervention teachers, relative to controls, made significant gains in self‐efficacy and use of the reading and behavioral strategies learned in the professional learning program. Students with or at risk of emotional and behavioral disorders served by participating teachers made significant improvements in academic competence and engagement. Teacher professional learning can improve teacher knowledge of evidence‐based reading and behavioral strategies for students with (or at risk for) emotional and behavioral disorders, teacher self‐efficacy, and teacher practice, with positive impacts on student early literacy and academic competence. Practitioner Points: 1.Elementary teachers are challenged by students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders.2.An online intervention helped teachers manage student behavior and improve reading instruction.3.Teachers improved self‐efficacy and students gained academic competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-sectional study was conducted with a random sample of 155 K-12 students served in public school settings and established the extent to which students with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) experience academic achievement deficits with attention to age and gender differences. In addition, this study examined particular types of problem behaviors related to academic achievement. Results indicate that students with E/BD showed large academic achievement deficits across all of the content areas, and the deficits appeared to be stable or worsen in the case of mathematics across age. There appeared to be no gender differences. Additionally, externalizing behaviors were related to reading, mathematics, and written language achievement; whereas, internalizing ones were not.

A plethora of research has indicated that emotional disturbance (ED) and language deficits frequently co-occur. Scant research, however, has examined the characteristics of public school students with comorbid ED and language deficits. Furthermore, researchers have not studied children with IQ and language skill discrepancies. The overall purpose of this cross-sectional study conducted with students in grades K through 12 (N = 69) with ED and comorbid language deficits was to detail the academic and social adjustment characteristics of students with an IQ/language skill discrepancy (i.e., a negative standard deviation difference or greater between IQ and total language score). In addition, the types of dimensional behaviors that predict the language skills of these students was explored. Forty-five percent (n = 69) of the original 152 randomly selected students with ED evinced a language deficit. Students with language deficits were likely to exhibit comorbid written language (46%), reading (41%), and math deficits (31%). Delinquent behavior predicted total and receptive language discrepancy scores of students. Results and limitations are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

Uses a quasi-experimental design to compare the social adjustment of 21 children who received the Language for Learning program with those of 24 children enrolled in a comparison school. Finds that the Language for Learning program produced statistically and educationally significant effects, including improvements in social skills and reductions in problem behaviors. (Contains 21 references.) (CAK)

A meta-analysis of 30 studies found the following learner characteristics influenced the treatment responsiveness of early literacy interventions: rapid naming; problem behavior; phonological awareness; alphabetic principle; memory; IQ; and demographics. With the exception of the demographic category, the obtained effect sizes for the primary learner characteristics were moderately large. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

A study examined the office disciplinary referrals of 103 children who met the borderline or clinical cut-off scores of the Teacher Report Form. Results indicate there was a low-to-moderate degree of correspondence between children identified via a systematic gating procedure that included the form and office disciplinary referrals. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Assesses the effects of the Language for Learning (formerly DISTAR) program on the receptive language skills of a general sample of kindergarten children. Indicates that the Language for Learning program produced both statistically and educationally significant effects on the receptive language skills of children. Discusses results, limitations, and implications. (SG)

Abstract This paper highlights a collaborative partnership to build the capacity of special education classroom teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) to use positive behavioral supports (PBS). [...]

This cross-sectional study was conducted with a random sample of 155 K-12 students served in public school settings and established the extent to which students with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) experience academic achievement deficits with attention to age and gender differences. In addition, this study examined particular types of problem behaviors related to academic achievement. Results indicate that students with E/BD showed large academic achievement deficits across all of the content areas, and the deficits appeared to be stable or worsen in the case of mathematics across age. There appeared to be no gender differences. Additionally, externalizing behaviors were related to reading, mathematics, and written language achievement; whereas, internalizing ones were not., Children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) characteristically present both behavioral and achievement problems that interfere with their schooling (Epstein, Kinder, & Bursuck, 1989; Scruggs & Mastropieri, 1986; [...]

Abstract A quasi-experimental design was used to compare the social adjustment (i.e., behavior) of 21 children who received the Language for Learning program with those of 24 children enrolled in [...]

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of supplemental word recognition strategies on students receiving intensive (Tier III) remedial reading instruction. Two-hundred and thirteen middle school students with reading difficulties received an intensive reading intervention (i.e., Corrective Reading Decoding strand) delivered by trained school staff (n = 21) at three middle schools. The 213 fifth through eighth grade students (121 males, 92 females) enrolled in three northwestern school districts (two rural and one urban). Of the 213 students, one-hundred and seven also received supplemental word recognition instruction using Reading Excellence: Word Attack and Rate Development Strategies (REWARDS). Using a pre-post quasi-experimental design, the effects of the Corrective Reading Decoding (CRD) program was compared to CRD combined with the REWARDS program. The REWARDS program produced statistically and educationally significant changes in the basic reading skills of students over and above Corrective Reading Decoding alone. Students in the REWARDS condition demonstrated statistically significant mean changes on the WJ-III Basic Reading Skills cluster and associated subtests and the DIBELS ORF probe compared to those in the comparison condition. Results, implications, and limitations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Research suggests that problem behaviors displayed by children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are often reinforced and maintained by typical caregiver or teacher responses to such behavior. The [...]