Award Date

May 2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Early Childhood, Multilingual, and Special Education

First Committee Member

Joseph Morgan

Second Committee Member

Kyle Higgins

Third Committee Member

Tracy Spies

Fourth Committee Member

Patrice Leverett

Number of Pages

166

Abstract

Outcomes of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have failed to meet the standards of educators and educational researchers. For several decades, such students have had worse academic and postsecondary outcomes than any other student population. This has led to emphasis on implementation of evidence-based practices to combat the negative outcomes associated with educational diagnoses of EBD (i.e., behavioral outbursts, suspension, and expulsion). Despite this increased attention, little improvement has occurred, leading to the question of whether practices implemented for students with EBD have been addressing the underlying causes of these students’ negative outcomes. Student–teacher relationships could be an underlying cause of negative outcomes for students with EBD. Student–teacher relationships have a large impact on the academic and behavioral outcomes of students. When a positive student–teacher relationship is present, student motivation and engagement increase—this in turn leads to better academic performance and an increase in academic self-efficacy (Roorda et al., 2011; Sakiz et al., 2012). Teachers also offer more support to students with whom they perceive they have more positive relationships (Bergin, 2016; Upadya & Eccles, 2014). However, few researchers have studied the impact of positive student–teacher relationships on students with EBD. The point of this study was to determine whether a relationship-based intervention (dialogue journaling) improves student–teacher relationships between students with EBD and their teachers. An exploratory pre-/postintervention design was implemented across two classrooms (two teachers and 10 students). Improvements of student–teacher relationships were minimal. However, stronger positive student–teacher relationships developed when intervention fidelity was higher. The findings lay a foundation for future research on student–teacher relationships and students with EBD.

Keywords

Dialogue Journaling; EBD; Intervention; Relationships

Disciplines

Special Education and Teaching

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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