Benchmark Assessment

Customer:

Introduction

Previous modules have discussed the various components of successful interventions and instruction for students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD), as well as how vital they are to help reduce unwanted behaviors. However, it is not unusual for teachers of EBD students to spend less time on academic instruction, and thus, students may not be engaged in academic activities as much as mainstream students. Knizter, Setinberg, and Fleisch (1990) describe this process as bleak. 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. Principally, should the approach be meaning-based or code-based, or, perhaps, a continuum of both approaches? Should it be based on general comprehension 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 how the various letter or letter combination sounds (phonemes) are combined to create words in spoken language. Phonics is knowing what letters make what sounds in order to place them in the correct order to form the word in written language.

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 phonics 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 been 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 result in improvement in fluency, reading rates, and on-task behaviors. There are often mnemonics and/or acronyms introduced to help remember academic strategies.

Teaching Writing

Two models 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 should 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 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 fail to comprehend and retain the basic mathematical skills taught in the first few years of school. Without a solid understanding of these basic mathematical skills, these students often lack a foundation to build upon for understanding algebra and higher mathematics later. Therefore, higher expectations increasingly frustrate them, resulting in a lower self-efficacy for math. Often, curriculum does not include 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 computer, paper, manipulatives, peer tutoring, and larger surfaces such as the board in the classroom may be utilized. Frequent assessment and monitoring of progress will pinpoint the skill areas still needing 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 won't do or can't 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.

References

Gage, N., & Berliner, D. (1998). Educational psychology (6th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Knitzer, J., Setinberg, Z., & Fleisch, B. (1990). At the schoolhouse door: An examination of programs and policies for children with behavioral and emotional problems. New York: Bank Street College of Education.

Yell, M. L, Meadows, N. B., Drasgow, E., & Shriner, J. G. (2009). Evidence-based practices for educating students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Pearson.

 

Customer:

Deadline Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012

LoriHR :

Thank you--very helpful. I can handle that deadline without difficulty.

 

Customer:

Thank You

LoriHR :

My pleasure :)

 

Customer:

You do not, in essence, write a paper. However, you must have a minimum of five observations in each of the following areas--instructional practice, behavior interventions and modifications, and systems. So you will have a minimum of 15 detailed observations. These observations, reflection and recommendations must be indicative of the 20 hours you spent in the classroom. Remember this is 20% of your grade and must reflect that you spent the time in the classroom. Do not simply say--the student talked back to the teacher--tell every detail and include conversational interaction to show your observation. You are not required, but may use an abstract.

LoriHR :

I understand; thanks. I am not actually in the classroom at this time, so these will be "sample" observations based upon prior experience.

 

Customer:

This information was given to entire class, so I just wanted you to know what was going on.

LoriHR :

thank you! I appreciate the clarification :)

Customer:

Deadline Tuesday 8/14/2012

LoriHR :

No problem; I will have this for you tomorrow. :)

 

Customer:

Thank you

LoriHR :

:)

 

Customer:

Waiting to hear from you today is the deadline.

LoriHR :

Hello, I understand that today is the deadline, and I am working hard on this for you. Is your submit time midnight like most courses, or is there another time? Please understand--the addendum of 15 observations rather than the original chart as written has added a HUGE amount of work to this. It is simply extremely time consuming. It is also very research heavy, which adds to the crunch. I'm having difficulty finding anything on "systems," which I am assuming are classification systems of EBD? The information you provided was simply general information on teaching strategies for reading, math, and writing, and did not mention this, and I am unable to find a good chart online that describes the various systems.

 

Customer:

Teaching Students with EBD II:

Evidence-Based Instructional

Procedures

Michael E. Rozalski, Paul J. Riccomini, and Mitchell L.Yell

Focus Questions

• What research-based strategies can be used to teach reading to students with EBD?

• What research-based strategies can be used to teach writing to students with EBD?

• What research-based strategies can be used to teach mathematics to students with EBD?

• What research-based strategies can be used to teach study skills to students with EBD?

C H A P T E R

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Teaching Students with EBD II 343

Meaningful instruction is a critical component of successful programs for students with emotional

and behavioral disorders (EBD); however, teachers of students with EBD spend less time on active academic instruction and their students engage in lower rates of academic behavior than do teachers and students in general education (Gunter, Hummel, & Venn, 1998; Scheuermann, 1998; Stein & Davis, 2000). In their seminal study titled At the Schoolhouse Door, Knitzer and colleagues (1990) clearly described the bleakness of classrooms for students with EBD, which too often consisted of a “very limited and . . . ineffective set of teaching strategies” (p. 27) and a typically “impoverished” (p. 65) academic program. Wehby, Lane, et al. (2003) stated that a major reason there is such a limited focus on academics in the field of educating students with EBD is the limited research on academic instruction of these students. Recent reviews of the literature on academic interventions for students with EBD confirm this problem

(Coleman & Vaughn, 2000; Lane, 2004; Mooney et al., 2003; Trout, Nordness, Pierce, & Epstein, 2003).Wehby, Lane, et al. (2003) asserted this problem has contributed to the absence of an empirically valid knowledge base with which to guide future research and the subsequent preparation of teachers. Nonetheless, there is small but growing literature on academic interventions and students with EBD. The purpose of this chapter is to describe these research-based instructional procedures and strategies in reading, mathematics, and written expression. We first examine research-based strategies for teaching reading. Second, we address the teaching of writing. Third, we look at research-based strategies for teaching mathematics. Finally,we examine strategies to teach study skills.

An examination of evidence-based instructional procedures can help teachers design and deliver effective lessons for students with EBD. Moreover, an increased focus on academic instruction and evidence-based programming for students with EBD, in addition to promoting the academic progress of students with EBD, is likely to produce important reductions in the interfering behaviors these students so often exhibit (Deno, 1998).That is because academic progress

is incompatible with the behaviors that are viewed as disturbed and disturbing. Deno (2000) asserted that “by making academic progress the primary focus, . . .[teachers] will help to create EBD programs that encourage behavioral development and prevention rather than behavior reduction and correction” (p. 16).

TEACHING READING

Components of Effective Reading

Instruction

How to effectively teach students to read has been a matter of some debate (e.g., Atkinson,Wilhite,Frey,& Williams,2002; Carnine et al., 2004; Din, 2000; Harp & Brewer, 2005;Hyter, 2003; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD],2000;Torgesen,2004).On extreme ends of the continuum lie top-down (meaning-based) or bottom-up (code-based) approaches to teaching reading; theorists and researchers argue for the merits of the extremes of this continuum or argue for combining elements from both approaches. Considerable scientific evidence(Baber & Bacon,1995;Carnine et al.,2004;Foorman,Francis, Fletcher Schatschneider, & Mehta, 1998; Fuchs &Fuchs, 2005; Gaskins, Gaskins, Anderson, & Schommer,

1995; NICHD, 2000;Wehby, Falk, Barton-Arwood, Lane, &Cooley, 2003) suggests that there are common components of effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. In this section, we will review each component, keeping in mind that good instruction is always individualized to the student (Atkinson et al.,2002;Gibb & Wilder, 2002). Phonemic Awareness Although phonemic awareness is often confused with phonics instruction, the two terms are not synonymous. Phonemic awareness refers to an understanding of how sounds are used to form words in spoken language. Understanding how to identify and manipulate individual sounds within words is a crucial first step for many beginning readers. In fact, phonemic awareness and letter knowledge are the two

best predictors of how well children will learn to read inthe first 2 years of instruction (NICHD, 2000). Students who have been unresponsive to early reading interventions

have frequently lacked appropriate phonemic awareness skills (Al-Otaiba & Fuchs, 2002).

Phonemic awareness can be taught, particularly to students who are traditionally underserved, such as low income, inner-city students (Blachman ,Ball,Black,& Tangel, 1994) Hispanic students (Gunn, Biglan, Smolkowski, & Ary, 2000), and students with emotional and behavioral problems (Nelson,Benner,& Gonzalez,2005).Goldsworthy (2003) argued that students must increase phonemic awareness by being explicitly taught at three levels: word, syllable, and sound. The levels, goal, and several sample strategies are outlined in Table 15–1. See Goldsworthy (2003) for additional instructional activities and a list of resources appropriate for use in phonological awareness training

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4 Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

344 Chapter 15

Table 15–1 Explicitly teaching phonemic awareness: Level, goal, and sample strategies

Level Goal Sample Strategies

Word Recognize that sentences are composed of a word or words Students can count the number of words seen in written sentences or heard in orally presented sentences.

Using magnetic poetry, students can creatively rearrange words to make sentences and stories.

Some resources (e.g., Funky Fridge Refrigerator Magnets at www.funkyfridge.com/ magnetic poetry. html? Adwords _magnetic-poetry) have sets available by theme so that students can write a targeted story (e.g., about a visit to the zoo or using Spanish vocabulary

only); large-print magnets are also available for students with visual impairments.

Students can use the Cloze procedure, which takes a passage and systematically blanks words (e.g.,

every fourth word), to practice completing meaningful sentences with appropriate words. For

example, to review this section, students could complete the following Cloze sentence:“To

practice word-level ___________ awareness skills, students could ___________ the words in a

___________, creatively rearrange words using ___________ poetry, or use the ___________

procedure to compose meaningful ___________.”

Syllable Recognize that words are made of a syllable or syllables. Students can count or tap the number of syllables in each word. Using compound words, students can rearrange the component words to make and illustrate funny nonsense words (e.g., pigtail becomes tailpig).

Given two possible components, students can determine which of the three possible compound

words are not real (e.g., pig ___________: tail, pen, nose; Brett (2005) maintains sample activity

sheets at www.janbrett.com/piggybacks/compound.htm. Sound Recognize that syllables have onset and rime and can be divided into a phoneme or phonemes. Students can play Alphabet Words, identifying a word ending such as are and moving through the alphabet (e.g., bare, care, dare . . . ) to categorize which words are viable, nonsense, or simply

just too hard to pronounce. Using a book like Dr. Seuss’s ABC:An Amazing Alphabet Book (1963), students can see similarities in onset (e.g., extensive alliteration for each letter of the alphabet). Students can create activity sheets for their peers, asking the question,“Does this rhyme with that?” Encourage students to challenge their peers with tough queries, using words such as cough, dough, and plough. Phonics Phonics is an understanding of “the system by which symbols represent those sounds in the alphabetic writing system”(Carnine et al., 2004, p. 51). According to the bottom-up view of reading (Harp & Brewer, 2005), readers must understand sound–symbol relationships (grapheme–phoneme) before understanding words, sentences, and stories.To understand the sound–symbol relationship, readers must move from (a) recognizing the grapheme; (b) producing the phoneme; (c) blending sounds in words; and (d) reading words, sentences, and stories. Research indicates that systematic phonics instruction improves decoding and word recognition skills, and improves students’ ability to read words, particularly for students with learning disabilities (LDs), from lower socioeconomic status, and who were not disabled but were low achievers (NICHD, 2000). As such, NICHD has suggested that one of the most important elements of systematic reading instruction is that students are explicitly taught sound-letter relationship (Grossen, 2005). Although authors disagree on the exact number (Carnine et al., 2004; Gaskins et al., 1995), Grossen (2005) identified 48 letter–sound relationships that represent the sound that occurs at least 75% of the time with the respective letter or letter group (see Table 15–2).

