TY - JOUR
T1 - The Relationship between Behavior at School Entry and Services Received in Third Grade
AU - Kulkarni, Tara
AU - Sullivan, Amanda L.
N1 - Tara Kulkarni , Amanda L. Sullivan , Amanda L. Sullivan Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota Search for more papers by this author Corresponding Author Tara Kulkarni Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota Correspondence Tara Kulkarni, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, 250 Education Sciences Building, 56 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455.
PY - 2019/1/23
Y1 - 2019/1/23
N2 - Recent studies report the cumulative prevalence of behavioral disorders among school-age children to be second only to anxiety disorders. Unfortunately, by the time behavior has been identified as needing special education services, patterns of disruptive and externalizing behavior have often become unremitting. If at-risk behavior can be reliably identified at school entry, there is potential to intervene early to reduce severity and chronicity of behavior. Thus, with the aid of a nationally representative sample ( n = 17,490), this study aimed to ascertain if teacher-observed disruptive behavior in kindergarten predicted children’s categorical identification for special education and receipt of behavior goals in their individualized education plans in third grade. Results indicated externalizing behaviors and approaches to learning at school entry, predicted identification with emotional disturbance, and other health impairment due to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in third grade. In addition, externalizing behaviors at school entry increased the likelihood of a child receiving an individualized education plan with an appropriate behavior goal. Self-control was not a significant predictor of any outcome. Finally, the covariates of sex, reading achievement, and race at school entry were significantly associated with a child’s need for behavior-related services. Implications for early intervention are discussed.
AB - Recent studies report the cumulative prevalence of behavioral disorders among school-age children to be second only to anxiety disorders. Unfortunately, by the time behavior has been identified as needing special education services, patterns of disruptive and externalizing behavior have often become unremitting. If at-risk behavior can be reliably identified at school entry, there is potential to intervene early to reduce severity and chronicity of behavior. Thus, with the aid of a nationally representative sample ( n = 17,490), this study aimed to ascertain if teacher-observed disruptive behavior in kindergarten predicted children’s categorical identification for special education and receipt of behavior goals in their individualized education plans in third grade. Results indicated externalizing behaviors and approaches to learning at school entry, predicted identification with emotional disturbance, and other health impairment due to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in third grade. In addition, externalizing behaviors at school entry increased the likelihood of a child receiving an individualized education plan with an appropriate behavior goal. Self-control was not a significant predictor of any outcome. Finally, the covariates of sex, reading achievement, and race at school entry were significantly associated with a child’s need for behavior-related services. Implications for early intervention are discussed.
UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pits.22231
M3 - Article
JO - Psychology in the Schools
JF - Psychology in the Schools
ER -