Direct, Ongoing, and Unique: Instructional Strategies to Support Prosocial Behavior in Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of direct and ongoing instruction using a combination of research based best practices for teaching individuals with emotional and behavioral disorders. The specific practices revealed in the review of the literature that were also used in this study included positive behavioral support, social skills instruction, and self-regulation strategies. This study was completed in a California county run special day class for kindergarten and first graders referred for emotional and behavioral disorders. Already established methods of qualitative and quantitative data collection were used to evaluate the effects of this instruction that was designed by the teacher from already published curriculum and other resources. The methods described herein were found to have a positive effect on individual behaviors and students’ ability to follow the classroom rules during the first two trimesters of the school year, indicating that individuals with emotional and behavioral disorders benefited from direct and ongoing instruction in social skills and self-regulation strategies within a positive behavioral support environment.