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Emotionally Disturbed Students Essay

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Emotionally Disturbed Students

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) frequently exhibit academic deficits alongside their behavioral deficits, particularly in the area of reading; however, there are very few studies examining ways to address the reading problems of this population of students at the middle and high school level. The academic deficits exhibited by students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) are well documented in research literature. As outlined in the federal definition of emotional disturbance, students with this disorder demonstrate an inability to learn and, as a result, pose instructional challenges alongside the behavioral problems that they exhibit in the school environment.
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Given the reading deficits of the high school students, the matched sample consisted of students in second through sixth grade. Results showed that the secondary group of students with E/BD performed significantly lower on word attack skills, reading fluency and accuracy, and overall reading rate. In a related study, Wehby (2004) reported that students with E/BD educated in a self-contained school scored significantly lower on a variety of academic measures, including reading, when compared to a similar sample of students with E/BD who were placed in self-contained classrooms located on general education campuses.
From these data, it appears that older students with E/BD and those placed in restrictive settings have a history of academic failure associated with their existing instructional programs. As a result, studies are needed that document the responsiveness of this population to intense, instructional procedures using empirically validated techniques. Although researchers are aware of the reading failure that secondary students with E/BD frequently experience, the empirical research on how to intervene effectively to improve the reading deficits exhibited by these students is sparse. The studies that do exist have utilized interventions that range from single component programs that focus on a particular skill level to more comprehensive

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