Fluency Fluency is the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and, when reading aloud, using appropriate expression. Fluency is generally measured in either the number of words correctly read per minute or the percentage of words read correctly from a passage of a given length.For

words per minute, fluency is expected to improve as students become more capable readers, though research indicates that students who have been unresponsive to early reading interventions lack fluency skills (Fuchs, Fuchs, McMaster,Yen, & Svenson, 2004). Table 15–3 outlines the minimum number of words that students should read correctly in 1 minute in the elementary grades (Good, Simmons, Kame’enui, Kaminski,& Wallin, 2002).

For the percentage of words read correctly from a passage, fluency is generally divided into three levels: independent, instructional, and frustration (Leslie &

Caldwell, 2001):

• Independent—when the student can read without assistance, with 98% to 100% of the words correctly identified; ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Teaching Students with EBD II 345

Table 15–2 The 48 most regular sound–letter

relationships

a as in fat g as in goat v m l e t h u-e as in use s u p I as in sit c as in cat w “woo”as in well f b ja-e as in cake n I-e as in pipe d k y “yee” as in yuk r o-e as in pole z ch as in chip ou as in cloud kn as in know ea beat oy toy oa boatee need ph phone oi boiler fern qu quick ai maid ay hay sh shop ar car igh high th thank au haul ew shrewd ir first aw lawn

Source: Grossen, 2005.

 

 

Table 15–3 Expected fluency in beginning grades

(words correctly read per minute)

At End of Grade Minimum Expected Fluency

1st 40

2nd 90

3rd 110

4th 118

5th 124

Table 15–4 Fry’s New Instant Word List: The first 300 words the or will number over say set try high saw important miss of one up no new great put kind every left until idea and had other way sound where end hand near don’t children enough a by about could take help does picture add few side eat to words out people only through another again food while feet face in but many my little much well change between along car watch is not then than work before large off own might mile far you what them first know line must play below close night Indian that all these water place right big spell country something walk real it were so been years too even air plant seen white almost he we some called live means such away last next sea let was when her who me old because animal school hard began above for your would oil back any turn house father open grow girl on can make sit give same here point keep example took sometimes

are said like now most tell why page tree begin river mountains as there him find very boy ask letter never life four cut with use into long after follow went mother start always carry young his an time down things came men answer city those state talk they each has day our want read found earth both once soon I which look did just show need study eyes paper book list at she two get name also land still light together hear song be do more come good around different learn thought got stop being this how write made sentence form home should head group without leave have their go may man three us American under often second family from if see part think small move world story run late it’s

Note: Counting from top to bottom, left to right, the first 10 words make up approximately 24% of all written material contained in newspaper articles,magazines, textbooks, children’s stories, and novels.The first 100 words make up about 50%, and the first 300 about 65%. Source: Fry, 1980. • Frustration—when the student struggles to read or comprehend the material, with less than 90% of the words correctly identified. Several strategies are commonly used to help students improve the fluency with which they read: (a) sight vocabulary instruction (Fry,1980);(b) repeated readings of oral text (Fuchs & Fuchs,2005);and (c) silent independent reading (Harp & Brewer, 2005).The first two strategies have research and practical support. Frantantoni (1999) found that direct instruction of sight vocabulary increased students’ reading rate, and Fry’s (1980) New Instant Word

List (see Table 15–4) is often cited as an important list of sight words for direct instruction. Repeated guided oral • Instructional—when the student can read with assistance, with 90% to 97% of the words correctly

identified; ISBN: 0-558-16275-4 Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow, and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Table 15–5 Explicit instructional strategies: Vocabulary Type of Instruction Activity Description and Examples Formal presentation Modeling When introducing new vocabulary, provide students with clear examples and nonexamples of the target word. For example, when teaching “tastes” like bitter, sweet, sour, salty, and spicy, cover students’ eyes and have them taste and categorize foods that represent each new word they are experiencing.

 

Definitions and synonyms

 

When introducing new vocabulary, provide clear definition and synonyms for each word. Identifying an engaging and meaningful application of the word (e.g., showing students where the word appears in the latest Harry Potter installment) helps students remember the definition and synonyms. Reference skills Thesaurus and dictionary Teach students to use print and electronic versions of dictionaries and thesauruses. Creative Web sites can encourage students to use these reference tools (e.g.,www.visualthesaurus.com).

 

Games and puzzles

 

Concentration Have students create a pair of cards with the new vocabulary and the word’s definition. Shuffle all the cards together and place them in columns and rows on a table (or tape to a chalk- or whiteboard). In teams, have the students match the vocabulary they uncover with the definition of the word. Variation: Use pairs of cards with vocabulary and synonyms (rather than definitions).

 

Bingo Give students a list of vocabulary words and blank Bingo cards (so each student can make his orher own card). Call either the definition or synonym of each vocabulary word and have students mark their cards until someone has Bingo. Variation: Use antonyms to “clear” the cards—first to have an empty card wins. Word of the day Have students select interesting or challenging words from material that they encounter and have them place the vocabulary and definition on an index card in a “Word of the Day ”box.

 

Draw a card daily. If the student whose word is drawn can provide a definition and use the word in a sentence (remember, students recall only a small percentage of the words they encounter), then the student is able to draw the next day’s card.

reading has been shown to increase word recognition, fluency, and comprehension (NICHD, 2000), and has

been recently popularized in elementary schools. Although commonly used, the third strategy of silent independent reading (e.g.,strategies like Drop Everything and Read or DEAR; Harp & Brewer, 2005) has little research backing to suggest that silent independent reading of approximately 20 minutes per day improves reading skills, including fluency, or increases how much students read. Because of its continued widespread use, additional systematic research is needed (Carnine et al.,

2004;NICHD, 2000).

Vocabulary Most words that appear in primary-grade reading books are in the average speaker’s vocabulary.

However, from about 4th grade on, students are challenged by language that is less familiar to them (Carnineet al., 2004). Although students learn a great deal of vocabulary indirectly (e.g., hearing new words from peers, adults, and TV characters; reading materials outside school) and from narratives (Graesser, Golding, &

Long, 1991), it is estimated that students remember only5 to 15 of every 100 unfamiliar words to which they are exposed (Nagy, Herman, & Anderson, 1985; Swanborn de Glopper, 1999). Systematic vocabulary instruction can help students overcome these challenges and allow them to learn some of the estimated 50,000 words that they will know by 12th grade. Additionally, because vocabulary instruction leads to increased student comprehension, particularly when the instruction includes

repeated and varied exposure (NICHD, 2000), systematic teaching of word pronunciation, meaning, and usage is critical. Explicit instruction of vocabulary can include formal presentation of new vocabulary or reference skills (e.g., defining new words and providing synonyms, teaching a student to use a dictionary; Carnine et al.,

2004), or be informal and creative (e.g.,engaging students with games and puzzles; Harp & Brewer, 2005). Table 15–5 outlines various instructional strategies and examples for systematically teaching new vocabulary.

Comprehension We read to comprehend. As students progress through school and life, they will be presented

with increasingly complex reading materials from more varied sources. Instructional strategies that develop students’ comprehension and critical reading skills are

essential, though often not allotted significant instructional time in the classroom (Durkin, 1981). Fortunately,

explicit teaching of cognitive reading strategies greatly

346 Chapter 15

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Table 15–6 Strategies for improving reading comprehension

Strategy What Good Readers Do Examples

Comprehension

monitoring

Good readers actively examine

what they are reading.

Students may use a strategy such as K-W-L (Ogle, 1986) to monitor their

understanding before (“What do I Know?”and “What do I Want to

Learn?”) and after (“What did I Learn?”).

Cooperative learning Good readers learn strategies

with their peers.

Students can work in cooperative groups (DuPaul, Ervin, Hook,&

McGoey, 1998; Falk & Wehby, 2001; Gillies & Ashman, 2000; Martella,

Marchand-Martella,Young, & MacFarlane, 1995) and cross-age tutoring

(Elbaum,Vaughn, Hughes, & Moody, 1999) to practice the question

generation and answering strategies.

Use of graphic and

semantic organizers

(including story

maps)

Good readers make visual

representations of the material

they are reading.

Students who make story maps or visual representations to help

organize what they are reading (Anderson & Pearson, 1984) have

better comprehension (Babyak,Koorland, & Mathes, 2000). See

Figure 15–7 for a sample semantic map.

Question answering Good readers respond to

teacher-presented questions;

teachers provide immediate

feedback to students.

Students should ask a range of questions from Bloom’s Taxonomy

(Harp & Brewer, 2005) and immediately provide positive feedback

for correct answers and corrective feedback for incorrect answers.

Question generation Good readers ask themselves

questions about the material

they are reading.

Students should ask questions that carefully measure their understanding

(Pearson & Fielding, 1991): (1) Is there any vocabulary I didn’t

understand? (2) What was the take-home message?, (3) What was the

author’s tone and purpose?

Story structure Good readers use the

organization of the material

to help them recall specific

content.

Younger students can practice recalling story structure and sequence by

ordering illustrated cutouts (e.g., life cycle of plant, comic strips).Older

students should answer:“What was the main point and did the

supporting details flow?”Story and text structure instruction can improve

comprehension (Brennan,Bridge,& Winograd,1986;Williams, 2005).

Summarization Good readers synthesize

information and make

generalizations.

Students should be able to able to verbally and visually summarize a

story, while making connections to other curricular materials or

personal experiences (Pearson & Fielding, 1991).

Teaching Students with EBD II 347

improves comprehension (NICHD,2000).In the National

Reading Panel’s review of 481 studies that were published

over 30 years, seven strategies that “appear to have

a solid scientific basis” for teaching comprehension

(NICHD, 2000, p. 15) were identified (see Table 15–6 for

examples).

In addition to the strategies outlined previously, there

are additional strategies that should be explicitly taught at

various grade levels. For example, in the early primary

grades, students should be taught sequencing (Carnine

et al., 2004).Without the ability to understand how a story

progresses (i.e., there is a beginning, middle, and end), students

will be unable to determine cause and effect or

make inferences and inductions. In the late primary and

intermediate grades, students must become more astute

critical readers. These older students must be able to

(a) discriminate between literal and inferred or induced

meaning; (b) determine the trustworthiness of an author

or source, particularly in the age of electronic publishing

and the Internet (Carnine et al., 2004); and (c) read and

comprehend within increasingly challenging content

areas, like science (NICHD, 2000).Although some authors

(e.g., Alverman, Smith, & Readence, 1985; Anderson,

Reynolds, Schallert & Goetz, 1977; Johnston, 1984) warn

that activating prior knowledge can interfere with comprehension,

some research suggests that this activation

allows students to perform better on measures of comprehension

(Recht & Leslie, 1988). Additional research is

needed to determine if activating prior knowledge is an

effective instructional strategy.

