Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Individualized Interventions: Schoolwide Skill Supports for Students with EBD

It is well documented that students with or at-risk for emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) have severe deficits in their academic functioning that worsen over time. Compared to their counterparts with and without disabilities, youth with BD experience the bleakest school and post-school outcomes. About 60% of these youth drop out; three out of four of these youth are arrested within two years of dropping out. Researchers have found that about 58% of devoted classroom instructional time is lost due to problem behavior (e.g., off-task, disruptive). Of course, even when youth are engaged, they may not be successful with the academic task. Researchers have found that youth are engaged and successful only 17%, or about one hour, of the 6 hours of available instructional time per day in general education settings. The window of opportunity for academic learning time, where youth are engaged and successful, is smaller for youth with EBD given that, on average, only 30% (less than 2 hours) of their school day is focused on academic instruction. Closing the academic achievement gap for students with EBD starts with closing the opportunity to learn gap. Closing the opportunity gap means providing access to core and intensive instruction. It also means boosting student engagement using positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) and effective instruction on a schoolwide level. In this educator-friendly workshop, attendees will be equipped to do what works to create positive and engaging learning environments for students with EBD across a school environment. Attendees will come away with doable strategies to establish the engaging and positive classroom culture they envision and to keep it going all year. Attendees who apply the content of this workshop will experience reduced stress, improved job satisfaction, and more time to teach. Students with EBD will have significantly more engagement in classroom learning, academic success, self-efficacy, and respectful classroom behaviors