inclusion of students with behavior disorders in general education settings : research and...

7/30/2019 Inclusion of Students with Behavior Disorders in General Education Settings : Research and Measurement Issues

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INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH BEHAVIORDISORDERS IN GENERAL EDUCATION SETTINGS :

RESEARCH AND MEASUREMENT ISSUES

( RICHARD L. SIMPSON, University of Kansas)

JANNATONSHIMA BINTI ABDULLAH

M 20122001583


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INTRODUCTION


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Inclusion of students with disabilities,including children and youth diagnosed

with emotional and behavioral disorders,has been a prominent and contentiousissue for decades.


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This journal discusses four research-oriented themes

relative to inclusion of students with Emotional andBehavioral Disorders (EBD) in general educationsettings :

i. The appropriateness and relevancy of currentinclusion measurement targets

ii. The extent to which inclusion is a clearly identified

and independent treatment variableiii.The extent to which inclusion research has sufficientexternal validity to give it generalization value

iv.The social validity value of research connected to

inclusion of students with EBD


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DISCUSSION

f


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Appropriateness and Relevancy ofInclusion Measurement Targets

Inclusion-based service delivery models werepopularized based on the arguments that :a. all students were best served in general

education classrooms;b.students with special needs should receiveservices in these maximally normalizedenvironments; and

c. students with special needs were the sharedresponsibility of general and special educators

(Wang, Reynolds and Walberg, 1986)


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Rates of inclusion have historically beensignificantly lower for students with Emotionaland Behavioral Disorders (EBD) than for pupilswith learning disabilities, mild mental

retardation and other high-incidence disabilities(U.S. Department of Education, 1990-2003). Smaller percentages of children and youth with

EBD are recommended for full-inclusionprograms than other so-called mildly disabledstudents.


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Students with EBD are a part of the general educationscene; and these pupils are an especially difficult groupto successfully integrate in general education settings,especially if full inclusion is the objective (Zionts,1997).

The acceptance and support of inclusion as a basichuman right rather than a matter of scientific utility hasbeen associated with a number of untested assumptionssuch as :

a) students with EBD and their non-disabled peers enjoyand benefit from contact with one another; andb)general educators are willing and able to effectively

assume primary teaching responsibility for students

with EBD.


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Collaborative consultation and cooperativeteaching are often identified as basic tools forenhancing and facilitating inclusion (Wargerand Pugach, 1996).


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Recommendations Most directly is the need for researchers to focus on

salient targets that can be empirically measured,including :a. academic comparisons of students with EBD who

are assigned to inclusion and non-inclusionprograms;

b. social, emotional and behavioral characteristics andfunctioning of students with EBD who are assigned

to inclusion and non-inclusion programs; andc. social acceptance among peers and teachers of

students with EBD who are in inclusion and non-inclusion programs.


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It is also essential that interpretation of data andreported findings of studies that purport toaddress inclusion of students with EBD be made

with a prudent and conservative eye.


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Inc usion as a C ear y Identi ied andIndependent Treatment Variable

Kauffman (2005) observed that Many differentdefinitions of inclusion have been offered, and muchconfusion about the term and its meaning persists.

Different interpretations of whether least restrictive

environment (LRE) is universally a general educationclassroom, regardless of students unique needs,abilities and circumstances; issues surrounding full vs.partial inclusion; and lack of clarity regarding the

different types and diagnoses of students and thelevel of their disabilities are only a few of the issuesthat have served to confuse interpretation andcomparison of reported research findings.


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The issue of variable meanings and themesconnected to the term inclusion is particularlyproblematic when examining inclusion as aresearch or treatment variable.

Critical examination of inclusion of studentswith EBD as an internally valid independentvariable offers little assurance that student

outcomes can be directly attributed to generaleducation and pullout program placement.


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That is, differences among students identified asEBD who are educated in general and specialclass settings or programs generally cannot bescientifically judged to be the result of theirinclusion experience, due to the lack ofagreement on the meaning of inclusion and itsoperational components.


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Relative to students with behaviorally baseddisabilities, one such conclusion is that trueintegration of these students into generaleducation classrooms is contingent upon

attitudinal and social support (Cook et al.,2000). Educators have known for decades that

successful inclusion of students with disabilities,especially those with behavioral and emotionalchallenges, requires understanding and supportfrom those with whom they share a classroom.


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In spite of such cautionary notes, relatively littleattention is generally given to the preparationof general education classrooms foraccommodating students with disabilities,

including those with EBD (McLeskey andWaldron, 2002). Considerable evidence suggests that many

general education teachers leave their teacherpreparation programs having received limitedtraining and experience in integrating studentswith disabilities (Cook, 2002).


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If school personnel fail to be appropriatelysupportive of inclusion, general classroomexperiences for students with EBD will be less

than satisfactory (Coutinho and Repp, 1999).


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Recommendations

Researchers, practitioners, parents/families andpolicy makers can be expected to make high-quality decisions related to inclusion of studentswith EBD only when provided with scientifically

valid information. Essential and fundamental to this process is

researchers and research consumers ability to

critically evaluate the legitimacy of inclusion asa treatment variable.