Teaching Procedures

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement

Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) and the implementing regulations

of 2006 require that teachers of students with disabilities

base their special education programs on peerreviewed

research (IDEA,20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(1)(A)(i)(IV)).

Refer to the reviews by Lane (2004); Riveria,Al-Otaiba, and

Koorland (2006); and Coleman and Vaughn (2000) for

analysis of the small literature base on effective reading

interventions and students with EBD. Table 15–7 lists

several empirical studies that have been conducted in

reading interventions and students with EBD.

Next we examine two reading programs that have

support in the empirical literature.

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

348

Table 15–7 Research-based reading interventions and students with EBD

Authors Subjects Intervention Setting Results

Babyak,Koorland, &

Mathes, 2000

4 males with EBD,

LD, and ADHD,

Grades 4–5

Story mapping

instruction and

reinforcement

system

Public summer

school program

for students

with EBD

Improved percentages of

correct responses on story

retells and measures of

story elements

Falk & Wehby,

2001

6 males and

1 female in

EBD resource,

Grade K

K-PALS peer

tutoring and

a reinforcement

system

Self-contained

classroom for

students with

EBD

Increases in letter-sounding

and blending skills

scores

Lane, O’Shaughnessy,

Lambros,Gresham, &

Beebe-Frankenberger,

2001;

7 students

(5 males, 2

females),

Grade 1

Phonological

awareness

training and

reinforcement

for participation

At-risk students in a

general education

classroom

Improvements in word

attack skills,words read

correctly in 1 minute;

decreases in disruptive

behavior and negative

social interactions

Lane & Menzies, 2003 210 at-risk

students

Multilevel reading

and behavioral

intervention

program

General education

classrooms in an

elementary school

for at-risk students

Improved reading skills as

measured by district-level

tests and curriculum-based

measurement

Lane,Wehby, Menzies,

Gregg, Doukas, &

Munton, 2002

7 students

(4 males,

3 females),

Grade 1

Supplemental

phonics

instruction

At-risk students in a

general education

classroom;the students

were unresponsive

to a schoolwide

literacy intervention

Improvements in nonsense

word fluency and oral

reading fluency; decreases

in disruptive behavior

and negative social

interactions

McCurdy, Cundari,&

Lentz, 1990

2 male students,

ages 8–9

Direct teaching

strategies

(time-delay and

trial and error)

and observational

learning

Private laboratory

schools for students

with EBD

Few differences between

the strategies, although

direct teaching yielded

slightly better results;

students maintained high

levels of words read

correctly in both phases

Scott & Shearer-

Lingo, 2002

3 males with EBD,

Grade 7

Repeated readings Self-contained middle

school classrooms

Improvements in oral

reading fluency and

on-task behaviors

Resnick, 1987 9 males with EBD

(3 in Grades

5–6 were

tutors; 6 in

Grades 2–3

were tutees)

Cross-age peer

tutoring

Resource rooms in a

public school

Both tutors and tutees showed

gains on standardized

reading tests (Woodcock-

Johnson Reading); tutees

also showed increased

satisfaction with reading

Shisler,Top,&

Osguthorpe, 1986

23 students

with EBD,

Grades 5–6

Peer tutoring General education

classroom

Tutors increased reading scores

on 2 of 3 reading tests; tutees

increased reading scores on

2 of 5 measures

Wehby, Falk, Barton-

Arwood, Lane,&

Cooley, 2003

8 students

with EBD,

ages 5–6

Decoding lessons

and peer tutoring

sessions

Self-contained

classrooms

Increased performance

on measures of letter–

sound identification

and blending skills

Yell, 1992 16 students

with EBD,

Grades 5–6

Direct instruction

on sight words

Self-contained

classrooms

Direct instruction was more

effective than other procedures

used (language master,

individually prescribed

instruction) on increasing sight

words learned,measures,

improving on-task behaviors,

and decreasing interfering

behaviors

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Teaching Students with EBD II 349

Direct Reading Instruction The knowledge base for

teaching reading to students with EBD, a group of students

with significant difficulties with reading, is surprisingly

limited but emerging (e.g., Fleming, Harachi, Cortes,

Abbott, & Catalano, 2004; Hooper, Roberts, Zeisel, & Poe,

2003; Hyter, 2003; Nelson, Benner, & Rogers-Adkinson,

2003; Rinaldi, 2003; Rogers-Adkinson, 2003; Rogers-

Adkinson & Hooper, 2003;Vaughn, Levy, Coleman, & Bos,

2002;Wehby,Falk, et al.,2003);only eight published studies

were conducted between 1975 and 2000, and no specific

instructional procedures were identified as effective, even

though a focus group and the existing research suggested

that direct instruction and cross-age peer tutoring may be

effective (Coleman & Vaughn, 2000). Direct instruction

(DI) has repeatedly been shown to help students make efficient

academic gains in reading (e.g., Din, 2000), particularly

for young students considered at risk for academic

failure (e.g.,students receiving Title I services were shown

by Foorman et al., [1998] to make marked progress).

DI involves teaching students essential skills,

grounding both the methods of providing instruction

and the skills taught in scientifically based research

(Carnine et al., 2004). As such, teachers use researchsupported

strategies to directly teach students the

research-identified skills essential for beginning readers

(e.g., how to decode and comprehend various texts).

Although the pedagogy, or “how”students are taught using

DI has been discussed in Chapter 13, and the essential

skills, or “what” students are taught is outlined in the

“Components of Effective Reading Instruction”section of

this chapter,we will highlight some of the critical features

of DI, along with some additional teaching techniques.

Critical Features of Direct Reading Instruction.

According to Carnine and colleagues (2004), there are six

components of a DI program that are essential to selecting,

implementing, and modifying a reading program:

1. Specifying objectives

2. Devising instructional strategies

3. Developing teaching procedures

4. Selecting examples

5. Sequencing skills

6. Providing practice and review

These components exemplify the importance of

task analysis, modeling, and feedback. In a task analysis,

tasks are broken down into smaller teachable subunits.

Task analysis serves a diagnostic purpose by allowing

teachers to pinpoint specific student functioning levels

with respect to the targeted skills, and also provides a

basis for sequential instructional programming.Teachers

must then instruct and assess students on the subunits

and larger skills (i.e., the combination of the smaller subunits)

in an established sequence. While conducting a

task analysis, a teacher should (a) limit the scope of the

task,(b) write the subtasks to be performed in observable

and measurable terms, (c) carefully select examples and

model how to successfully complete the subunits and

larger skill when teaching, and (d) provide students an

opportunity to perform the task while being evaluated.

Monitoring Progress in Direct Instruction Programs.

The importance of monitoring progress and providing

immediate and constructive feedback cannot be overstated.

Without continual evaluation, students may make

and practice errors that go uncorrected.When first learning

to add two two-digit numbers—for example, 77 _

33—a common error is 1010 (7 _ 3 is added in the ones

column to get 10 and then 7 _ 3 is added in the tens column

to get 10 and the two answers are put side by side).

Although a student who has made this mistake has

clearly neglected to “carry” to the tens column, what if

the student has completed an entire worksheet of problems

like this while making the same error? This student

will have to unlearn the mistake before being taught the

correct procedure for adding and carrying. Similar mistakes

can occur with reading instruction; according to

Carnine et al., (2004), three types of errors are common:

(a) confusing letters or words (e.g.,mistaking d for b);(b)

mispronouncing a letter or word;and (c) misunderstanding

a signal to start or end when the teacher indicates that a

choral response is appropriate. Being aware of the potential

pitfalls allows teachers to help students avoid them.

Monitoring progress must be done systematically by

following a predictable daily, weekly, and monthly routine

(Deno, 2000; Fuchs, 1989; Langdon, 2004). Using a

research-validated technique such as curriculum-based

measurement (CBM) is perhaps the most effective means

to evaluate the effectiveness of the reading program

(Deno, 1985, 1992, 1998; Deno et al., 1986; Green, 2001;

Shinn, 1989). For a discussion of CBM’s technical merits,

including reliability and validity, see Marston (1989) and

Bain and Garlock (1992). Refer to Chapter 3 in this textbook

for further information on CBM.

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) Peer

tutoring refers to instructional strategies in which students

are taught by their teachers to tutor their fellow students.

Greenwood, Delquadri, Carta, Hall, and colleagues

conducted systematic investigations of a peer tutoring

strategy that they referred to as Classwide Peer-Tutoring

(Delquadri, Greenwood, Whorton, Carta, & Hall, 1986;

Greenwood,Carta, & Hall,1988;Greenwood,Delquadri,&

Hall, 1989; Greenwood, Maheady, & Delquadri, 2002).

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

In classwide peer tutoring systems the students tutor

each other using a highly structured tutoring procedure.

Classwide peer tutoring has been used successfully with

a wide variety of students in a number of different settings

to teach many different skills (Maheady, Harper, &

Mallette,2003).Spencer (2006) conducted a research synthesis

of 38 studies in which students with EBD served as

tutors or tutees in peer tutoring investigations. She

reported that peer tutoring is an effective instructional

strategy for elementary, middle, and high school students

with EBD in academic, social, and behavioral realms.

In 1996, Fuchs and Fuchs and colleagues developed a

specific peer tutoring intervention,which was called peerassisted

learning strategies, or PALS, for supplementing

instruction in reading and mathematics programs (Fuchs,

Fuchs, Mathes, & Simmons, 1996).This strategy has over

10 years of scientific evidence supporting its efficacy in

improving reading and math scores across a wide variety

of students, including students with LD and EBD, as well

as low-achieving students without disabilities, averageachieving

students, and high-achieving students (Fuchs,

Fuchs, & Burish, 2000; Barton-Arwood,Wehby, & Falk,

2005). In fact, the U.S Department of Education’s Program

Effectiveness Panel included PALS reading and math in the

National Diffusion Networks’ list of effective educational

practices.Originally PALS was designed to be used in classrooms

of students in Grades 2 through 6. Recent research

and program development,however, has extended PALS to

kindergarten (i.e.,K-PALS), first grade, and high school.

Typically, teachers use PALS reading 3 days a week for

about 16 weeks. Students are trained by their teachers to

conduct the tutoring sessions and then are closely monitored

by their teachers during the sessions.To set up a PALS

reading program in a classroom the teacher must pair each

student with a peer partner.This is accomplished by rank

ordering the students by their reading skill.The students

are then split into a higher performing half and a lower

performing half.The top-ranked higher performing student

is then paired with the top-ranked lower performing student;

the second-ranked higher performing student is then

paired with the second-ranked lower performing student,

and so on until all students have a partner. After the students

are paired, the teacher divides them into two teams.

The purpose of the teams is to provide motivation for students

to work hard and get good daily scores, which are

added to the overall team scores. Students remain with the

same partner for about 4 weeks.

