Content area
Full Text
A significant need exists to help educators more effectively meet the academic and behavioral needs of students with, and at risk for developing, emotional and behavioral disorders. However, training alone is insufficient to change the practices of teachers. Strengthening Emotional Support Services (SESS) is a combined active training and consultation project designed to build capacity for serving students with behavior disorders in special education classrooms.With a focus on ecological and individual support, curriculum-- based assessment, and empirically supported instructional practice, teachers are prepared to maximize academic engagement, minimize disruption, and help students gain greater access to inclusive environments. This article describes the implementation of the SESS project pilot with 64 school staff members in a large urban school district. Participation in the project was broadly associated with increased staff knowledge of effective behavior management and instructional strategies, successful implementation of skills at the classroom level when follow-up consultative support was provided, increased student academic engagement, and a high level of teacher satisfaction with the project Outcomes are discussed in light of lessons learned from this applied research project.
THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS PRESENTing with serious emotional and behavior problems is increasing. The emergence of aggressive and antisocial behaviors is widespread among school students from kindergarten through high school. Although a small percentage of these students receive services directly from outpatient, community-based mental heath settings, the only available treatment for many others is in the school (Flaherty, Weist, & Warner, 1996; Wu et al., 1999). In the past 10 years alone, services for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have increased by over 20% (U.S. Department of Education, 2000). Although it is estimated school-- based programs for EBD serve about 1% to 2% of the school-age population, there are actually about 9% to 10% of students currently in need of such services (Walker, Zeller, Close, Webber, & Gresham, 1999).
Compounding this problem of growth in the number of students with EBD is the issue of teacher shortage. In the past decade, schools have experienced more difficulty in attracting and retaining qualified teachers. Nowhere is this issue more prominent than in urban schools. Urban school districts have higher rates of teacher absenteeism, use a higher percentage of substitute teachers, and have greater teacher turnover (National...