Curriculum Reform in a Residential Treatment Program: Establishing High Academic Expectations for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

The importance of high-quality academic instruction and high academic expectations for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) is discussed. A sample language arts/history curriculum based on state curriculum standards was created and implemented in a classroom at a residential treatment program. Twenty-two students ranging in age from 11 to 16 participated in a 4-week pilot study designed to examine the effects of systematic instruction in story elements and narrative summary writing on student writing skills and academic engagement. Results suggest that students with E/BD who participated in the study's language arts/history curriculum showed improvements in both summary writing skills and academic engagement. Though data analysis and specifics of results are not the focus of this report, results highlight the importance of thoughtful, thorough instructional planning and the need for high levels of teacher instructional engagement when working with students with E/BD.