Academic Instruction for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders JOSEPH H. WEHBY ,KATHLEEN L. LANE, AND KATHERINE B. F ALK S INCE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE Individuals with Disabilities Edu- cation Act (IDEA), services have been provided to a number of children and youth under the disability category of emotional disturbance. According to this legislation, students are eligible for spe- cial education if the following criteria are met: 1. The term means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following character- istics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely af- fects educational performance: (a) An inability to learn which cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; (b) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; (c) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances; (d) A general pervasive mood of un- happiness or depression; or (e) A ten- dency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. 2. The term includes children who have schizophrenia. The term does not in- clude children who are socially malad- justed, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance. (Sec- tion 300.7(b)(9)) As stated, the term emotionally dis- turbed refers to students whose educa- tional achievement is adversely influenced by some type of inappropriate behavior. Unfortunately, it appears that the focus on inappropriate behaviors that affect achieve- ment has led to an almost exclusive focus on behavior problems, with little attention given to the educational needs of this pop- ulation. In other words, the notion that stu- dents’ behavior must be controlled before they can be taught has become the pre- vailing approach in the treatment of stu- dents with emotional and behavioral dis- orders (EBD). Unfortunately, the limited attention given to the academic needs of this popu- lation has contributed, in part, to the ex- tremely poor outcomes for students iden- tified as having EBD, including high rates of absenteeism, low grade point averages, course failure, and unacceptable levels of school drop out (National Longitudinal Transition Study–2, 2003). Although con- cern for these dismal outcomes have been documented for a number of years, it is only recently that the issue of academic programming for students with EBD has come to the attention of researchers and educators interested in this group of stu- dents (Lane, Gresham, & O’Shaughnessy, 2002). The problem of poor academic per- formance takes on added importance be- cause of the recent academic standards as- sociated with the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) as well as the requirements for participation in statewide assessments outlined in the 1997 reauthorization of IDEA. In other words, while the educa- tional climate continues to move toward more rigorous academic policies, children and youth with EBD are ill prepared to meet proposed academic standards. Several hypotheses can be generated concerning why there has been limited focus in the classroom on the academic needs of students with EBD. This article suggests four possible reasons: 1. Behavior problems prevent teachers from implementing high-quality in- struction to students with EBD. 2. Students with EBD influence the be- havior of teachers, essentially shap- ing teachers into providing less in- struction. 3. Within teacher training programs for students with EBD, there is a lack of preparation in the area of academic instruction. 4. The limited research in the area of academic instruction has contributed to the absence of an empirically valid knowledge base with which to guide future research and subsequent preparation of teachers. STUDENT BEHAVIOR INTERFERES WITH INSTRUCTION Students with EBD present significant so- cial and behavioral challenges that fre- 194 JOURNAL OF EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS, WINTER 2003, VOL. 11, NO. 4, PAGES 194–197