The Children and Youth We Serve

This article provides a national perspective of children and youth with emotional disturbances (ED) served in special education using data from the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study and the National LongitudinalTransition Study—2. Data sources comprise teachers,school records, the students, and their parents. Results indicate that children and youth with ED live in households in which multiple risk factors exist for poor life outcomes. As a group, these children and youth have serious and multiple impairments that include an array of emotional disabilities, poor communication skills, and low academic achievement. There is a considerable gap between initial identification of problems and the onset of service delivery, a high rate of suspension and expulsion, and an unstable school environment. Parents of children and youth with ED work harder to secure services for their children and are less satisfied with services than parents of children in other disability groups. Implications of the findings point to a need to emphasize programs that address both the academic and the behavioral needs of these children and youth.

[1]  K. Kutash,et al.  The School and Community Study: Characteristics of Students Who Have Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities Served in Restructuring Public Schools , 2000 .

[2]  Diana Rogers-Adkinson,et al.  Communication disorders and children with psychiatric and behavioral disorders , 1999 .

[3]  T. Keith.  Parent involvement and achievement in high school. , 1991 .

[4]  James M. Kauffman,et al.  What Is Special About Special Education for Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders? , 2003 .

[5]  K. Frasch,et al.  Consequences of growing up poor , 1999 .

[6]  David Satcher,et al.  Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity—A Supplement to Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General , 2001 .

[7]  Paul Wehman.  A New Era , 2002 .

[8]  D. Satcher.  Mental Health: A Report of the Surgen General , 1999 .

[9]  D. Phillips,et al.  From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development , 2000 .

[10]  American families and living arrangements. , 1980, Current population reports. Series P-20, Population characteristics.

[11]  K. Hoagwood,et al.  School-Based Mental Health Services: A Research Review , 2000, Clinical child and family psychology review.

[12]  Russell W. Rumberger,et al.  Student Mobility and the Increased Risk of High School Dropout , 1998, American Journal of Education.

[13]  K. Kutash,et al.  The Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study and the National Longitudinal Transition Study , 2005 .

[14]  M. Gabe.  Mental health: a report of the Surgeon General. , 2000, Home care provider.

[15]  Philip D. Nordness,et al.  Research on the Academic Status of Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders , 2003 .

[16]  Lisa Holden-Pitt.  ENGAGEMENT, ACADEMICS, SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT, AND INDEPENDENCE: THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES , 2005 .

[17]  G. Canino,et al.  Assessing Functional Impairment and Social Adaptation for Child Mental Health Services Research: A Review of Measures , 1999 .

[18]  C. Greenwood,et al.  The Research to Practice Gap in Special Education , 2001 .

[19]  R. Behrman,et al.  Children and poverty: analysis and recommendations. , 1997, The Future of children.

[20]  Leslie Kish,et al.  Balanced Repeated Replications for Standard Errors , 1970 .

[21]  T. Farmer,et al.  The Role of Schools in Outcomes for Youth: Implications for Children's Mental Health Services Research , 1999 .

[22]  Timothy J. Lewis,et al.  Applying Positive Behavior Support and Functional Behavioral Assessment in Schools , 2000 .

[23]  J. Finn.  Parental Engagement That Makes a Difference. , 1998 .

[24]  L. Lein,et al.  Parental Involvement during the Transition to High School , 2001 .

[25]  K. Kutash,et al.  The Mental Health Needs of Youth with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities Placed in Special Education Programs in Urban Schools , 2004 .

[26]  Xitao Fan,et al.  Parental Involvement and Students' Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis , 2001 .

[27]  Alyssa R. Gonzalez.  Parental Involvement: Its Contribution to High School Students' Motivation , 2002 .

[28]  Alexander K. Luria,et al.  Towards the Problem of the Historical Nature of Psychological Processes , 1971 .

[29]  C Sullivan,et al.  The role of schools. , 1994, Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health.

[30]  A. Henderson,et al.  A New Generation of Evidence: The Family Is Critical to Student Achievement , 1994 .

[31]  J. Kauffman.  How We Prevent the Prevention of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders , 1999 .

[32]  Zhu Lin.  Applying Positive Behavior Support and Functional Behavior Assessment in Schools , 2005 .

[33]  Gregory J. Benner,et al.  Language Skills of Children with EBD , 2002 .

[34]  A. Henderson,et al.  A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. Annual Synthesis, 2002. , 2002 .

[35]  F. L. V. Voorhis.  Interactive Science Homework: An Experiment in Home and School Connections: , 2001 .

[36]  S. Silvern.  Literacy through family, community, and school interaction , 1991 .

[37]  W. Jeynes.  A Meta-Analysis , 2003 .

[38]  M. H. Epstein,et al.  Selected Characteristics of a National Sample of Seriously Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents , 1992 .

[39]  P. Greenbaum,et al.  National Adolescent and Child Treatment Study (NACTS) , 1996 .

[40]  Feyisa Demie.  Pupil mobility and educational achievement in schools: an empirical analysis , 2002 .

[41]  Robert H. Horner,et al.  Behavioral Support for Students with Severe Disabilities , 1997 .

[42]  M. Suzanne Donovan,et al.  Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education. , 2002 .