This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Hart, J. E. Articles by Sturges, K. M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Continuum of "Troubling" to "Troubled" Behavior: Exploratory Case Studies of African American Students in Programs for Emotional Disturbance

¹ University of Kansas, Lawrence
² Florida International University, Miami
³ University of Miami, Florida
⁴ University of Colorado at Boulder
⁵ University of North Texas, Denton

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cramere{at}fiu.edu.

	Abstract

This article discusses the construction of the "emotional disturbance" (ED) category in the cases of four African American elementary students. These cases represent a sub-set of data from a three-year ethnographic study of the special education process in a large, culturally/linguistically diverse school district. Based on interviews, observations, and examination of students’ records, the data revealed three inappropriate, yet significant, contributors to the children’s classification as ED: inadequate instruction/behavior management prior to referral, exclusion of contextual classroom information from the decision-making process, and subjective/arbitrary evaluation processes. Presented is a cross-case thematic analysis of these complex and problematic processes and their outcomes. The authors call for a reconsideration of "ED" to reflect a behavioral continuum rather than the current categorical formulation, a more holistic view acknowledging the contribution of school contexts in the evaluation of children’s difficulties, and research focusing on effective, preventive practices for all children with troubling behavior.

First published on February 10, 2009
Remedial and Special Education 2009, doi:10.1177/0741932508327468


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?