Collaborative consultation: A resource model of mainstreaming mildly Emotionally Disturbed elementary school students

Historically, traditional pull-out models for educating Emotionally Disturbed elementary students have been ineffective because both students and special education teachers have often become segregated from their peers. This segregation has resulted in a dual curriculum and a fragmented learning environment for Emotionally Disturbed students. The researcher investigated Collaborative Consultation, a teaching methodology designed to teach mildly emotionally disturbed students in the mainstream classroom with a unified curriculum, where both mainstream and special educators can collaborate and share their expertise for the benefit of mildly Emotionally Disturbed students and themselves. The research investigated a variation of the Collaborative Consultation model called the ED Resource Program designed to educate mildly Emotionally Disturbed elementary (K-6) students in a suburban school district of 9,100 students. Results indicated that mainstream and special educators demonstrated a willingness to collaborate and share expertise, but that team teaching remained a theoretical idea rather than an established practice. Overall, students\u27 behavior and academics did not significantly improve with their inclusion full time into the mainstream classroom. Further studies need to be conducted to determine the effectiveness of the team concept of mainstream and special educators in the Collaborative Consultation model and its potential for improving students\u27 behavior and academic achievement