JAASEP FALL 2008 Part 3 of 8
All series
- ADHD Series
- Assessment in Special Education Series
- Autism Spectrum Disorders Series
- Bullying of Children
- Classroom Management Series
- Diagnosis of Students with Disabilities and Disorders Series
- Discipline of Students in Special Education Series
- Early Intervention Series
- Genetics in Special Education Series
- How To Series
- IEP Components
- Inclusion Series
- JAASEP – Research Based Journal in Special Education
- LD Report
- Lesser Known Disorders
- NASET News Alert
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- NASET Survival Guides
- Parent Teacher Conference Handouts
- Resolving Disputes with Parents Series
- RTI Roundtable
- Severe Disabilities Series
- Special Education: What Do the Latest Numbers Tell Us?
- Special Educator e-Journal – Latest and Archived Issues
- The Practical Teacher
- Treatment and Support for IEP Students with Disabilities
- Working with Paraprofessionals in Your School
Students with severe behavioral problems have an extraordinarily high risk for experiencing failure in school. Students receiving special education services under the classification of Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (EBD), for example, have lower grades and fail more courses than students in any other disability category (Lane, 2004; Wagner et al., 2005). Compared to their peers in general education, students with EBD are twice as likely to be retained, and three times more likely to drop out; compared to their peers with disabilities, students with EBD are four times more likely to be excluded from the general education classroom (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2008). Students who have not been classified with a disability but present severe behavioral problems in school, i.e., students at-risk for EBD, often face reactive administrative strategies such as suspension or expulsion, and/or curricular inflexibility which have little positive effect and in many cases reduce students‘ chances for success (Anderson & Kincaid, 2005; Kern, White, & Gresham, 2007).
The issue of appropriate classroom placement and curriculum for students with behavioral problems has been extensively discussed in the literature (Simpson, 2004).
Abstract
This qualitative study examined the use of service-learning in an alternative high school that primarily serves students at-risk for educational failure due to behavioral problems. Interviews with students, teachers, and administrators, as well as observations and archival documents yielded three major categories of student benefits: (a) increased school engagement (b) personal growth (c) increased positive engagement with community. These findings are discussed with regard to curriculum and placement decisions for students with severe behavioral problems. Based on these findings and the research literature, service-learning is suggested as a teaching strategy with significant potential for serving the unique educational needs of these highly at-risk students.