The PALS reading session consists of three different

activities:

• Partner reading: In partner reading the higher functioning

reader in the peer tutoring pair begins reading

first. He or she reads aloud from the chosen text for

5 minutes.The lower performing reader then reads

the same text for 5 minutes.The lower performing

reader in the pair sequences the major events from

what has been read.

• Paragraph shrinking: In paragraph shrinking the

higher performing reader continues to read the new

text in the story. He or she stops after each paragraph

to summarize that paragraph.The lower performing

student then continues to read the story for

the next 5 minutes, stopping after each paragraph to

summarize.

• Prediction relay: In prediction relay the higher performing

reader makes a prediction, reads a half page

or full page of text aloud, and then stops to check

the accuracy of the prediction. He or she then predicts

what will happen on the next half page and

continues reading. This takes 5 minutes.The lower

performing student repeats this sequence.

The PALS peer tutoring procedure is an evidencebased

procedure that should be used to supplement students’

reading programs. For more information, go to the

PALS Web site, (http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/pals). The site

contains summaries of research on PALS reading and

math, and ordering information.

Summary

Though considerable, and at times heated, debate about

the best approach to teaching reading has come to characterize

the field, a large body of scientific evidence suggests

that there are common components to effective

reading instruction (Baber & Bacon, 1995; Carnine et al.,

2004; Foorman et al., 1998; Fuchs & Fuchs, 2005; Gaskins

et al., 1995;NICHD, 2000;Wehby, Falk, et al., 2003).These

major components—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,

vocabulary, and comprehension—have been investigated

for years, and specific strategies designed to

improve reading skills and abilities have emerged from

this research (Atkinson et al., 2002;Gibb & Wilder, 2002).

Next,we address strategies for teaching writing.

TEACHING WRITING

Written expression, which refers to text that a student

composes (Kame’enui & Simmons, 1990), is one of the

many skill deficiencies of students with disabilities

(Graham & Harris, 1988; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2002;

Tindal & Crawford, 2002). According to Tindal and

Crawford, writing is especially difficult for students with

EBD. For example, Nelson, Benner, Lane, and Smith (2004)

350 Chapter 15

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Teaching Students with EBD II 351

found that students with EBD, from kindergarten to Grade

12, scored well below average on standardized tests of

writing ability.Teaching students with EBD to write well at

an early age is important for several reasons. First, writing

has the potential to serve as an expressive outlet for students

with EBD,which they can use to obtain recognition

and express their thoughts (Tindal & Crawford, 2002).

Second, written expression skills are especially important

to a student’s academic success in high school and postsecondary

education.As students progress through school

more and more writing is required on tests and papers

(Bradley-Johnson & Lesiak, 1989). Third, Lane, Graham,

Harris,and Weisenback (2006) asserted that it is extremely

important that young students with EBD receive good

instruction in writing before their writing problems

become intractable because waiting until later grades to

correct these deficiencies will not be successful. Clearly

the ability to write is an important life skill.

Unfortunately, written expression has been given

insufficient attention in remedial programs and the

empirical literature (Isaacson, 1987). A review of the literature

on teaching academic skills to students with EBD by

Lane (2004) reported no empirical studies that addressed

written expression. Lane reviewed 25 empirical studies

published between 1990 and 2004 and found no studies

on written expression that met the inclusion criteria for

her review, although one included study did address

spelling.Lane concluded that “academic interventions targeting

written expression of students with or at risk for

EBD represent, by far, the least developed instructional

area of [reading, mathematics, and writing]” (p. 475).

In addition to the dearth of research in this area, it

would seem that teachers of students with disabilities do

not spend time directly teaching writing (Graham &

Harris, 1988, 1997).This may be because teachers often

assume that writing cannot be taught because it develops

naturally (Graham & Harris, 1997 Kame’enui &

Simmons, 1990;). However, this assumption is false; written

expression is a set of skills that can be taught and

learned like other academic skills (Graham & Harris,

1997 Kame’enui & Simmons,1990;).In the following section

we address models for teaching written expression

and instructional recommendations.

In their chapter on designing instructional strategies

for teaching expressive writing, Kame’enui and Simmons

(1990) related a worse-case scenario of writing instruction.

On the first day of school, a teacher gives her students

a 30-minute assignment in which they are to write

a three-page paper on how they spent their summer vacation.

A few students begin to write; others sit idly.The

teacher later evaluates the students’work by noting punctuation

and spelling errors.The students in this scenario

were asked to perform a complex task without receiving

any instruction and no useful feedback. Unfortunately,

this scenario seems to represent the method of teaching

writing in too many classrooms for students with disabilities.

Kame’enui and Simmons (1990), however, pointed

out that researchers are learning more about how to

teach writing skills.This section briefly reviews recent

findings in teaching written expression and highlights

instructional recommendations for instructing students

with disabilities to be better writers.

Models for Teaching Written

Expression

Traditionally there have been two models of teaching

written expression: product-based instruction and

process-based instruction.The goal of both models is to

produce students who are skilled writers; however, the

teaching methods and procedures in these two models

are very different. Kame’enui and Simmons (1990) proposed

a third model for teaching written expression,

which they referred to as a skills approach.

Product Approach The product approach to writing

focuses on students using good grammar, spelling, capitalization,

and punctuation. According to Newcomer,

Nodine, and Barenbaum (1988), adherents of the product

approach posited that students learn to write based on

reading and analyzing the writings of experts. Supposedly,

the students’exposure to good writing will allow them to

apply the important features of the expert’s writing to

their own composition.After being exposed to these writings,

students are given writing assignments that are similar

to those they had read.The teacher then evaluates the

students’ compositions by marking errors in mechanics

(e.g., punctuation, capitalization, spelling).Typically, that

ends the process and there is no opportunity for revising

the writing. Typically, the teacher provides minimal

instruction during this process. Kame’enui and Simmons

(1990) noted that merely exposing students with disabilities

to examples of good writing and assuming that they

will be able to extract the critical features and apply them

to their own writing is incorrect.These researchers also

asserted that the fundamental flaw of the product

approach was that adherents failed to teach students to

write in a systematic and explicit manner.The product

approach, which was popular in the 1970s and 1980s, is

no longer considered an adequate method for teaching

writing. Unfortunately, it is still used in many classrooms.

Process Approach The process approach to teaching

writing was a reaction to the nonteaching method of the

product approach (Hume, 1983).This approach is based

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

largely on the procedures skilled writers use to produce

written products.The process approach consists

of four overlapping and interactive stages of writing:

(a) planning or prewriting, (b) writing a first draft,

(c) revising or editing, and (d) publication or sharing

(Bos, 1988). Some researchers define these stages in a

slightly different manner, but most agree on the basics

of the four-step model. During the planning stage the

students generate ideas for their writing.They organize

their ideas and generate a framework for their composition

(Bos, 1988; Kame’enui & Simmons, 1990).

Sometimes teachers have their students write outlines

of their proposed composition.They also give students

time to plan. In the second stage, in which students

write their first draft, the teacher assists students to

put their ideas into language (Flower & Hayes, 1981),

although students may continue to plan and revise

their plans. In this stage teachers allow students time

to continue to plan, but they also encourage their students

to get their ideas down on paper. It is important

that students understand that this first attempt at composition

may be modified and changed before the final

product is produced.The third stage is revising or editing.

Students are encouraged to modify and edit their

first draft until the composition is ready to share with

an audience. This includes editing for mechanics.The

teacher may assist in correcting grammar, spelling, and

punctuation errors within the context of the students’

writing; however, this is only a small part of the entire

process. According to Bos (1988), the fourth stage is

sharing and publication1. She noted that this gives

value and worth to the process because students get

feedback and perceive themselves as authors responding

to an audience.

In the process approach the teacher becomes the

facilitator of students writing by conferring with them,

making suggestions, and responding to their writing.

Graham and Harris (1988) asserted that teachers may

help students with disabilities develop these processes

central to writing by dividing the composition process

into these relatively discrete stages.Teachers can also

help students with disabilities gain competence in these

processes by teaching them self-regulatory and metacognitive

strategies (Harris & Graham, 1992).2

1Some researchers do not consider sharing and publication a

separate stage in the process approach to teaching writing.

2For an excellent introduction to self-instruction and selfregulation

in the writing process, refer to this source: Harris,

K. R., & Graham, S. (1992). Helping young writers master their

craft: Strategy instruction and self-regulation in the writing

process. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.

Kame’enui and Simmons (1990) stated that the

process approach is far superior to the practice of giving

students a topic and letting them write, but the process

approach does not teach students how to write, a

process that is crucial if low-achieving students are going

to learn this important skill.They also noted that even

when teachers instruct students in planning, drafting,

revising, and editing, the process approach rests on the

assumption that students already possess fundamental

writing skills. If students do not possess such skills,when

engaged in the writing process they will consciously

attend to these low-level skill deficiencies, which may

interfere with the higher order cognitive process that is

required in using a process approach (Graham & Harris,

1988). Kame’enui and Simmons (1990) noted that

because low-achieving students need to be taught basic

writing skills a third model was needed: a skills approach

to expressive writing.

Skills Approach The skills-based approach to teaching

writing uses specific instructional design principles to

teach basic skills and systematically develop these skills

through exercises and applications (Kame’enui &

Simmons, 1990). Englemann and Silbert (1985) provided

a rationale for a skills-based approach to teaching writing:

Teachers understand that teaching reading to beginners involves

a careful sequence of steps. No teacher would expect the beginning

reader to tackle fifth-grade material because this material

requires too many reading skills.Paradoxically,teachers often fail

to recognize that expressive writing is like reading. Writing

involves a series of skills and implies a sequence of activities,

starting with those that are basic to all expressive writing. (p. 1)

According to Kame’enui and Simmons (1990) a skillsbased

approach to teaching writing requires a scope and

sequence. Moreover, they asserted that a teaching

approach that requires low-achieving students to use

their imagination to develop a story and then write the

story places an unfair burden on students by requiring

them to use many advanced skills in their writing (e.g.,

good grammar, acceptable sentences, appropriate punctuation

and capitalization, use of consistent tenses, organization

of paragraphs).These advanced skills must be

taught to students; they cannot write using such skills

without first receiving direct instruction, clear demonstrations,

and extensive practice.

Kame’enui & Simmons (1990) proposed a scope

and sequence of skills for teaching beginning expressive

writing skills.Their scope and sequence does not address

more complex skills such as descriptive writing, but

rather consists of four basic strands and the component

skills within each strand (see Table 15–8).An example of

352 Chapter 15

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Table 15–8 Scope and sequence for teaching beginning writing skills

Strand Component

Learning the mechanics

of writing

a. Copying sentences accurately.

b. Capitalizing the first word in a sentence.

c. Ending a telling sentence with a period.

d. Ending an asking sentence with a question mark.

e. Indenting the first word of a paragraph.

Writing simple

sentences

a. Identifying a sentence as naming somebody or something and telling more about the person or thing.

b. Selecting sentences that name somebody or something and tell more about the person or thing

depicted in a picture.

c. Completing sentences that name somebody or something and tell more about the person or thing

depicted in a picture or series of pictures.

d. Generating sentences that tell the main thing that happened in a picture or a series of pictures.

e. Generating sentences that name somebody or something and tell more about the person or thing without

the use of pictures.

f. Combining simple sentences to create more complex sentences.

