Reading Instruction for Students with Emotional Disturbance: A Mixed-Methods Investigation

Abstract

Although there is a substantial body of observation research investigating the manner in which reading instruction is provided to students with learning disabilities, there is little research in this area involving students with and at risk for emotional disturbance. The purpose of this investigation was to contribute to the limited corpus of observation studies investigating school-based practice in reading for this student population. In this investigation, 11 teachers from two states were systematically observed while providing reading instruction over the course of the 2017-2018 school year. Participating students were also observed over the course of the year and completed two standardized reading assessments at the beginning and end of this investigation. Teachers were also interviewed to identify contextual factors that promote or impede the provision of high quality reading instruction to this student population. Study findings suggest that teachers are in need of additional training, support, and resources to maximize instructional time. Students in this sample tended to make no or minimal progress in reading and were frequently observed displaying low levels of academic engagement across settings. Implications for school practice and areas for future research are discussed.

Administrators’ Roles: Providing Special Educators with Opportunities to Learn and Enact Effective Reading Practices for Students With EBD

“…A classroom characterized by strong reading instruction for students with EBD is one in which students have daily opportunities to develop reading skills and instructional time is allocated specifically to reading (McKenna et al, 2019). In an effective reading environment, transitions between activities are efficient, with students spending little or no time waiting for instruction to begin or continue.…”

“…In effective classrooms, quality reading lessons are highly structured (McKenna et al, 2019). For example, teachers first verbally review a brief visual schedule (e.g., advance organizer or agenda) of activities to be completed during the session and remind students of reinforcement (e.g., points, brief break at the end of the lesson) that can be earned for effort and completing assigned tasks.…”

“…Individualized reinforcers can be identified for an individual student through completion of a preference assessment. Earned breaks may be particularly effective both to reinforce students and develop positive student–teacher relationships, which may be crucial to the success of reading interventions (McKenna et al, 2019).…”

Reading Instruction for Secondary Grade Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: A Focus on Comprehension

“…Observation studies provide insight into the quality of reading instruction received by students with disabilities and the degree to which that instruction consists of research-based practices (McKenna et al, 2015). Although observation research investigating the provision of reading instruction to students with EBD is limited, available findings suggest that teachers experience substantial difficulty planning, delivering, and assessing the effectiveness of reading instruction that is based on practices with evidence of effectiveness (Levy & Vaughn, 2002; McKenna et al, 2019). Concerns across studies include lost instructional time due to challenging behaviors, the prevalence of non-instructional activities, limited opportunities to read connected narrative or expository text, and the absence of explicit vocabulary and comprehension strategy instruction.…”

“…That is, vocabulary instruction develops concept understanding and background knowledge, while strategy instruction supports strategic thinking when reading. We emphasize these practices, further, because observation research suggests that explicit vocabulary instruction and main idea identification are often either absent from instruction or ineffectively taught and/or applied by teachers (Ciullo et al, 2019; McKenna et al, 2019). We provide an overview of each method and, when possible, examples of their use with secondary grade students with EBD.…”