Impact of Diagnostic Versus Emotional Disturbance Label on Preservice Teacher Expectations of Student Academic, Behavior, and Social Outcomes

The current study examined preservice teachers’ expectations for student academic, behavior, and social, outcomes using the Prognostic Outlook Scale (Thelen, Burns, & Christiansen, 2003). A 2 x 2 x 2 MANOVA analysis was used to determine differences between label specificity (i.e., Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition diagnostic label versus the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act [IDEA] Emotional Disturbance [ED]) label, behavioral presentation (i.e., internalizing versus externalizing) and symptom severity (i.e., mild versus severe). The goal was to identify labels that elicit higher expectations for students with ED in order to inform the labeling practices within the school setting. Results suggested statistically significant differences for the behavioral presentation (p \u3c .001) condition. Statistically significant interactions for behavioral presentation and label specificity (p = .043) and behavioral presentation and severity (p = .045) were also found. Implications and limitations of findings will be discussed