Incidence of Behavior Disorders in Children in South Carolina: Teachers' Perceptions.

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of behavior disordered children in selected elementary classrooms as perceived by the regular classroom teacher. Two hundred fOur elementary teachers categorized students according to their perceptions of the students' needs for special services. The categories were defined as mild, moderate, or severely behavior disordered. The data were analyzed by perceived disorder and by sex and race of the students. The results are discussed, and it was found that the total'mean of children thought to require special services was sixteen percent. It was concluded that the needs of behavior disordered children are not being adequately met. Implications for teacher competencies and administrative arrangements are made. Changes in three areas are suggested: preservice teacher preparation, inservice teacher training, and the provision of self contained and resource classes for behavior disordered students. (FG) ***************,******************************************************* * Reproduction'A supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************** Incidence of Behavior Disorders in Children in South Carolina: Teachers' Perceptions Pamela C. Tisdale, Ph.D. The College of Charleston Robert E. Fowler, Ed.D. The College of Charleston Paper presented at the University of South Carolina Conference on Educational Research (December 6, 19810 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Ne,..,,A e. 7;;(aic.. e 4 /c.f TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Incidence of Behavior Disorders in Children in South Carolina: Teachers' Perceptions Pamela C. Tisdale, Ph.D. The College of Charleston Robert E. Fowler, Ed.D. The College of Charleston Incidence of Behavior Disorders in Children in South Carolina: Teachers' Perceptions With the passage of P.L. 94-142, The Education for all Handicapped Children Act of 1975, public schools were mandated to provide an appropriate education to all school-aged children, regardless of the severity of their handicap. This education was to be made available in the least restrictive environment, and progress toward this goal was to be monitored by local and state education agencies. One rudimentary method used to determine whether or not behavior disordered (BD) children are being appropriately served in the least restrictive environment is to compare the number of children labeled behavior disordered receiving special educational services with a commonly accepted prevalency or incidence estimate. Unfortunately, there is a wide variation among these estimates of behavior disordered school-aged children and youth. Published estimates range from a low of 1.5% to a high of 69.3% (Kelly, Bullock, and Dykes, 1977; Rubin & Ballow,. 1978), with Bower's estimate of 10% being a frequently cited figure (Bower, 1970). With su &h a wide variation in estimates, it is doubtful 7-whether this technique could be validly used. Another method that could be used to determine if BD children are being appropriately 'served is to survey regular classroom teachers as to their perceptions of the incidence of behavior disorders in their general education classrooms. If children are perceived as being in need of special education services by their regular classroom teachers and are not receiving services, it could be tentatively concluded that, as a group, BD children remain unserved or underserved. It was, therefore, the purpose of this study to determine the incidence of behavior disordered children in selected elementary classrooms as perceived by the regular classroom teachers. Method A modified version of a research questionnaire designed by Kelly, Bullock, and Dykes (1974) was completed by 204 elementary teachers in 3 South Carolina school districts (1 urban, 1 suburban, 1 rural). The teachers categorized their students according to their perceptions of the students' needs for special services. The categories used in the questionnaire were mild, moderate, and severe behavior disorders. These terms were defined as follows: Mild Behavior Disorders Children or youth with behavior disorders who you believe can be helped adequately by their regular classroom teacher and/or other school resource personnel through periodic counseling and/or short-term individual attention and instruction. Moderate Behavior Disorders Children or youth with behavior disorders who you believe can remain at their assigned schools but require rather intensive help from one or more specialists (e.g. counselors, special educators, etc.) and/or specialists from community agencies (mental