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