The importance of student-teacher relationships is well established. However, research suggests that students in special education tend to experience lower quality student-teacher relationships than their peers in general education. Of particular importance is the developing research indicating that students with emotional and behavioral disorders…

The disproportionate, over-representation of Black boys in special education continues to be a matter of social injustice and inequity in education. Many Black students are placed in special education due to subjective identification processes. This is especially true when it comes to classifications such as Emotional Behavior Disorders (EBD).…

This article critically discusses the ecology of public schools in the United States: systemic barriers and associated biases that permeate these learning contexts and derail efforts to close opportunity gaps for African American adolescents with emotional and behavioral challenges. Using results from a mixed-methods study, we illustrate the…

Black boys often experience oppression and marginalization in schools. Black boys with disabilities in secondary school are frequently targeted with inequitable and biased discipline practices, exacerbating the school-to-prison pipeline. As such, it is important to examine the school climate experiences of Black boys to inform the creation of…

In recent years, there has been a growing concern about the issue of school refusal, particularly given the adverse effects on young people's social, emotional and educational development. School refusal is understood differently within contemporary literature; as a symptom of an underlying mental illness or disorder, or alternatively, as a signal…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) can be successfully placed in general education classrooms with evidence-based practices such as positive behavior interventions and supports and self-management practices. Still, less than half of all students with EBD are placed in the general education classroom for 80% of the school day.…

There are many concerns related to students with emotional disturbance (ED) as they struggle in both academic and social domains (Little, Lane, Harris, Graham, Story & Sandmel, 2010; Nelson, Benner, Lane & Smith, 2004). There has been a strong emphasis on leadership in recent educational research and with such problems surrounding students…

Students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) are among the most marginalized group of students in our schools. In essence, students with EBD are often denied their civil right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) which is a social justice issue. Teachers who become social justice allies are more likely to create a…

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a classroom management system that employs an interdependent group contingency, whereby students work as a team to win the game. Although previous anecdotal data have suggested that this arrangement may promote prosocial behavior, teachers may have concerns about its fairness and potential to evoke negative peer…

This article is a critical poststructuralist analysis of Conservative led free school policy in England focussing on claims made by the New Schools Network and in the 2010 White Paper that free school provision promotes social justice. The article presents an empirical study of an alternative provision free school as a lens through which these…

Black boys in racially segregated urban schools are vulnerable to the trappings of the school-to-prison-pipeline. In this article, I use narrative inquiry and critical race theory (CRT) to examine the stories of two elementary school principals struggling to create more inclusive schools for Black boys with emotional disabilities (ED) in a…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to scrutinise two ostensibly disparate approaches to school-based mental health promotion and offer a conceptual foundation for considering possible synergies between them. Design/methodology/approach: The paper examines current conceptualisations of child and youth mental health and explores how these inform…

The professional literature on gatekeeping in social work education has grown; however, there remains a dearth in the literature regarding how educators truly work to engage students who are experiencing a psychiatric disability or other emotional problem. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 26 social work educators from 22 colleges…

Many have observed the increasing severity of mental distress among college students over the past several decades. Very little, however, has been said about what has contributed to this increase. The purpose of this opinion piece is to highlight a trend that the author has witnessed as director of a university counseling center and social justice…

When the "least restrictive" educational environment is deemed unsuccessful for students labeled as having emotional disabilities (ED), they are often placed in either self-contained classrooms (when available) or alternative schools. Despite these schools' growing numbers, little is known about them and their students, who are…