Preventing and ameliorating young children's chronic problem behaviors: An ecological classroom‐based approach

Abstract

The number of young children who demonstrate chronic problem behaviors placing them at high risk for the future development of emotional and behavioral disorders is increasing. These children's problem behaviors often exist prior to entering school and become apparent as they interact with their parents at home. In fact, researchers have suggested that children who demonstrate chronic problem behaviors and their parents often end up developing well-established negative interaction patterns that can evolve into coercive relationships and persist upon entry into school. This article describes an ecological classroom-based approach, which emphasizes changing teacher-student interaction patterns as a means for preventing and possibly ameliorating coercive interaction patterns demonstrated by young children and their teachers. First, a brief overview of current service delivery models and intervention programs addressing young children's behavioral excesses is presented. Next, a description of the ecological classroom-based intervention model for addressing the behavioral needs of these children is described. This section includes the theoretical frameworks on which the model is based and an overview of model components. Additionally, the application of the model to a school-wide systems approach is explored. Finally, future research directions are discussed.. C 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Supporting professional development needs for early childhood teachers: an exploratory analysis of teacher perceptions of stress and challenging behavior

“…Normal developmental bumps for children are often present and transient; for some children, it is difficult to determine if and when they need more instruction and support to work through developmental challenges. What is clear is that many children sustain challenging behavior patterns into elementary school and that serious behavior challenges in older children typically began in their preschool years [2]. Thus, early intervention is critical for young children.…”

“…Administrators (directors and assistant directors) within early childhood programs also Unauthenticated Download Date | 5/12/18 9:01 PM completed the survey given many of them also teach within the classrooms (16). Participants were almost all female (99%) and the majority were Caucasian (71%) and African-American (22%) with the remaining participants reporting ethnicities of Asian [2], Native American, and other (one Brazilian). A very small percentage (2%) reported identifying as Latino/a.…”

“…In addition, some young children struggle in specific areas and need teachers to be prepared to provide more tailored support for their development [2]. However, teachers of young children often have diverse educational backgrounds and experiences in teaching and working with young children (e.g.…”

An examination of teacher instruction and student engagement involving adolescents with and without challenging behavior.

“…Teacher implementation of effective instructional strategies in the classroom demonstrate positive performance outcomes for students experiencing academic and social failure (Conroy et aL, 2008;Hanushek, 1992;Nye et aL, 2004). In this context, effective instruction has been described within an instructional sequence as including management, organization and instructional strategies (Conroy, 2009;Gunter et aL, 2002), the opportunity for engagement with academic content (Brophy, 1983) and the use of scheduling and proximity to promote on task behavior (Guardino & Fullerton, 2010). Further, the specific strategy involving teacher use of opportunities to respond is associated with improved academic performance (Kern & Clemens, 2007;Sutherland et aL, 2003;Sutherland & Wehby, 2001), decreased disruption (Kern & Clemens, 2007;Sutherland et aL, 2003) and increased levels of student engagement (Carnine, 1976;Carnine & Fink, 1978;Haydon, et aI., 2010;Haydon, et aI., 2009).…”

“…Effective teacher practices include those with evidence supporting the promotion of student engagement. Effective practices for students with challenging behaviors include management, organization, and instruction (Conroy, Sutherland, Haydon, Stormont, & Harmon, 2009;Gunter, Coutinho, & Cade, 2002). Virtually everything that occurs in an instructional context can be defined in terms of the interaction between a teacher and student.…”