Writing paragraphs a. Identifying a paragraph as naming a topic and telling more about the topic depicted in a picture.

b. Identifying the topic of a paragraph as the main thing that the paragraph tells about as depicted in a

picture or a series of pictures.

c. Completing paragraphs that refer to pictures.

d. Generating paragraphs that report on an individual in an illustration.

e. Generating paragraphs that tell about a series of things that an individual did in a sequence of pictures.

f. Generating paragraphs that interpret what must have happened between pictures in a sequence.

g. Generating paragraphs without reference to pictures.

Editing a. Identifying sentences that do not report on what a picture shows.

b. Correcting mistakes in capitalization and punctuation.

c. Identifying sentences in a paragraph that do not tell about a specified topic.

d. Correcting run-on sentences.

e. Correcting sentences with present-tense verbs by changing them to past-tense and writing all sentences

in past tense.

f. Correcting inappropriate noun–verb relationships and inappropriate pronouns.

Teaching Students with EBD II 353

a writing curriculum that uses a skills approach to

expressive writing is that of Englemann and Silbert (1985).

Teaching Procedures

A number of researchers have offered instructional recommendations

to teach writing to students with disabilities

(Graham & Harris, 1988, 1997; Isaacson, 1987;

Kame’enui & Simmons, 1990).We review some of these

strategies in the following text.

Avoid Instructional Practices That Do Not Improve

Students’ Writing Performance According to Graham

and Harris (1988) and Isaacson (1987),one of the most persistent

myths associated with teaching writing is that the

systematic teaching of grammar, usage, and punctuation

must be an essential component of writing instruction.

Research conducted over the last 80 years, however, has

provided evidence that such methods are ineffective

(Graham & Harris, 1988, 1997).Knowledge of grammatical

concepts is not necessary for skillful writing and traditional

grammar instruction does not improve students’ writing

performance (Graham & Harris, 1988). In fact, Hillocks

(1984) found that students who were taught to write in

programs that emphasize mechanics and grammar have

been shown to achieve lower gains in writing than students

who receive writing instruction in which mechanics

and grammar are considered irrelevant. Hillocks (1984,

1987) reviewed over 2,000 research studies that examined

six instructional procedures for teaching writing. His

findings are briefly reviewed in Table 15–9.

Isaacson (1987) suggested that teachers should

teach mechanics, grammar, and punctuation because

they influence judgments of others regarding the quality

of writing; however, these skills should be taught separately

so they don’t interfere with students’ attempts to

write. As students become more fluent at writing,

mechanics and conventions should be introduced as an

editing task (Graham & Harris, 1988; Isaacson, 1987).

Another common practice that should be avoided is

overemphasizing errors that students make in their writing

(Graham & Harris, 1988). Hillocks (1984) asserted

that intensive evaluation of a student’s errors may make

the student more aware of his or her limitations and

more likely to avoid tasks that involve writing. Graham

and Harris (1988) suggested that when teachers correct

student compositions, they focus on only one or two

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Table 15–9 Hillock’s findings

Instructional Practice Finding

Grammar The study of traditional school grammar (e.g., the definition of parts of speech) has no effect

on raising the quality of student writing.

Models The presentation of good pieces of writing is more useful than studying grammar; however,

the use of models alone will not raise the quality of student writing

Sentence combining The practice of building complex sentences from simple ones has been shown to be

effective in many experimental studies.An excellent book on using sentence combining

in teaching writing is Strong,W. (1986). Creative approaches to sentence combining.

Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Criteria scales Scales, criteria for evaluation, and specific questions that students use when judging their

writing or the writing of others can have a powerful effect on improving the quality of

students’writing.

Strategies Focusing students’ attention on strategies to use when writing is very effective in improving

the quality of students’writing.

Free writing Although free writing is more effective than teaching grammar, it is less effective than the

other techniques reviewed.

types of errors—those that occur frequently and those

that interfere with the readers’understanding of the text.In

addition, students should be given feedback that is specific

and includes suggestions for making corrections.

Allocate Time for Writing Instruction To help students

learn to write in a clear and effective manner students

need to be encouraged to write frequently and for

extended periods of time (Graham & Harris, 1987).

Unfortunately, teachers seldom devote sufficient time

to writing activities (Kame’enui & Simmons, 1990).

Leinhart, Zigmond, and Cooley (1980) found that students

with LD spend than less than 10 minutes a day in

writing. If teachers fail to allocate sufficient time to writing,

students with disabilities will not learn to write.

According to Graham and Harris (1997, 1988), students

should spend 45 minutes a day in writing activities.

Create an Atmosphere Conducive to Writing

Writing activities should be interesting and engaging and

the classroom climate should be conducive to writing

(Graham & Harris, 1988; Kame’enui & Simmons, 1990).

Teachers should (a) be accepting and encouraging of students’

writing efforts; (b) develop a supportive, pleasant,

and nonthreatening writing environment; (c) emphasize

students’ successes with charts, graphs, and bulletin

boards devoted to students’writing; (d) promote sharing

of writing with an audience; (e) allow students to work

on writing projects of their own choosing whenever

possible; and (f) provide positive reinforcement for writing.

Providing such an environment can have a positive

effect on the behavior and performance of students

(Graham & Harris, 1985). Bos (1988) said that teachers

should develop classrooms that are writing communities

through support, acceptance, and collaboration.

Teach Writing Directly Creating an atmosphere that is

conducive to writing and providing students with opportunities

to write are important to improving students’

writing. By themselves, however, these strategies are not

sufficient to teach writing to students with disabilities.

Writing does not development naturally; it must be

taught (Graham & Harris, 1997; Kame’enui & Simmons,

1990).Teachers need to provide direct instruction aimed

at providing students with the skills necessary to the

writing process so they become fluent in writing

(Graham & Harris, 1988). In addition to directly teaching

sentence and paragraph structure, and vocabulary and

word usage,such instruction should include handwriting

and spelling (Bradley-Johnson & Lesiak, 1989; Graham &

Harris, 1997; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2002).Teachers also

should provide direct instruction aimed at increasing

their students’ knowledge of the characteristics of the

different types of writing tasks that may be required of

them (e.g., narrative writing, expository writing).

Graham and Harris (1997) noted one way this can be

accomplished is by exposing students to examples of the

different types of writing through teacher modeling,

practice, and corrective feedback. Additionally, teachers

may assist their students to become better writers by acting

as collaborators with their students and helping

them through conferencing with them on how to

improve their writing.

Teaching students with disabilities to use selfinstructional

strategies when they are writing can also

help them in their development (Harris & Graham,

1992). Harris and Graham (1996) proposed a model for

teaching students writing strategies, called the Self-

Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) approach,

which required teachers to play an active, facilitative role

354 Chapter 15

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Teaching Students with EBD II 355

in the development of a student’s writing abilities. In

addition to directly teaching strategies, teachers also conference,

model, prompt, and dialogue with students.To

use this strategy successfully teachers must understand

the writing process and be able to provide their students

with direction and support by providing the level of

structured guidance appropriate for the student’s ability

level (Harris & Graham,1996).In this procedure students

are taught a number of strategies that help them understand

writing tasks, regulate their writing behavior, and

enhance their motivation.

In the SRSD approach, there are seven basic stages

of instruction that are used to introduce and teach the

strategy. Harris and Graham’s (1996) seven phases are as

follows:

1. Preskill development. In this stage, the teacher

assesses a student’s level of skill development.

Preskills, such as vocabulary concept, that are not

developed but are necessary for more advanced

learning, are assessed and taught.

2. Initial conference: Instructional goals and significance.

The teacher and student collaboratively

decide the strategy that will be developed.A conference

is held in which the teacher and student discuss

the significance, benefits, and goals of the strategy.

3. Discussion of the composition strategy. The teacher

discusses the composition strategy, explains each

step of the strategy, and, if a mnemonic is used,

describes the mnemonic strategy.

4. Modeling of the composition strategy and selfinstructions.

In this stage, the teacher models the

composition strategy and the self-instructions that

will be used while the student writes an actual composition.

If the strategy involves the use of prompts

or a mnemonic, the teacher should model those too.

The student then is asked to develop and record his

or her self-instructions.

5. Mastery of the strategy. The student memorizes the

steps in the composition strategy and mnemonics

that are used to remember the strategy. The student

should also memorize the steps of the strategy he or

she developed in stage 4.

6. Collaborative practice. In this stage, additional

self-regulation procedures are discussed and

initiated (e.g., goal setting, self-monitoring, selfreinforcement).

Students use the strategies they

have developed while writing. Teachers and students

also develop individual goals regarding the

students’writing.

7. Independent use. The students use the self-regulation

strategy independently. The teacher and student

evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy and the

student’s performance.

Empirical investigations have shown that SRSD has

been successful in improving the writing performances

of struggling writers (Graham & Perrin, 2006), students

with learning disabilities (Graham & Harris, 2003), students

with ADHD (Leinemann, & Reid, 2006), and students

with EBD (Lane et al., 2006).

Summary

Students with disabilities will not learn to write by

merely providing them with free writing opportunities

or by the so-called natural writing method. It must be

taught.Teaching students to write is a difficult and complex

process that requires that teachers directly instruct

their students in the skills and processes of writing.

The ability to write is an important life skill for all students

and will become especially important to students’

academic success in high school and postsecondary

education.

TEACHING MATHEMATICS

Success in mathematics is becoming increasingly important

for today’s students. Improving the mathematics

achievement of all students is a national priority (Goals

2000: Educate America Act of 1994).The mathematical

performance of students is important because other curricular

areas rely on arithmetic skills (e.g., vocational

education, algebra, business, science courses), and proficiency

with basic computation is necessary for everyday

living situations. According to the National Research

Council (2003):

Success in tomorrow’s job market will require more than computation

competence. It will require the ability to apply mathematical

knowledge to solve problems. If today’s students are to

compete successfully in the world of tomorrow, they must be

able to learn new concepts and skills.They need to view mathematics

as a tool they can use every day. (p. 3)

Math education has seen much reform over the last

several years. In 2000, the National Council of Teachers

of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) produced a revised set of

mathematics standards called Principles and Standards

for School Mathematics. The revised six principals of

high-quality mathematics education include the areas of

equity, curriculum, teaching, learning, assessment, and

technology (Table 15–10).

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Table 15–10 Six principles of high-quality mathematics education

Principle Description

Equity principle • Excellence in mathematics education requires equity—high expectations and strong support for all

students.

Curriculum principle • A curriculum is more than a collection of activities: it must be coherent, focused on important

mathematics, and well articulated across the grades.

Teaching principle • Effective mathematics teaching requires understanding what students know and need to learn and then

challenging and supporting them to learn it well.

Learning principle • Students must learn mathematics with understanding, actively building new knowledge from

experience and prior knowledge.

