Behavior ratings of emotionally disturbed children by teachers,parents, and school psychologists

Emotional disturbance was rated by teachers, parents, and the school psychologist for a group of 104 children diagnosed as severely emotionally disturbed. Teachers were found significantly more severe in their judgments than the school psychologist on the Behavior and Socialization scales of the Referral Checklist, but not on Communication. The teacher rating profile was also found to deviate from parallelness from the other raters with increased severity in the Behavior scale. None of the nine correlations between judges on the same scales was significant. Interpretations and possible implications are offered.     

Two alternative roles for the school psychologist in the treatment of emotionally disturbed and autistic children

This paper will describe two alternative roles for the school psychologist working with programs for autistic children or programs for emotionally disturbed children. The first approach is concerned with behavior management of children either by consultation to program staff or by direct work with the child, as well as support of staff through continuous feedback of classroom behavior management techniques. The second approach encompasses all of the first approach, in addition to the psychologist serving as corrdinator for the program and thereby assuming greater responsibility for cooperation between the school and the home, as well as for ongoing program development. A major difference in these two roles of the school psychologist, compared to the traditional role, is an intense involvement with a small number of children and a high level of input into the management, structure, and techniques used in a small number of classrooms. The paper will present a model for both of the two alternative approaches for the school psychologist. The model will include: a format for ongoing behavior assessment, suggestions for the structure of teacher-psychologist feedback sessions, methods of school and home cooperation, and a proposal for a horizontal administrative structure of programs for emotionally disturbed and for autistic children. The concept that is advocated is a team of professionals (teacher and psychologist) planning for the holistic development of the child.     

Attachment security and the school experience for emotionally disturbed adolescents in special education

Adolescents with disabilities are at increased risk for school failure, and those in special education as the result of emotional disturbances consistently have the highest dropout rate of any disability. This paper discusses the importance of feelings of security in relationships for these adolescents and the results of a study designed to determine the effects of these feelings on their educational experience. The impact of several relationships in the home and school life on the school experience of the emotionally disturbed adolescent is explored. These relationships include those with mother, father, teachers, social workers/therapists and peers. All of these figures are potentially ‘secure bases’ for adolescents, providing the experience of emotional safety necessary to engage in the challenges of the academic environment. The resources need to be provided to enhance feelings of emotional safety in the school setting, including the services of social workers and other mental health professionals.     

Sociometric status and behaviors of emotionally disturbed children

Behavior checklist and sociometric data on emotionally disturbed children in residential treatment were correlated. Behaviors found to relate significantly (and negatively) with sociometric status pertained mainly to physical and verbal aggression and to intrusive acts. A smaller group of items of a less interpersonal nature also were significantly correlated with status. Behavior incidence of groups identified as high, average, and low in status was also studied. Even where correlations were low, the data tended to distribute in ordinal fashion. Also, the Liked and Average groups tended to be much closer in behavior incidence than were the Average and the Disliked groups. The meaning of the focusing mainly on negative characteristics was discussed, as were implications for modifying status of children, the use of checklists, and of brief time sampling for monitoring behavior change.