E V d


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Externa Va idity o Inc usionResearch

School professionals are increasingly being urgedand even required to base their practices onscientifically based methods (Chard, 2004) and usepractices that have the highest probability of

yielding the desired outcomes (Stanovich andStanovich, 2003). The utility of research findings must be measured in

terms of their potential to be translated and applied

into practice within settings other than the specificcircumstances where the original study wasundertaken.


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Researchers advance their ideas and practices bysubmitting them for scrutiny and criticalevaluation by peers, who the evaluate thesecolleagues procedures and findings.

This process is designed to accomplish twomajor objectives.

First, it allows other researchers to assess and

permit them to attempt to replicate the findingsof the original researchers to determine if theycan obtain similar results.


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Second, and equally important, it permitspractitioners to use these same methods inapplied settings, hopefully with the samepositive outcomes that the original researchers

reported. Practitioners may attempt to adapt methods for

use with youth in a suburban setting that are

based on research procedures originallydeveloped for elementary-age students in anurban school.


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Indeed, the most meaningful test of externalvalidity occurs when results of various empiricalresearch, case analyses, and qualitative studies

reveal that consistent outcomes occur acrossvarious types of students in different types ofsettings and under other variable conditions.


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Recommendations

Inclusion research must generalize such that thecausal relationship of specified variables appliesto other conditions, settings and individuals.

Application of research-based procedures iscontingent upon consumers ability tounderstand and evaluate the extent to whichmethods used in one or more studies generalize

to other situations.


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As noted previously, there is heretofore littleassurance that inclusion research has sufficientexternal validity to be of much use topractitioners, parents/families, policy makers

and other researchers. Recommendations that can be expected to

advance this external validity dilemma include

better descriptions of study participants,specification of the inclusion-related variablesthat were manipulated and careful empiricalmeasurement of salient outcome variables.

S i l V lidit d I l i St d t


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Social Validity and Inclusion o Studentswith EBD in General Education

Social validation refers to stakeholders qualitativeand subjective perceptions of intervention targets,processes and outcomes (Maag, 2004).

Relative to inclusion of students with EBD in

general education classrooms, social validity refersto the qualitative and subjective perceptions of :a. individuals connected to general education

placement expectations and targets;b. the inclusion process itself; andc. the outcomes associated with inclusion.


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Social validity is skewed to fit notions of perceived

practical benefit as opposed to judging a particularstrategy or outcome solely on the basis ofquantitative findings.

In many ways, inclusion of students with EBD iswell-suited for social validation. Social validity is most effective when combined

with quantitative and other scientific and

objective information and when multiple judgeswho hold different stakeholder positions areindependently permitted to offer their subjectiveevaluations.


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Walker et al. (2004) observed that it is wellestablished that children who are poorly accepted orrejected by peers, who have few friendships, andwho adjust poorly to schooling are at much greaterrisk for lifelong maladaptive outcomes.

Other inclusion modifications and supports that arerecommended for social validity considerationinclude :

i. the extent to which suitably trained support andrelated services personnel were available, used andeffective;


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ii. whether the class size was appropriate foraccommodating one or more students with EBD;

iii. the extent of collaborative problem-solving involvingteachers and staff members, and the value of theseactivities;

iv. whether there was adequate planning time to allow

teachers to prepare for students with EBD;v. the extent to which para-educators were available tosupport inclusion, and the appropriateness and valueof their involvement; and

vi. the availability and quality of professionaldevelopment and other training opportunities forfaculty members and other staff associated withinclusion programs (Simpson et al., 2003).


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Recommendations Two general and all-inclusive social validity

questions appear to be in need of considerations :a. Is the student with EBD socially benefiting from

his/her general education environment

experiences?b. Is the student with EBD academically benefitingfrom his/her general education experience?

Answers to these questions are most clearlyanswered by multiple voices and when theyconsider the complexity and myriad factors that areassociated with inclusion.


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CONCLUSION


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Inclusion of children with EBD in generaleducation classrooms and programs presentsmajor challenges to parents, professionals andstudents both in determining :

1.that the least restrictive environment is indeeda regular classroom; and

2.the subsequent steps that follow the decision to

include a student with EBD.


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These difficulties and complications areexacerbated by a general lack of :

a. Research-based protocol and guidelines foridentifying which students are most appropriate

for various degrees of inclusion;b.Validated strategies for facilitating the

integration process and accommodating

students with EBD and their peers; andc. Research-based methods for evaluatingoutcomes associated with inclusion.


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Indeed, the most salient student outcomes

associated with inclusion have yet to bescientifically evaluated :

a)Inclusion has clearly failed to be tested as a

scientifically valid independent variable;b)Most existing inclusion research is replete withscientific internal and external validity problems;and

c)The utility and value of the various purportedlyeffective inclusion facilitation strategies have yet tobe scientifically evaluated.

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