Assessment principle • Assessment should support the learning of important mathematics and furnish information to both

teachers and students.

Technology principle • Technology is essential in teaching and learning mathematics; it influences the mathematics that is

taught and enhances students’ learning.

Source: NCTM,2000.

Table 15–11 Standards of school mathematics

Content Standards Process Standards

Number and Operations Problem Solving

Algebra Reasoning and Proof

Geometry Communication

Measurement Connections

Data Analysis and Probability

Source: NCTM 2000.

In addition to the six principles, NCTM (2000) also

established 10 standards for school mathematics to

describe the mathematical understanding, knowledge,

and skills that all students should acquire as they

progress through school (see Table 15–11). The standards

are described as either content standards or

process standards. A content standard has two to four

specific goals and each goal includes as many as seven

specific expectations. A process standard has goals

described through examples that demonstrate how the

standard should look and the teacher’s role in achieving

the standard (NCTM, 2000). For individuals responsible

for teaching mathematics to students with EBD, it is

important to become familiar with the principles and

standards delineated by NCTM (2000).

Teaching Mathematics

to Students with EBD

Students with EBD also need to gain proficiency in mathematics.

Many students with EBD fail to master basic

skills, and the lack of basic math skills often leads to

school failure and may lead to failure later in life (Reid,

Gonzalez, Nordness,Trout, & Epstein, 2004). Researchers

have soundly established the depth of academic performance

problems of students with EBD; however,

researchers have not fully addressed the analysis of

effective academic interventions for students with EBD

(Hodge, Riccomini, Buford, & Herbst, 2006; Reid et al.,

2004; Ruhl & Berlinghoff, 1992; Ryan, Reid, & Epstein,

2004), especially in the area of math (Hodge et al., 2006).

Although important, researchers have primarily focused

their efforts on interventions to improve student behaviors,

even though a clear relationship exists between

academic achievement and problem behaviors (Barriga

et al., 2001).

Whereas previous chapters have focused on classroom

management techniques and characteristics of students

with EBD, this chapter focuses on teaching procedures

with the assumption that the classroom management

methods from previous chapters are used in combination

with the instructional procedures and strategies discussed

in this chapter. Students with EBD experience difficulties

learning math, with problems surfacing early and continuing

throughout a student’s education (Nelson et al., 2004;

Wehby,Lane,et al.,2003).Moreover,increasing numbers of

students with EBD are receiving their education within

general education classrooms; both special and general

education teachers must work to improve their students’

mathematical skills. The purpose of this chapter is to

describe effective instructional procedures and strategies

to help you design and deliver more effective math

lessons for students with EBD.The chapter concludes with

a brief review of promising practices from the research for

teaching mathematics to students with EBD.The following

section is designed to provide a framework to help teachers

provide more effective math instruction to students

with EBD.

Classroom Scenario 1

Friday is fraction review day in Mrs. Smart’s class.

Every Friday, the students complete a worksheet that

contains 10–15 problems on previously learned math

356 Chapter 15

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and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Table 15–12 Characteristics of effective teachers

1. Lessons begin with a short review of previous learning

2. A statement of goals is included in the beginning of the

lesson.

3. New material is presented in small steps with practice

opportunities provided after each step.

4. Instructions and explanations are clear and detailed.

5. A high level of active practice is provided for all students.

6. A large number of questions are asked, understanding is

checked frequently, and responses are obtained from all

students.

7. Students are guided during initial practice.

8. Systematic feedback and corrections are provided.

9. Explicit instruction and practice seat-work activities are

provided and monitored.

Teaching Students with EBD II 357

concepts—equivalent fractions. When students have

completed the worksheet, it is reviewed by Mrs. Smart

for accuracy. If the students have correctly answered 90%

of the problems, they are able to select a reward (e.g.,

candy, stickers, pencil, computer time).As several of the

students finish their fraction worksheet and selected

rewards, Mario is becoming more and more frustrated

and disruptive. He begins to disrupt the students sitting

beside him.After about 5 minutes,Mario says,“I hate fractions

and I’m not doing anymore!” and crumbles up his

worksheet and throws it at his teacher.

Mario is an 11-year-old student in a fourth-grade regular

education classroom. He was identified in third

grade as having severe behavior problems. In addition to

his behavior problems, he displays significant academic

deficits in both reading and math, but is considerably

weaker in math. The classroom scenario occurs quite

frequently when Mario is asked to complete math problems

independently. The question for Mrs. Smart now

becomes, is this pattern of behavior an issue of CAN’T

DO or WON’T DO?

After reading this chapter on effective mathematics

instruction, discuss how Mrs.Smart might design instruction

to better help Mario succeed in her math class.

Designing an Effective

Math Lesson

Because similar levels of academic performance are

observed across students with LD and students with EBD

(Anderson, Kutash, & Duchnowski, 2001), it is logical to

conclude that instructional practices effective for students

with LD may also be effective for students with

EBD (Bauer, Keefe, & Shea, 2001). In math, where minimal

research has been conducted investigating effective

instructional practices for students with EBD (Hodge

et al., 2006), a brief review of generally effective instructional

practices and math specific instructional practices

from the literature of students with LD is prudent and

will help form the framework needed to design and

deliver effective math lessons to students with EBD.

General Review of Research on Effective

Instruction Many students with EBD may receive minimal

instructional opportunities because of their behavioral

problems (see classroom scenario 1). It is clear from

the research on students’mathematical performance that

the instruction they obtain is not effective (e.g., poor student

outcomes). Inadequate instruction is a contributing

factor in children failing to learn basic academic skills.

Clearly, instruction that is more effective should produce

better math achievement.

A number of empirically validated instructional

techniques have been identified for general instruction

and specifically for mathematics.Rosenshine and Stevens

(1986) promote five teaching behaviors necessary for

effective instruction.Their general lesson model includes

(a) review and check previous day’s work; (b) present

new content; (c) guide student practice and check for

understanding; (d) provide feedback, correctives, and

reteach if necessary; and (e) provide weekly and monthly

reviews (see Tables 15–12 and15–13.)

These teaching behaviors are reflected in the model

of explicit instruction advocated by Gersten and associates,

who articulated six instructional variables (Gersten,

1985; Gersten, Carnine, & Woodward, 1987).The instructional

variables include (a) explicit step-by-step problemsolving

strategies, (b) emphasis on small-group instruction

as opposed to students working alone, (c) systematic correction

process for student errors, (d) highly structured

practice faded to a level of independent practice, (e) a

range of well-conceived examples with adequate practice,

and (f) cumulative review of concepts (Gersten,

1985; Gersten et al., 1987).

Math-Specific Instructional Components The general

teaching behaviors and instructional variables advocated

by researchers apply to all instruction and are similar

to those advocated specifically for mathematics

instruction by several researchers (e.g., Bottge &

Hasselbring, 1993; Jitendra & Xin, 1997; Miller & Mercer,

1993). For example, Jitendra and Xin (1997) conducted

an extensive review of the literature on problem-solving

instruction and concluded that instructional methodologies

emphasizing explicit instruction for teaching problemsolving

skills were most successful. Similarly, Maccini

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Table 15–13 The general lesson model

Lesson Structure Components

Review • Review homework—reteach if necessary.

• Review relevant previous learning.

• Review prerequisite skills and knowledge for the lesson.

Presentation • State lesson goals or provide outline.

• Present new material in small steps.

• Model Procedures and give 3–5 examples.

• Provide examples and nonexamples.

• Use clear and consistent age- appropriate mathematically correct language.

• Check for student understanding.

• Avoid digressions.

Guided practice • Spend more time on guided practice.

• Provide a high frequency of questions.

• Ensure that all students respond and receive feedback.

• Earn a high success rate (80% or higher).

• Continue practice until students are fluent.

Corrections and feedback • Provide process feedback when answers are correct but students are hesitant.

• Provide sustaining feedback, clues, or reteaching when answers are incorrect.

• Reteach material when necessary.

Independent practice • Provide students an overview and/or help during initial steps.

• Continue practice until students are fluent.

• Provide active supervision.

• Use routines to provide help for slower students.

Weekly and monthly reviews • Review critical math concepts.

• Conduct distributed review.

Source: Adapted from “Teaching Functions.”by B. Rosenshine and R. Stevens, in Handbook of Research on Teaching (3rd

ed., pp. 745–799), by M. C.Wittrock (Ed.), 1986,New York: Macmillan.

and Hughes (1997) conducted a literature review of

research on mathematics instruction and concluded

that teacher-directed instruction, strategic instruction,

and certain instructional design variables appear to have

a positive effect in teaching mathematics to students

with LD.

Mercer and Miller (1992) compiled a list of 10 components

of effective math instruction.These components

are consistent with the literature disseminated in the last

decade,which indicates that both curriculum design and

teacher behavior directly influence the mathematics

achievement of students with learning problems.These

10 effective instructional components are (a) selecting

appropriate math content, (b) establishing goals and

expectations, (c) providing systematic and explicit

instruction, (d) strategically teaching math concepts,

(e) monitoring student progress, (f) providing corrective

feedback, (g) teaching to mastery, (h) teaching problem

solving, (i) teaching generalization, and (j) promoting positive

attitudes toward math. An instructional program,

Strategic Math Series (Mercer & Miller, 1991),was developed

using the 10 components and then field-tested.

The field-test results indicated that students with learning

problems were able to substantially improve their

mathematics skills when instruction followed the instructional

components used in the Strategic Math Series.

Both general as well as math-specific instructional

principles share common procedures.Mathematics lessons

incorporating the instructional components identified

by Gersten (1985), Rosenshine and Stevens (1986), and

Mercer and Miller (1992) should be more effective for

students with EBD. Thus, mathematics instruction for

students with EBD should include the following 11

instructional components: (a) appropriate math content,

(b) concept and application instruction, (c) problemsolving

instruction, (d) systematic and explicit instruction,

(e) instruction for the general case, (f) progress

monitoring, (g) corrective feedback, (h) high success

rate, (i) guided practice, (j) independent practice, and (k)

cumulative review. Refer to Table 15–14 for a brief

description of each component.

Teaching math to struggling students with EBD

requires skillful planning and deep understanding of

mathematical concepts.Teachers who combine effective

classroom management methods and design mathematics

lessons based on the previously described components

of effective instruction will increase the likelihood of

their students’ success in mathematics. Math educators

358 Chapter 15

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and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Table 15–14 Components of effective mathematics instruction

Component Description

Appropriate math content Students have the necessary preskills and prior knowledge.

Concept and application

instruction

Instruction beyond the rote memorization of basic facts.

Problem-solving instruction Story problems,word problems, and/or problems related to real-world situations.

Systematic and explicit

instruction

Model-prompt sequences, monitoring, highly organized and sequential, and clear and

concise directions.

Generalization instruction Promoted through the inclusion of numerous and varied examples, and real-life problems,

discussing rationale for learning.

Progress monitoring Frequent checks of student’s academic work and progress.

Corrective feedback Regular correctives provided to students.

Success rate At least 80% or higher for instructional purposes.

