Critical Issues and Trends in the Education of Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

Children and youths with emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD) present many complex challenges to educators. To address these challenges, teachers, teacher trainers, and researchers must be knowledgeable about the nature of E/BD and understand and be able to use effective, evidence-based procedures to help these students. Our purpose in this special issue is to acquaint readers with several of the critical issues and trends in the education of students with E/BD. In this issue, a number of highly respected scholars examine these issues and trends in light of the recent passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and anticipated reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).In the first article, Bradley and Henderson depict a bleak picture of how students with E/BD fare in schools. They summarize data from three national longitudinal studies supported by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs: the Study of State and Local Implementation and Impact of IDEA (SLlIDEA); the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS); and the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2). These studies have addressed issues of interest including how schools, districts, and states are addressing students' challenging behaviors. The national data on students with E/BD are a potent tool for evaluating the impact of IDEA on students' access to services and for improving programs for students with E/BD.The authors of the next four articles address empirically supported practices in educating students with E/BD. Conroy and Brown discuss issues and barriers faced in addressing the critical needs of young children who are at risk for or have E/BD. Specifically, they conclude that the commitment does not exist for identifying young children who are at risk for or are demonstrating chronic problem behaviors and for providing effective prevention and early intervention services to them and their and families. Also, they argue that researchers have developed a number of effective early identification, prevention, and early intervention strategies; however, several significant barriers prevent the widespread implementation of those intervention practices.Mooney, Denny, and Gunter discuss the impact of recent legislative changes in NCLB and those proposed for the reauthorization of IDEA as they relate to academic instruction for students with E/BD. The authors consider the definitions and impact of highly qualified teachers, scientifically based teaching practices, annual yearly progress, and access to general education curriculum. They assert that (a) the impact on academic instruction will be largely indirect and (b) the current educational context presents a unique opportunity to develop more effective instruction in schools.In their article, Lewis, Hudson, Richter, and Johnson focus on the use of researchvalidated practices in classrooms for students with E/BD. These authors note that the use of best practices in public schools is very inconsistent. They assert that the research-to-practice gap is due largely to the lack of clear and consistent criteria to determine what constitutes research-based practices and to the absence of support structures to assist educators in implementing research-based practices. Using a systematic review process, Lewis and colleagues identify five practices that have emerged as research based. They conclude with a call for the field of special education to develop and adopt a universal set of standards to determine research-based practices and a look at school systems to support their use.Next, Leone and Cutting argue that although NCLB promotes high-quality educational services for all youths who are incarcerated, many students in correctional facilitiesparticularly those with E/BD-fail to receive high-quality educational services for a multitude of reasons. …