Special Education and Behavior Problems

Again, how can we change the demographics of students with behavior problems? Students who are over represented in discipline matters?

“The behavioral landscape of schools is changing. Children who attend schools are different from those of a decade ago. People in and out of education are expressing concerns regarding discipline (or the lack thereof) and school safety. What is being taught to special education students is being questioned. Tensions created by increasing numbers of students with disabilities being educated in general education classrooms are as strong as ever before in special education’s history. Within this context, much concern emerges from the presumption of elevated behavior problems in certain groups of students. Evidence from this research contradicts this concern. We observed relatively low rates of disruptive, inappropriate behavior. Rates for students with disabilities being educated with their neighbors and peers in general education classrooms were not measurably higher than rates for other students; concerns for negative influences of including “special” students in general education classrooms were not justified. (Algozzine, 2008 p.102)”

References:

Algozzine, Christian, Marr, McClanahan, White, Richard (2008).