Coastal Georgia Comprehensive AcademySteve Derr, Principal

Transition The transition of students with severe

emotional/behavioral disabilities back to their home schools may present challenges and opportunities for all stakeholders involved.

There are various things administrators, teachers and parents can do in order to have a more seamless transition.

Common Characteristic Perceptions for Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders     Poor self-concept

    Unaware    Explosive    Has mood swings    Has poor self-control    Intermittent attendance    Is self-abusive    Is disruptive, acts out    Adults are angry with them    Seen as loners, dropouts, dopers, or air heads    Seen as dangerous and rebellious    Seen as weird, dumb    Rebellious    Peers see them as entertaining    Viewed as resistive

(Rizza & Morrison, 2003)

Possible Subcategories for Students with Emotional/Behavioral DisabilitiesBehavioral/DefianceDepressionAnxietyPersonality Disorders

(Rizza & Morrison, 2003)

Four Major Categories Social skills instruction

Behavioral/Defiance, Anxiety, Depression

Cooperative learning/peer tutoring Depression, Anxiety, Behavioral/Defiance

Classroom management techniques Behavioral/Defiance, Anxiety

Promote positive self-image Behavioral/Defiance, Depression,

Anxiety, Personality Disorders

(Rizza & Morrison, 2003)

Social Skills Instruction Gilles & Smith (2003) explain that without age

appropriate social skills students will fall behind academically and will have difficulty making and keeping friends.

Special education teachers explicitly teach social skills, and provide students practice.

It is imperative that students get “real world” practice with skills shortly after they are taught.

GNETS teach the skills, but our students have little opportunity for practice in the general ED setting.

Strategies for Success Give students and opportunity to meet their teachers and visit the

school before the transition takes place. Ask the receiving teacher to assign a “buddy” to help bridge the gap. Introduce each skill at the beginning of a week to the whole class (5-

10 mini-lesson) Plan ahead for extra support with transitions and less structured

times. Use common strategies in a effort to build positive relations: Engage in one-to-one interactions with children Get on the child’s level for face-to-face interactions Use a pleasant, calm voice and simple language Provide warm, responsive physical contact Follow the child’s lead and interest during play Help children understand classroom expectations

Peer Tutoring Bowman-Perrott, Greenwood, & Tapia (2007)

suggest using peer tutoring with students with emotional/behavioral disabilities

It is important, for these students, to allow them an opportunity to be the tutor and the tutee

Some of the benefits include: practice with social skills, one-to-one instruction, opportunities to make errors without a large audience, and increased time spent on academic behaviors

Cooperative Groups Groves (2006) states cooperative groups can

be useful for students with social/emotional disabilities when done in a structured way

Assign roles to each member (time keeper, material manager, recorder, etc.)

Have each child get a chance to do each role

Identify the Plan for when the student needs extra support Who will the student be able to access? Develop a signal to let the teacher know they

need to step out. Have a viable plan in place for missed work—so

that stepping out does not become a method for avoiding work.

Classroom Management TechniquesThe most effective classroom management techniques for

students with emotional/behavioral disabilities are individualized reward systems and self-monitoring systems

Reward systems allow students to save up tokens, points, or tickets that they earn for positive behavior and good class work. They then hand in these tokens, points, or tickets for a reinforcer of their choice

Self-monitoring systems have students monitor their own progress at a selected skill at predetermined time intervals

(De I’Etoile, 2005)

Strategies to avoid problems

Establish consistent routines and expectations. Tell students early on about any schedule changes. Follow Behavior Intervention Plans.Keep written documentation of behavioral concerns.Set guidelines for what behavior constitutes removal

from class and what process a student must follow to be allowed to return

Provide previews of lessons, assignments, or assessments

Minimize anxiety-triggering experiences

I have had a problem, now what?

Provide a cool down time for smaller issues. “Cool down time” may look different for different ages

and developmental levels of students. Provide a safe place where the student can step away for

a minute (quiet chair, desk in the corner, stand outside the door but in teacher’s view, pass to the bathroom..etc…).

Promote Positive Self-Image Hunter and Jones (2006) explain that students

with emotional/behavioral disabilities need more praise than the average student. If you provide them the attention they crave when they are doing the right thing, they often won’t feel the need to act out

Displaying student work promotes a positive self-image and a serious work ethic

Peer tutoring, which was mentioned earlier, also helps improve self-image

Make your class less “scary” by walking student through the steps of your lesson (stop the cycle of failure)

If the student has difficulty making choices, choosing topics, etc. provide student with a short list of ideas to choose from

There is a correlation between Academic deficits and EBD

50% of students with EBD drop out

of school

Students present more learning problems than

their peers without disabilities

Students often lack basic

academic skills along with negative

behaviors

(U.S. Department of Education as quoted in Pierce, 2004; Reschly, 2006; Hallahan, 2009).

Improving Academic Outcomes for Students with EBDDifferentiate instruction and scaffold learningOur students often act rather than display

academic deficits.Break tasks down into smaller “chunks” and

establish check-in points.Provide instruction in both written and oral

forms.Pre-teach lessons and use peer tutoring.Provide class notes for students with writing

difficulties or attention issues.Utilize picture cues and visual maps.

Charting DataFor some students it may be helpful to have

students monitor their progress over time using a graph

To do this students would total their “points” received on their self monitoring system at the end of each period

They would then chart their progress for that day before leaving

ResourcesBowman-Perrott, L. J., Greenwood, C. R., & Tapia, Y. (2007). The Efficacy of CWPT Used in

Secondary Alternative School Classrooms with Small Teacher/Pupil Ratios and Students with Emotional and Behavior Disorders, Education and Treatment of Children, 30 (3), 65-87.

De I’Etoile, S. K. (2005). Teaching Music to Special Learners: Children with Disruptive Behavior Disorders. Music Educators Journal, 91 (5), 37-43.

Gilles, D. L. & Smith, S. W. (2003). Using Key Instructional Elements to Systematically Promote Social Skill Generalization for Students with Challenging Behavior. Intervention in School and Clinic, 37 (1), 30-37.

Groves, J. E. (2006). Art as a Behavior Modification Tool. Multicultural Education, 13 (4), 55-7.

Haukaas, P. M. (2003). Tranquil Light. Retrieved from http://www.vsarts.org/prebuilt/artists/registry/artistdetail.cfm?ArtistID=3678832

Hunter, A. D., & Johns, B. H. (2006). Students with Emotional and/or Behavior Disorders. In B. Gerber & D. Guay (Eds.), Reaching and Teaching Students with Special Needs through Art (pp.43-60). Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

Nash, D. (1998). Mango Light. Retrieved from http://www.vsarts.org/prebuilt/artists/registry/artistdetail.cfm?ArtistID=3678599

Rizza, M. & Morrison, W. (2003). Uncovering Stereotypes and Identifying Characteristics of Gifted Students and Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities. Reoper Review, 25 (2), 73-77.

Young, J. (2006). Water Lillies. Retrieved from http://www.vsarts.org/prebuilt/artists/registry/artistdetail.cfm?ArtistID=3679250

Our GoalHonorable Discharge