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Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) exhibit challenging behaviors and social skills delays that can interfere with their ability to build relationships. Intervening early (e.g., in elementary school) can prevent short- and long-term consequences of these challenging behaviors. General educators serve as the primary teacher of these students, with some students with EBD spending more than 80% of their school day in the general education setting. In addition, given the amount of time elementary students spend with their general educators, these educators may be able to build a community that can help students establish and maintain positive relationships while engaging equally and actively in classroom activities. The purposes of this study were to (a) explore elementary general educators' perceptions of social inclusion of students with EBD, and (b) identify facilitators of and barriers to social inclusion. We identified four themes: social inclusion, relationships, facilitators, and barriers and needs. Findings indicated that general educators work to socially include students with EBD, but they faced barriers related to collaboration with special educators and needed professional development. Implications include the need for more collaboration between practitioners to promote socially inclusive environments for students with EBD.

Many students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) engage in challenging behavior on a daily basis. Such behaviors can have negative impacts on students, teachers, and families. In an effort to support students with EBD, this article provides general and special education teachers with a five-step process for teaching replacement behaviors. Each step is described in detail to illustrate how it can be applied.

Students who engage in challenging behavior should receive preventive and intervening supports and services in general education settings based on their individual needs. These supports are necessary for students to be successful in school, yet preservice teachers receive limited education and training in both classroom and behavior management. As such, the purposes of this study were to identify the effects of an online behavior management training on newly graduated elementary education teachers immediately after completing their teacher preparation programs and to explore their perceptions regarding the training. A randomized-controlled trial was used, with 39 participants in the intervention group and 44 participants in the waitlist-control group. Results indicated participants in the intervention group showed a statistically significant increase in both knowledge and self-efficacy compared with participants in the waitlist-control group, and insignificant gains in their ability to analyze the use of behavior management strategies. Participants reported feeling the training was highly effective and were eager to implement the strategies with their future students.

The ways caregivers perceive and respond to challenging behavior (CB) could depend, in part, on their cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Yet, limited research is available on the definitions, perceptions, and response strategies of CB across cultural groups, particularly among caregivers of young children with disabilities. In this exploratory multimethod study, data were collected from four diverse caregiver groups (i.e., Black, Korean American, Mexican American, and White) with young children with disabilities to understand (a) what behaviors they considered challenging and (b) how they responded to those behaviors. Data revealed similarities and differences in the types of behaviors reported and indicated caregivers rely on preplanned consequence strategies and unplanned responses.

Children in early childhood classrooms (i.e., preschool through early elementary) who engage in persistent challenging behaviors often show social-emotional delays and are at risk for grade retention, referral to intervention or special education, and long-term educational and societal consequences. The social-emotional delays children with persistent challenging behaviors have could impact play skills, emotional regulation, and social interactions with peers. These skills impact their ability to function within their classroom environment. However, if the classroom teacher is able to promote a socially inclusive classroom environment that integrates children into the classroom community, ensure equitable and active participation in social activities with typically developing peers, and promote reciprocal and positive relationships with peers and adults, children who engage in persistent challenging behaviors may be more successful in school, and have more positive outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to identify ways to create a socially inclusive environment for children who engage in persistent challenging behaviors and/or who have social-emotional delays or disabilities.

Challenging behavior (CB) is a common occurrence in early childhood and frequently occurs in young children with disabilities. CB is also culturally perceived and includes differences in how caregivers understand and define the topography of CB. Despite the cultural interpretation, CB is known to impact the child and their family but there has been little exploration of what marginalized caregivers perceive as the impact of the CB that their young children with disabilities exhibit. We used semi-structured interviews to explore the perceptions of 24 caregivers, who identified as Black, Mexican American, and White, about the impact of their child's CB. Caregivers shared how the CB impacted themselves, their families, their child, and others. Although much of the impact was similar among caregivers, we discuss nuanced differences across ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students with mental health needs, behavioral support needs, and/or emotional disturbance can engage in internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, or both. Preservice and induction phase elementary general education teachers are reported to have limited education in providing evidence-based behavior management strategies, especially for students who engage in internalizing and/or externalizing behaviors. There is little understanding as to the differences in elementary general education teachers' knowledge, application, and self-efficacy in applying evidence-based behavior management strategies between preservice teachers, first-year teachers, second-year teachers, and third-year teachers. The purpose of this preliminary secondary data analysis was to examine differences in U.S. elementary general education teacher knowledge, application, and self-efficacy in evidence-based behavior management strategies from preservice to induction phase teaching. Results indicated third-year teachers had significantly less behavior management knowledge than preservice teachers. All other results were nonsignificant; however, there were practical differences when comparing the four groups on the knowledge and application measures. Implications for findings indicate the need for induction programs to focus on evidence-based behavior management strategies to support the development of behavior management for induction phase elementary education teachers as they progress through their first 3 years of teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers in the induction phase (i.e., the first 3 years of teaching) can be underprepared to support students who engage in challenging behavior. This can be due to limited preservice education and ongoing professional development in behavior management. Yet, students who engage in challenging behavior are at an increased risk of being referred to intervention services and/or special education, especially at the elementary level. The purposes of this randomized‐controlled trial were to identify the effects of an online behavior management training on teachers in the induction phase, as well as their perceptions of the training. Findings revealed teachers in the intervention group showed significant increases in knowledge, application, and self‐efficacy in applying behavior management strategies. Social‐validity data indicated participants felt the training was highly acceptable, feasible, and effective. Practitioner points: After completing a behavior management training, induction phase teachers (i.e., teachers in their first 3 years of teaching) showed significant increases in knowledge, application, and self‐efficacy in applying behavior management strategies compared to teachers in a waitlist‐control group.Teachers chose a target student in their class to practice implementing strategies with, and target students showed significant decreases in challenging behavior following the behavior management training.Participants reported the behavior management training to be highly acceptable, feasible, and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the current literature focuses on how preservice teachers are prepared to support entire classrooms (i.e., classroom management) instead of individual students (i.e., behavior management). Because of this gap in the literature, little is known about how preservice elementary education teachers are prepared to support students who are perceived to engage in challenging behavior in their classrooms. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to explore preservice elementary education teachers' knowledge, experiences, and needs for using behavior management strategies with individual students. Findings indicated preservice teachers had limited knowledge about behavior management strategies and sought further opportunities to support students who they perceived to engage in challenging behavior. Practitioner Points: Preservice teachers associate student behavior with disability and/or home experiences. Participants believed that students who engaged in challenging behavior also had disabilities, experienced trauma at home, or were from a "rough" home.Classroom management strategies are taught in a variety of ways: university coursework, cooperating teachers, university supervisors, and so on. However, preservice teachers did not report learning behavior management strategies during their teacher preparation programs or student teaching placements.When preservice teachers work with individual students with behavioral support needs, they use universal strategies instead of individualized interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]