Guided practice Mediated scaffolding, monitoring and checking for student understanding, initial prompts

provided and then faded.

Independent work Student directed, prompts removed, practice problems, review games,worksheets, and

homework.

Cumulative reviews Systematic and frequent practice and/or reteaching of previously covered skills.

Teaching Students with EBD II 359

must remember that it is their responsibility to design and

deliver mathematics instruction based on the considerable

research available specific to effective instructional practices.

Teachers must realize that the delivery of inadequate

instruction is at least partially responsible for the many students,

especially students with EBD, who struggle with

mathematics. Instruction that is validated and more effective

should produce better student mathematical achievement.

Therefore, teachers must incorporate these 11

instructional components to maximize instructional effort

and outcomes with students of all abilities.

Preventing students with EBD from failing mathematics

and promoting mathematical proficiency is an

enormous challenge. Instruction is the essential element

in the classroom completely within the control of the

teacher.Teachers cannot change what students learned

or did not learn in previous years; however, teachers can

focus on designing and delivering instruction that is

more effective. The principles of effective instruction

described are a set of tools already available to increase

positive educational outcomes for students struggling to

learn math and should be considered when designing

instructional lessons for math.

Basic Fact Fluency Few individuals would disagree

with the notion that the ultimate goal of mathematics

education is for students to have the ability to apply

mathematical knowledge to solve real-world problems.

However, for mathematics to be useful to an individual,

one must have the ability to easily and accurately use

basic mathematics skills. Arduous application of basic

math facts and computation not only is frustrating to the

individual trying to solve a problem, but it does little to

aid students’ overall mathematical comprehension and

motivation. Mathematical proficiency is a functional skill

important for adult competence in today’s society.

Many students with EBD fail to master basic math

skills, struggling with both accuracy and fluency

(Greenbaum et al., 1996; Reid et al., 2004).When students

lack the skills to compute basic number combinations

quickly and accurately (e.g.,4 + 3,16 - 8,8 × 6,9 ÷3),they

cannot effectively use them to solve more complex math

problems.This can cause students to become easily frustrated

and unmotivated. If this type of frustration and lack

of motivation occurs early in a student’s educational

experiences, he or she is likely to develop a lifelong dislike

for mathematics. Mastery of basic facts is very important

for students to accomplish early and helps form the

basis for mathematical thinking (Wu, 1999).

To help students attain fluency with basic facts,

teachers may have to supplement their current math

curriculum with additional structured practice opportunities

for students.The most critical aspect for students

to develop mastery of facts is adequate practice opportunities

that include a systematic cumulative review of

previously learned facts. Most math curricula do not

provide sufficient practice opportunities, and fact fluency

instruction is often overlooked (Stein, Kinder,

Silbert, & Carnine, 2006).When developing a program to

promote fact fluency acquisition, Stein and colleagues

recommended that teachers consider the following five

components:

1. Set the student criterion level for the introduction of

new facts (e.g., >85%).

2. Develop practice activities with heavy emphasis on

newly introduced facts and systematic practice on

previously learned facts.

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Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

3. Schedule regular and adequate time for fluency

building (e.g., 20 minutes two to three days per

week).

4. Develop data management of student’s progress.

5. Implement a motivation system for students who

reach the criterion.

It is important to find a balance of time to provide

sufficient instruction and practice for students struggling

with their facts and to move forward with more

advanced important math concepts and procedures.

Instruction in more complex mathematical concepts and

procedures should not be withheld from students still

struggling with basic facts. Although very important to

students overall, mathematics proficiency, fact instruction,

and fluency-building activities should not use all of

the instructional time allotted to mathematics.

As stated, because many mathematics curricula do

not include adequate fluency instruction and practice

opportunities, many students with EBD may struggle to

master basic facts. NCTM (2000) includes Numbers and

Operations as one of the five content standards in

Principles and Standards for School Mathematics

because basic number computations are essential for

other content standards such as algebra, geometry,

measurement, data analysis and probability, and problem

solving. Students who do not develop fluency and accuracy

with basic facts and computation will struggle in all

areas of mathematics.

Mathematics Vocabulary The importance of learning

vocabulary is well recognized in the area of reading and

identified as a “big idea” by the National Reading Panel.

Unfortunately, the significance of students learning mathematical

vocabulary is often underestimated and overlooked

during math instruction. Vocabulary development

is crucial and central to the mathematical

proficiency of students. Mathematics should be thought

of as a language, and if students are to communicate and

apply mathematics proficiently, the language of mathematics

must be meaningful for students (National Council

of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000).

Many mathematical terms are easily confused (e.g.,

numerator, denominator) and difficult to learn for students

struggling in math. Additionally, mathematical terminology

is rarely used in real-life conversations, further

adding to the unfamiliarity of mathematics language. For

some students vocabulary must be directly taught and

purposefully connected to meaningful contexts.There

are many different methods to teach vocabulary to students,

but one especially effective method for teaching

vocabulary is through verbal elaboration.Verbal elaboration

is a broadly defined set of strategies by which students

are taught specific steps to help them connect

new and unfamiliar information with previously learned

and familiar information.

One especially effective type of verbal elaboration is

the keyword strategy.The keyword strategy helps students

learn a new and often unfamiliar vocabulary term

by directly associating the new vocabulary term with a

word familiar to the student. In addition to linking the

new vocabulary word to the familiar word, a picture is

used to represent the meaning (i.e., definition) of the

new vocabulary term. Scruggs and Mastropieri (2002)

list the following steps in developing a keyword strategy

for new vocabulary terms:(a) recode the unfamiliar word

to an acoustically similar but familiar word (i.e., keyword);

(b) relate the keyword in an interactive picture

that represents the meaning of the new vocabulary term;

and (c) retrieve the new definition by thinking of the

keyword and what is represented in the picture. Figure

15–1 illustrates the keyword strategy.

Recode the New Vocabulary Term. Choose a word that is

important for the students to learn. For illustration purposes,

we will select the term intercept—the place

where a line, curve, or surface crosses an axis. Now, have

the students think of an acoustically similar sounding

word, the keyword.The most important aspect of this

step is that the keyword selected is a word that the students

already know and are familiar with. In the instance

of intercept, we selected intersection. This application is

completely reference related. If the students can’t relate

to this keyword, the strategy won’t work because the students

do not know either word. For example, selecting

Central Park for a keyword might work for students in

New York City, but probably not for students in Tempe,

Arizona.Teachers must use their professional judgment

in determining if the selected word is an appropriate

keyword for their particular students.

Relate Keywords to Symbols. Next, use an interactive

picture to represent the definition of the vocabulary

term and relate to the keyword. Recent technological

advances in easily accessible computer graphics and clip

art offer infinite possibilities for students and teachers

when determining an appropriate picture. But remember,

the pictures can also be sketched by the students.

For our example, we selected a clip art picture of an

intersection and then superimposed the x- and y- axis to

show where the intercept is located.We highlight the

intersection of the axis using a white circle.This picture

will help the student link the meaning of intercept with

the keyword intersection. To reinforce the definition of

360 Chapter 15

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Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Intercept (intersection)

The X marks the spot where the intersection of the roads cross or intercept.

Intercept—the place where a line,

curve or surface crosses an axis

Parallel lines (rails)

The wheels of a train roll on a pair of rails that will never interesect.

Parallel lines—lines that are in the

same plane and never intersect

Figure 15–1 Examples

illustrating the keyword

strategy

Teaching Students with EBD II 361

intercept and further connect the keyword with the new

vocabulary term, a sentence is created that represents

the important information from the picture.

Retrieve New Definitions. The students practice retrieving

the new information visualizing the information represented

in the picture with the keyword linking the picture

to the new vocabulary word. For our example, the

students visualize the two roads forming an intersection,

and the intercept is located in the center of the intersection.

After the students have studied their keyword representation

(i.e., intercept-intersection-picture), when

asked later to define or describe the meaning of

intercept, students retrieve its definition by thinking of

the keyword and the interactive illustration and its corresponding

sentence,leading them to the correct definition.

Another illustration is provided with the term parallel

lines.

Notice the structured keyword worksheet that

prompts the three steps in the keyword strategy.This is a

scaffold or support to help students learn the components

of the keyword strategy. Providing students this scaffold or

support during initial instruction helps students remember

the required steps.The structured keyword worksheet also

offers students a permanent record of their new vocabulary

words that can then be used as a cumulative review of

important mathematical terminology later in the year.

Some students may need the structured keyword worksheet

when developing a strategy;however, it is important

to encourage students to develop their own system for

using the keyword strategy (see Figure 15–2).This may lead

to students using the keyword strategy in other classes.

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362 Chapter 15

Vocabulary word (keyword)

Symbolic representation

A sentence to link the meaning of the new word to the symbolic representation and the keyword.

Definition

Figure 15–2 Example of

scaffolded keyword

strategy

The keyword strategy is used in many vocabularyintense

subjects, but has not been used specifically for

mathematics vocabulary and concepts. As previously

mentioned, mathematics vocabulary is often difficult to

learn because much of this vocabulary is rarely encountered

in everyday life, and students do not have a context

or the background knowledge necessary for learning the

vocabulary (Monroe & Orme, 2002).The keyword strategy

is a very valuable tool for students who have difficulty

with vocabulary.Teaching students to use the keyword

strategy helps make sense of sometimes meaningless

words and directly connects the word to the students’

current construct. Helping students learn mathematics

vocabulary can mean the difference between success

and failure.

Classroom Scenario 2

Mr. Smith is planning a unit on fractions for his fifth-grade

class. He realizes there are many new and challenging

vocabulary words that students must learn in order to

have a conceptual understanding of fractions. For students

to become proficient with fractions, he recognizes

that students need to know more than just the numerator

is the top number and the denominator is the bottom

number.Although important, simply knowing that information

is necessary, but insufficient for students to gain

a solid conceptual understanding of fractions. Help

Mr. Smith design a keyword strategy for the following

fraction-related terms:

1. fraction

2. denominator

3. numerator

4. fraction bar

5. proper fraction

6. improper fraction

Remember that Mr. Smith is teaching fifth-grade students,

so design the keyword strategies that are appropriate

for students in fifth grade.

Considering New Instructional

Practices in Mathematics

Even though the research on mathematics instructional

approaches for students with EBD is limited, there are a

few promising approaches emerging in the literature.

Recently, Hodge and colleagues (2006) systematically

reviewed and analyzed the experimental research on

mathematics instructional approaches designed to

improve the performance of students with EBD.

Instructional approaches were defined by Hodge and

colleagues as specific instruction, or instruction in a

strategy or skill that promotes students’ mathematical

performance. After a comprehensive search, the

researchers located only 13 studies that met the criteria

for inclusion in the review. (Refer to Table 15–15 for a

listing of the studies.) The studies reviewed by Hodge

and colleagues fell into four categories: (a) studentdirected

strategies, (b) teacher-directed strategies,

(c) peer tutoring strategies, and (d) computer-assisted

instruction. The following section contains detailed

description of each area.

