Instructional Interventions and Strategies for Students with EBD

Introduction

Previous modules have included varied components of successful interventions and instruction for students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD), as well as how vital they are to assisting in reducing unwanted behaviors. However, it is not unusual for the teachers of these students to spend less time on academic instruction, and thus, these students may not be engaged in academic activities as much as mainstream students. Knizter, Setinberg, and Fleisch (1990) describe this process as "bleakness." Keeping current with research-based instructional procedures is a valuable tool to support and develop educators' skills in the design and delivery of effective lessons for students with EBD (Yell, Meadows, Drasgow, & Shriner (2009).

Teaching Reading

Theorists and researchers continue to argue the approaches for teaching reading i.e., should the approach be meaning-based or code-based or, perhaps, a blend of both approaches? Should it be based on comprehension that is more general or an approach of phonics and grammatical rules, or the combination of the two? This has been an ongoing debate for many years, but most recently, educators are focusing on a combination of phonics and whole words.

Initially, for the code-based, or rules approach, it should be remembered that phonemic awareness and phonics are not synonymous. Phonemic awareness is the understanding of the sounds used to form words. Phonics is knowledge of the specific system of knowing what letters have which sounds in order to place them in the correct order to form the word.

When learning to read, children can learn the whole word by sight or learn to decode and encode with the use of phonics. They can incorporate elements of both approaches, but generally, a student will be strong in one approach and have to acquire more skills for the other approach. Students who show lower reading levels often lack the phonemic skills.

According to Yell et al. (2009), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) reported in 2000 that letter knowledge and phonemic awareness are the best predictors of how well a student will learn to read in the first two years of instruction. It should not be assumed that a student has received those skills simply because they are past those first two years of school. That being said, it would seem evident that a combination of the two approaches would be most successful.

The direct instruction (DI) model has shown to increase student achievement in reading (Gage & Berliner, 1998). For the DI approach, many teachers, through specific objectives, curriculum, and sequence, incorporate different strategies. Repeated readings and peer-assisted techniques show improvement in fluency, reading rates, and on-task behaviors. There are often mnemonics and/or acronyms introduced to help remember academic strategies.

Teaching Writing

There are also two models that have been used to teach writing to students. The first is a product-based approach that concentrates on the mechanics of writing and uses writing strands to progress. States may break the mechanics down in their standards. These types of writing tasks would be critiqued on spelling, grammar usage, capitalization, and punctuation.

The second model of writing is process-based and includes overlapping and interactive stages. Students begin with planning or prewriting, then complete a first draft, go back and revise that draft with necessary editing, and finish by producing the final publication. The problem with this approach is that some students have lower fundamental writing skills and will not be able to complete the first few steps successfully, let alone a comprehensible finished product. The process approach assumes that the writer already has the skills to complete acceptable sentences with appropriate grammar.

Teaching Math

Approaches used for students with learning disabilities (LD) may be very applicable for students with EBD. A kinesthetic approach may be very helpful for many students who do not comprehend math on paper. The use of manipulatives can often help students visually see the problem and answers. Working on the desk and working on the board may also produce different results. Again, teacher and student attitudes can directly affect the results of skills gained.

The process of learning is diverse and dependent on many variables such as physical and cognitive development. Some students miss comprehending and retaining the basic mathematical skills taught in the first few years of school. Without a solid understanding of the basic mathematical skills, students often lack the foundation to build upon. Therefore, higher expectations just serve to frustrate them, resulting in a lower self-efficacy for math. Often, curriculum does not build in enough practice time for students who lack the basic skills. Teachers must be prepared to put in extra time and effort in order to provide the needed practice for retention. The practice should be provided in different learning formats to compensate for individual learning styles. Tools such as computers, paper, manipulatives, peer tutoring, and larger surfaces such as the board in the classroom can be utilized. Frequent assessment and monitoring of progress will pinpoint the skill areas that still need remediation.

Conclusion

Academic instruction that is structured but engaging and covers basic skills without being boring provides a learning environment that helps promote the success of all students. It is imperative that teachers and administrators be aware of the student's skill levels, interests, and attitude in the case of the student with EBD. Many special needs children have developed an attitude of will not do or cannot do. Although these terms may look the same, they have very different meanings in terms of teaching and learning. If students have experienced repeated failure, it may be the case that those students believe they cannot complete the task or fear they will fail again. Learning takes place for all children in an alert and challenging classroom where students are engaged in the lesson, encouraged and scaffolded through tasks. Classes that revolve around students seeing, hearing, and doing often create successful learners. Techniques that work well for other students, such as mnemonics and/or acronyms, can work for students with EBD. After all, effective teachers in mainstream classrooms use the same techniques as effective teachers in remedial/support classrooms and vice versa.