Mainstreaming Approach for Behaviorally Disordered Secondary Students in a Rural School District

Abstract

This study assesses the efficacy of a systematic program of intervention designed to facilitate a goodness of fit between behavior problem secondary level students and a particular rural school system. The research involved 38 identified behavior problem target students attending Middleville R-ill school district in Middleville, Missouri during the 1977–1978 school year. Two control groups were utilized, one group consisted of 224 non-target students attending Middleville junior-senior high school, the other 225 students attending a neighboring community high school. The intervention program involved teacher inservice, the implementation of a teacher staffed advocacy program and the founding of a crisis teacher program. Pre- and post-evaluation of students' school morale showed no significant changes in Target group attitude toward school. Evaluation of behavioral reaction toward school as measured by dropout rate and attendance did show definite improvement. implications of the study are that teachers may be effective advocates for problem students when assisted by trained personnel. A pressing need for more environmentally based intervention component outside school was strongly indicated.