Emerging School-Based Approaches for Children With Emotional and Behavioral Problems

Research and Practice in Service Integration

C Michael Nelson, Robert J Illback

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781317740148
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

It is becoming recognized that the multiple and complex problems of children with emotional and behavioral problems and their families exceed the capacity of any single service system. Emerging School-Based Approaches for Children With Emotional and Behavioral Problems presents educators and social service practitioners with innovative programs and practices for these children while in school with emphasis on inter-service collaboration. The book fulfills a growing need for an organized discussion of how the integrated service paradigm can be applied in the context of school settings. Special consideration is given to the issues and problems that are idiosyncratic to schools as institutions. Emerging School-Based Approaches for Children With Emotional and Behavioral Problems shows school administrators, teachers, and child service providers conceptual, practice, and research aspects of integrated service programs in school settings. Professionals gain insight for planning organizational change as prominent experts and practitioners share their work across a range of issues and geographic sites. They explore these topics:

• systems of care for children and families
• schools as health delivery sites
• parent involvement for students with emotional and behavioral disorders
• program planning and evaluation
• planned organizational changeChapters provide readers with general information about the features of an integrated approach, provide practical examples of exemplary programs, and consider organizational change issues that can facilitate or impede movement toward a more collaborative approach. Programs presented focus on the development of more broad-based community services, less restrictive child placement, prevention of hospitalization and out-of-home placement, interagency collaboration, flexible and individualized services, and cost containment and efficiency. The integrated service movement in children's services holds much promise as a means to create more comprehensive and coordinated school-based systems of care for children and families. Special education teachers and administrators, school and child clinical psychologists, and school counselors will find Emerging School-Based Approaches for Children With Emotional and Behavioral Problems fundamental to their understanding of the integrated systems approach and a helpful guide as they undergo their own organizational changes.

INNOVATIVE SCHOOL-BASED APPROACHES TO SERVICE INTEGRATION

Project Destiny: A Model for Developing Educational Support Teams Through Interagency Networks for Youth with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

Douglas Cheney
Craig Barringer
Dayle Upham
Barbara Manning
Keene State College

Address correspondence to: Douglas Cheney, Director, Project Destiny, Institute on Emotional Disabilities, Keene State College, Keene, NH 03435-2903.

Preparation of this manuscript was funded in part with the support of Grant No. H237D30012 from the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs.

[Haworth co-indexing entry note]: “Project Destiny: A Model for Developing Educational Support Teams Through Interagency Networks for Youth with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders.” Cheney, Douglas et al. Co-published simultaneously in Special Services in the Schools (The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 10, No. 2, 1995, pp. 57–76; and: Emerging School-Based Approaches for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Problems: Research and Practice in Service Integration (ed: Robert J. lllback, and C. Michael Nelson) The Haworth Press, Inc., 1996, pp. 57–76. Single or multiple copies of this article are available from The Haworth Document Delivery Service [1–800-342-9678, 9:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m. (EST)].

SUMMARY. Students with emotional and behavioral disorders present significant challenges to educators and community professionals in contemporary practice. At the same time, parents of middle school students experience parenting as a difficult time period that is laden with a variety of feelings. A central strategy for assisting both parents and professionals during this developmental period is to work collaboratively with one another. This sharing of ideas and strategies is helpful in attaining goals for students that are usually not met in the absence of cooperative team work. Furthermore, the recommended direction for service provision for these youth is to work through a coordinated, interagency approach across the community.

This paper presents the first year’s methods and initial findings from Project Destiny, a three year study that is attempting to enhance the knowledge and strategies of professionals, parents and community teams for working with middle school students having emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). Initial results from the project’s work in three communities suggest that teachers at the middle schools have been interested and able in acquiring new knowledge and skills for working with the youth. These gains were evident in self-evaluations completed by the teachers. Additionally, 60% of parents of youth with EBD were recruited and participate regularly in parent support and advocacy groups. Efforts to integrate the project with local interagency teams have been somewhat less successful due to the current political and economic climate that has eliminated essential resource personnel on local teams. The Project Destiny model has merit for further replication and further analysis of student performance and will be completed in the final year of the project. [Article copies available from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678.]

Much progress has been made over the past two decades in delivering specialized educational services to children and youth in our public schools. Much ground is yet to be covered, however, before public education agencies have the capacity to implement effective educational services for children and youth with emotional or behavioral disorders. A litany of findings have concluded that educational programs are ineffective at meeting the social, academic or mental health needs of students with emotional or behavioral disorders (Knitzer, Steinberg, & Fleisch, 1990; Kortering & Blackorby, 1992; Marder, 1992; Neel, Meadows, Edgar & Levine, 1988; US Department of Education, 1994). One frequent recommendation from such studies is that practitioners require a sophisticated knowledge and skill base to work successfully with these students. Additionally, coordinated services need to be provided across agencies with parents aligned in the service delivery for both support and advocacy (Coe & Pole, 1994; Knitzer, 1993; Nelson & Pearson, 1991). Under the best of circumstances, communities would have highly skilled practitioners working in a coordinated system of care with frequent parental input to design and deliver services for children and youth with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD).

The U.S. Department of Education, recognizing the need for improving services to students with EBD, implemented an initiative to address these shortcomings for youth with EBD in Public Law 101-476. Within the law, known as the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, the U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) has identified several goals that include: (a) maintaining an adequate number of qualified personnel; (b) enhancing the capacity of school and community systems to meet the needs of diverse populations; (c) expanding the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education programs; and (d) improving educational results of students with disabilities (US Department of Education, 1994). In the area of emotional or behavioral disorders, OSERS has stressed the need to expand the capacity of schools and communities for working with students having EBD, the importance of collaboration between agencies and families, and the necessity of improving the knowledge and skills of professionals and parents working with these students.

TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS FOR WORKING WITH STUDENT’S HAVING EBD

Within school programs, teachers of students with EBD are inadequately prepared and in high demand (US Department of Education, 1994). In 1994, The Department of Education reported that 4,724 teachers of students with certification in the area of EBD were needed nationally. This was a high area of need, approximated only by low incident disabilities such as traumatic brain injury and deaf-blind. An additional reported shortage of 1,154 psychologists, 745 school social workers and 5,448 instructional assistants indicates related service providers for students with EBD are also in demand. Given that students with EBD are considered to be an underidentified population (Kauffman, 1989), there is perhaps an even greater demand for trained professionals than indicated in the USDOE report.

Data from our state of New Hampshire also reveal an increasing number of students identified as having serious emotional disturbance (the state’s administrative label for emotional or behavioral disorders). In January of 1988, there were 1,468 students with this disability, and by October of 1994, this population increased to 1,963 (Davis, 1995). This trend is consistent with other states and creates the need for qualified teachers to work with the students. Yet, from 1990 to 1994, teachers of students with serious emotional disturbance continued to represent the highest categorical area of need, with a range of 40–60 additional teachers required each year during the time period (Davis, 1995). This trend will continue to undermine the goal of providing broad-based services to students and parents until it is remedied.

Practicing teachers also report they require improved skills to deal with the increasing numbers of students with EBD. In a 1992 needs analysis of training desired by special education teachers in New Hampshire, a number of areas related to services for children with EBD surfaced (NH Department of Education, 1992). Based on responses of 1,350 educators and administrators, the top training needs were:

1. increased knowledge of children’s diagnostic syndromes (87% of respondents);
2. knowledge and strategies for using alternative instructional approaches (85% of respondents); and
3. skills to structure classrooms for effective instruction (85% of respondents), use behavior management techniques (83% of respondents), and increase coordination between regular and special educators (80% of respondents).

An array of inservice training and classroom supports are therefore indicated for teachers if educational, social, and affective outcomes are expected to improve for students with EBD.

COLLABORATION FROM AN EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

The central strategy for improving the educational services for all children has been the use of collaboration between professionals. Collaboration in this context was defined by Bruner (1991) as a process that leads to the attainment of goals that cannot efficiently be reached by any one single agent. At the school level, collaborative efforts have effectively impacted on problems related to students’ behavior, attendance, and achievement (Kretovics, Farmer & Armaline, 1991). Small cluster teams of teachers working across content areas have improved their instructional strategies; problem-solved structural issues; and utilized broad research findings to improve the academic performance, attendance, and motivation factors of their students.

Collaboration from a special education perspective has most frequently been used to bring teachers together in teams (e.g., teacher assistance teams, mainstream assistance teams, prereferral teams) to formally or informally discuss student performance problems and determine appropriate interventions (Fuchs, Fuchs & Bahr, 1990; Graden, 1989; Pugach & Johnson, 1988). The collaborative approach focuses on processes that affect educators’ attitudes, skills, and knowledge. This process has a commensurate relationship with student’s schoolwide performance. Much of this work has focused on short-term interventions for student’s learning or behavioral problems. While this approach has been helpful for students with learning disabilities, there has been limited reporting about the effectiveness of collaborative schoolwide teams in meeting the educational needs of students with more serious emotional or behavioral disorders.

COORDINATING SERVICE SUPPORTS WITH FAMILIES

There is considerable agreement that parents of students with emotional or behavioral disorders must be more involved in the educational programs of their children (Allen, Brown & Finlay, 1992; Jones, 1992; Knitzer, 1993). Boyer (1991) suggested that we have failed to provide necessary supports to families in our country, and that family, not schools, may be our country’s most imperiled institution. Many students enter school with biologic, economic, and familial risk factors that have been present from the prenatal period (Allen et al„ 1992; Boyer, 1991). Additional supports to parents could provide them an improved understanding of special education procedures, opportunities to learn techniques for effective parenting, and a forum for developing positive relationships with other parents and school personnel. Just as most schools have not yet figured out how to facilitate strong parent involvement, neither have they adjusted to new family realities (Edwards & Young, 1992). A critical bridge between the family and school is needed to build these positive partnerships.

Mobilizing and aligning families to advocate for appropriate services for their children is not easy (Knitzer, 1993). This appears more related to service providers’ biases than it is to families’ willingness or ability to participate. Historically, families were perceived to be the “cause” of children’s emotional or behavioral problems and were dismissed from involvement with their child. Children were removed from homes and placed in a specialized treatment setting. Recently, however, an interest in creating comprehensive systems of care for children has led communities to involve and preserve families to the greatest extent possible (Cole & Poe, 1993; Knitzer & Cole, 1989). Most families of children who receive specialized services at school also ask for assistance in dealing with their children’s problems at home (Knitzer & Cole, 1989). When problems are observed in school and home, an opportunity exists for developing an alliance between the family, school and other agencies to benefit the growth of the family and child.

COMMUNITY COORDINATION OF CARE

The direction of service provision for children with emotional or behavioral disorders has been to establish interagency networks (Nelson & Pearson, 1991; Stroul & Friedman, 1986). The recommended participants include educators, specialists, mental health workers, child welfare workers and families. The Peacock Hill Working Group (1991) pr...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• ABOUT THE EDITORS
• CONTENTS
• CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF SCHOOL-BASED INTEGRATED SERVICES
• INNOVATIVE SCHOOL-BASED APPROACHES TO SERVICE INTEGRATION
• SYSTEMS CHANGE TOWARD INTEGRATED SERVICES