Chapter 3: Direct Instruction Reading

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often have two primary deficits. The first is the well-established and defining characteristic that students with EBD have substantive externalizing or internalizing problems that require intensive interventions to improve their behavioral outcomes (Kauffman & Landrum, 2018; Lane, Gresham, & O’Shaughnessy, 2002). The second deficit area is related to below-average academic performance. In regard to the first domain (i.e., behavioral performance), students with EBD typically require direct instruction (di) in adaptive, appropriate social behavior if they are to replace maladaptive behavioral responses with positive alternatives (Scott, Anderson, & Spaulding, 2008). Effective instruction in behavior includes explicit modeling, guided practice, and the provision of consistent positive and/or corrective feedback (Sheurman & Hall, 2016; Sprick & Garrison, 2008). However, deficits in the second domain (academics) are not emphasized as much in the research and teacher preparation literature. Nonetheless, students with EBD require specialized instruction in reading to improve their overall academic outcomes (Benner, Nelson, Ralston, & Mooney, 2010; Lane & Menzies, 2010).