| Students with Emotional Behavioral Disorders (EBD) are considered the most challenging students to include in the regular education environment. Self-contained classrooms are typically the preferred classroom for students with EBD in comparison to inclusion programs because of the problematic behaviors that are associated with these students. Students with EBD typically perform poorly, both academically and behaviorally. Consequently, they are often excluded from classes in the regular education setting. In this descriptive quantitative research study, an evaluation of an elementary inclusion program examined its effectiveness for improving reading and the behaviors of students with EBD. A group of 17 EBD students in an elementary school in the southern United States was studied for gathering reading and behavioral data. The group was chosen out of 1100 regular education students, 126 special education students, and 20 EBD students. Student reading data was collected from their school benchmark assessments (fall, winter, and spring) in an academic school year to evaluate the reading inclusion program. Data was also collected from students' behavioral data, which was assessed every day and then graphed three times during the academic school year (fall, winter, and spring). The behavioral data included information about students' ability to follow directions, and their engagement in physical and verbal aggression. |
