Teacher ratings of problem behaviors: Which student behaviors “concern” and “disturb” teachers?

Abstract

Fifty elementary techers rated the problem behaviors of students to indicate both how much the behaviors "disturbed" them and how much they were "concerned" about the behaviors. The results suggest that teachers are more concerned about behaviors than disturbed by them. However, teachers were both disturbed and concerned about aggressive interaction with and between students. The implications of the findings are discussed.Respect for the ecological model (Hobbs, 1978) calls for techniques to assess interactions between teachers and students when it is suspected that a student may be emotionally disturbed or disturbing. Behavior rating scales often are used in this regard, since information supplied by teachers on rating scales is likely to index not only the student's behavior in the classroom, but also the perception of the teacher. Within the ecological framework, the scores on behavior rating scales reveal information about the rater as well as the student and the system within which the interaction is occurring.Those who have studied the "disturbingness" of problem behaviors have documented that students may disturb teachers by exhibiting certain behaviors. Regular teachers appear to be more upset by, or less tolerant of, the problem behaviors of students than are special education teachers (Algozzine, 1980;Yard & Thurman, 1980), and the types of problem behaviors reported to upset teachers the most are "socially defiant" behaviors (Algozzine, 1977). Further, behaviors characteristic of boys are more bothersome to teachers than behaviors characteristic of girls (Schlosser & Algozzine, 1979). Teachers have been shown to rate behaviors of emotionally disturbed students as more disturbing than behaviors of learning disabled students (Mooney & Algozzine, 1978).Studies of the "disturbingness" of problem behaviors report results that suggest that teachers may give ratings to students to reflect the degree of disturbance they feel about the students. If this is the case, the ratings may assist in identifying not only the student who may need intervention, but also the teacher and the setting that requires more attention. Perhaps scores on behavior rating scales reflect more than the degree of disturbance a teacher feels about a student. Teachers may be "concerned" about a student but not be "disturbed" by the student's behavior. Rating scales that imply that a teacher should rate behaviors that "concern" the teacher may yield different results than those that imply that ratings should reflect how much a behavior upsets or bothers a teacher.The purpose of the present study was to compare ratings of behaviors under two conditions. It was expected that teachers would vary their ratings according to whether they were rating behaviors that "concern" them or behaviors that "disturb" them. It was also expected that teachers would be more "concerned" about and "disturbed" by some behaviors than by others.Reprint requests should be sent to Jerry 8.

Problem Students: A Contextual Phenomenon?

“…Merrett and Wheldall (1984) reported that teachers have the most serious problems with students who molest their fellow students, or who frequently chat with their classmates. Hutton (1984) asked female teachers in primary schools which kind of student behavior worried them most. Aggressive interaction and frightened response on the part of other students were reported most often.…”

Understanding Gender Differences in Referral of Children to Mental Health Services

“…Teachers generally pay more attention to boys in their classrooms and respond more readily when boys misbehave than when girls do, even when the behaviors are identical (Jones, 1989;Lindley & Keithley, 1991). Furthermore, teachers are more concerned about externalizing problems than about internalizing ones, and are more likely to refer a child with an externalizing disorder for treatment, probably because externalizing problems are more difficult to manage in a classroom and because teachers underestimate the severity of distress experienced by internalizing children (Achenbach et al, 1991;Hutton, 1984;Lorion, Cowen, & Caldwell, 1974;Walker, Bettes, & Ceci, 1984). Overall, teachers are especially likely to overlook internalizing disorders in girls (Offord, Boyle, & Racine, 1989).…”

“…The findings of the current study and previous studies (Hutton, 1984;Ritter, 1989) indicate that teachers consider externalizing problems to be more chronic and severe than internalizing ones. The results of a recent longitudinal study indicated that teachers may be mistaken in believing that children with internalizing problems are more likely than children with externalizing problems to improve as they mature.…”

Factors contributing to preservice teachers' management of children's problem behaviors

“…Teacher tolerance of problem behaviors was defined as the degree to which a behavior was found to be disturbing. Hutton (1984) found that aggressive behaviors disturbed teachers the most and peer avoidance concerned teachers the least. Brophy and Evertson (1981) reported that teachers tended to reject children with disturbing behaviors.…”