Student-Directed Strategies In the area of studentdirected

strategies, Hodge and colleagues (2006) identified

two categories of instructional approaches: (a) selfmonitoring

interventions and (b) strategy instruction.

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Teaching Students with EBD II 363

Table 15–15 Research-based mathematics interventions and students with EBD

Authors Subjects Intervention Setting Results

Cade & Gunter,

2002

3 males with EBD

2 AA; 1 Cau Ages:

11, 12,14 years

Mnemonic strategy to

solve basic division

facts

Special day

school

Mnemonic strategy increased

students’ accuracy on

division by 7 math facts

Carr & Punzo,

1993

3 AA males with EBD

Ages: 13–15 years

Self-monitoring during

independent work

Middle school

self-contained

class

Increased accuracy and

productivity across

subjects and settings

Davis & Hajicek,

1985

7 students with EBD

Ages: 9–15 years

Strategy training and

self-instructional

training for

problem solving

Psycho-educational

center

Self-instruction condition led

to greater improvements

in accuracy and attention

compared to strategy

training alone

Franca,Kerr, Reitz, &

Lambert, 1990

8 males with EBD

Ages: 13–16 years

Four-step peer tutoring Self-contained

classroom in a

private school

Both tutor and tutee improved

social interactions and

math performance

Jolivette,Wehby, &

Hirsch, 1999;

3 males with EBD

Ages: 9, 10, 11 years,

4th grade

Preassessment, strategy

instruction, preferred

strategy replication

Summer school

program

All students demonstrated

increased accuracy

Landeen & Adams,

1988

10 males with EBD,

Ages: 8–10 years

Paper-and-pencil and

computer-assisted

drill and practice

Self-contained

special

education class

Both conditions resulted in

increased ratio of

correct to incorrect

Lazarus, 1993 18 students with EBD:

14 males; 4 females

Ages: 11–13 years

Teacher directed

instruction and

self-management

Middle school

self-contained

special

education class

Increased math performance

Lee, Sugai, &

Horner, 1999

2 males with EBD

Age: 9 years

3rd grade

Individualized direct

instruction

Self-contained

special

education

classroom

Increased accuracy on math

skills assessment and

decreased off-task behavior

Levendoski &

Cartledge, 2000

4 males with EBD:

3 Cau; 1 AA

Ages: 9–11

Self-monitoring with

visual and auditory

cues

Self-contained

classroom

Increase in on-task behavior

and math productivity

Scruggs,

Mastropieri, &

Tolfa-Veit, 1986

85 total: 63 males;

22 females 41

EBD 44 LD

4–6th grades

Test-taking strategies Self-contained

classroom

Significant effects for word

study skills and math

concepts; no difference

between groups

Skinner, Bamberg,

Smith, &

Powell, 1993;

3 males with EBD

Ages: 9, 12,

12 years

Cover, copy, and

compare practice

strategy

Private school selfcontained

elementary class

Increased rate of accurate

responses

Skinner,Turco,

Beatty, &

Rasavage, 1989;

4 students with

EBD: 3 males;

1 female two

4th grade and

two 10th grade

Look, cover,write

answer, evaluate

Special school for

students with

EBD

Increased rates and accuracy;

maintained over time

Skinner, Ford &

Yunker, 1991

2 males with EBD

Ages: 9, 11

Verbal and written cover,

copy, and compare

Residential school Verbal cover, copy, and compare

was more effective than

written, cover, copy,

and compare

Source: From “A Review of Instructional Interventions in Mathematics for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders,”by J. Hodge, P. J.

Riccomini, R. Buford, and M. Herbst, 2006, Behavioral Disorders, 31(3), pp. 297–311.Adapted with permission of the authors.

Note: EBD = emotional or behavioral disorders;AA = African American; Cau = Caucasian.

Classroom Scenario 3

Darius is a 12-year-old sixth-grade student with EBD who is

having difficulty both behaviorally and academically in

school.He is currently receiving his math instruction in the

general education classroom. Mr. Smith, his math teacher,

describes Darius as a student with the capabilities to succeed

in his math class, but he rarely completes any of his

assignments whether homework or class work. He also

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

performs poorly on his math tests.He often works problems

only partially or leaves questions blank.During instructional

time, Mr. Smith frequently has to redirect him to the task.

As a result of not paying attention during instructional times

and not completing independent activities, Darius is falling

behind his peers and in danger of failing.

To try and help Darius, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones, the

special education teacher, decided to systematically

observe Darius during instructional time and independent

activities using a behavior checklist. After 2 weeks of

observation, Darius was always the last student to open

his book and get ready to take notes. He also spent more

time at the pencil sharpener and asking to go the restroom

or get a drink of water.When he did take notes, his notes

were often filled with doodles and pictures.When Mr.

Smith and Mr.Jones reviewed the behavior checklists,they

discovered that Darius was working on his math assignments

for only 10 minutes of the 45-minute class.Clearly, if

Darius is to improve his math performance,Mr. Smith and

Mr. Jones must help Darius increase his on-task behavior.

How can Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones help Darius monitor

his on-task behavior during math class using a selfmonitoring

strategy?

Both approaches resulted in a positive effect on the accuracy

and fluency of basic computation. Self-monitoring

approaches require students to regulate their own

behavior during an instructional activity. Self-monitoring

interventions are broadly defined and used to improve

both behavior and academic performance of students

with EBD across many different settings.Teachers wishing

to implement a self-monitoring strategy should follow

these five general procedures:

1. Create instructional materials (e.g., recording sheets).

2. Instruct the student how to use the self-recording

sheet.

3. Provide the student opportunities to practice using

the self-recording sheet.

4. Implement the self-monitoring procedure during

instructional activities.

5. Keep data on academic improvement and share

them with students.

For example, a teacher might teach students a selfmonitoring

strategy to evaluate and record the number

of math problems answered correctly and incorrectly on

an independent math activity.This information can then

help the students set new academic goals.The number

correct and incorrect is compiled on a self-recording

sheet (see Figure 15–3). The student then tries to

improve the number correct and decrease the number

incorrect on subsequent independent math activities.As

the data are collected and compiled, teachers can determine

which students require further instruction or more

practice on specific sets of skills.

Self-monitoring strategies are also beneficial to help

students monitor their on-task behavior during instructional

episodes. Increasing students’ on-task attention

levels also increases levels of academic engagement, a

very important component of effective instruction.

Students who are more actively engaged in relevant

instructional tasks are likely to learn more (Mastropieri &

Scruggs, 2004).Teaching students to monitor their attention

during instructional time is very important.

Increasing students’ attention during instructional time

is done by teaching a self-monitoring strategy that

focuses on their attention.The same general procedures

described previously are used, but instead of monitoring

correct and incorrect problems, the student monitors his

or her attention levels.This type of self-monitoring is generally

achieved by having students check their attention

at set intervals (e.g., every 3 minutes) and using a selfrecording

sheet to record their attending behavior (see

Figure 15–4). Once collected, the data are reviewed and

discussed with the student and a plan is formulated to

increase attention during instructional time.

Hodge and colleagues reviewed seven studies that

incorporated strategy instruction to improve mathematical

performance of students with disabilities. Although

the strategies implemented varied across studies, results

from six of the studies indicated that strategy instruction

was an effective approach to increase students’ accuracy

with basic math facts. Strategy instruction is an approach

that teaches students “how to learn”versus what to learn

(Lenz, Ellis, & Scanlon, 1996).Teachers can help students

become better learners through strategy instruction.

For example, one effective strategy for students with

EBD was the cover, copy, and compare (CCC) strategy

(Skinner, Bamberg, Smith & Powell, 1993; Skinner et al.,

1989; Skinner, Ford, & Yunker, 1991). For the CCC strategy,

students are taught to (a) look at the problem and the

answer, (b) cover the problem and answer, (c) write the

problem and answer, and (d) uncover the answer and evaluate

what was written. Students can use the strategy to

solve simple computation problems. Results indicate that

students using the CCC strategy were able to increase their

accuracy rates of solving simple computation problems.

A strategy is a systematic approach used by students

to solve a problem. Students with disabilities often lack

effective and efficient strategies (Carnine et al., 2004)

and require systematic and explicit instruction to learn a

strategy. It is very important that teachers directly teach

students “how to learn” strategies before, during, and

364 Chapter 15

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, by Mitchell L. Yell, Nancy B. Meadows, Erik Drasgow,

and James G. Shriner. Published by Merrill. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

FIGURE 15–3

Example of self-monitoring worksheet for basic facts

Note: The table can be modified to fit specific math objectives or activities.

2

3 _ 1

_

_

_

Do I

Know my

math facts?

Goal

Student's

name

Math Fact Sheet Number Correct Number Incorrect

Which Problems

Did I Miss?

Did I Reach My

Goal?

365

ISBN: 0-558-16275-4

Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behav

Customer:

I hope this will help you and yes my submit time is midnight tonight.

Customer:

I know it a lot of information, but I thought it may help. I am not in a rush I wanted to look it over.

Customer:

I understand take your time, but please make sure I will have enough time.

LoriHR :

Thank you...I am scanning to see if this is what I needed...

 

LoriHR :

I appreciate this. It's helpful, particularly in formulating the "recommendation" segment of each observation. The citation information alone is great. The thing I'm really lacking, though, and cannot seem to come up with, is information on "systems." I don't see that in any of this. Do you know what that is? Is that the classification of EBD as either internalized or externalized disorders, according to the DSM-IV?

LoriHR :

Here's a tiny bit of info I had found which I thought might fit:

These disorders include all types of emotional and behavioral disorders, including

internalized disorders (e.g., Generalized Anxiety, Major Depressive Disorder,

Bipolar Disorder) and externalized disorders (e.g., Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity

Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Customer:

I think you right, but I have to leave to pick up my kids from school. I will return as soon as possible.

LoriHR :

Just wanted to let you know that I am pretty much finished except for those "system" comments. I should have those shortly--just wanted to be certain that I was entering the right information.

 

LoriHR :

In reviewing the question again, I am just not certain that my earlier interpretation makes sense. It reads "explain what you observed...in terms of systems." "In the Reflection column, ..explain whether or not you believe this system is effective." I am going to try a bit more research. *sigh*

 

Customer:

I asked my instructor, but I have not got a respond back.

LoriHR :

I appreciate that. I actually just saw where another Expert worked on this same question a while back, and I've sent her a question about it, hoping she can clarify quickly for me.

 

LoriHR :

Okay--I am so sorry that this is later in the evening than you expected. As you will be able to see, it is a whopping 16 page file, though...quite a bit more than I was anticipating! :) I did leave room for you to create a title page--was not sure if you needed that. There are 2 references, in red, in the recommendation column that I was unable to create a citation for on the reference page. Only the author and date are given in the information above. I just wanted to direct your attention to that. I think I finally figured the system thing out, although the other Expert did not contact me. I think it is just direct/indirect instruction, and I am just vastly overthinking it. If it is not, I am sorry! I'm happy to make any alterations for you when you receive instructor feedback. I appreciate your patience, and have a great night.