Section 4:
Students with Behavioural Challenges
Section 4 Students with Behavioural Challenges
4. STUDENTS WITH BEHAVIOURAL CHALLENGES
The Five Categories
This chapter will examine in greater detail the five categories of programming
interventions that can be used with students exhibiting behavioural challenges.
Students moving up this continuum have increasingly complex
needs that require the specific programming interventions.
Category 1 — Students needing learning supports:
These behaviour problems can be adequately addressed by the school
providing a positive educational environment that matches the students’
learning styles, academic levels, and individual processing strategies. Category
1 students are those who have behaviour problems due to academic difficulties.
Category 2 — Students needing redirection and positive discipline practices:
These behaviour problems can be adequately addressed by home
and/or school management and positive discipline practices. Category
2 students are those students who have behaviour problems because
they are unaware of (a) the behavioural expectations of the school; or
(b) the commitment of staff to have students comply with these
expectations; or (c) the skills needed to function in the classroom.
Category 3 — Students requiring specialized interventions and supports:
These behaviour problems can be adequately addressed with specialized
interventions that include a strong parent-school partnership and
specialized support. Category 3 students with severe behavioural
disorders and syndromes that create highly dysfunctional behaviours.
Category 4 — Students requiring intersectoral involvement with
treatment plans or placements:
These behaviour problems can be adequately addressed with highly
individualized education and treatment plans with strong interagency
partnerships, that include primary care workers. Category 4 students
are those with severe to profound emotional/behavioural disorders and
severe neurological damage with corresponding violent behaviours.
Category 5 — Students requiring intensive coordinated multi-
system interventions and highly personalized treatment facilities
tailored to address individual needs:
These behaviour problems are so severe that they can only be adequately
addressed with extensive modifications and comprehensive, coordinated, multi-
system support services. Category 5 students often require placements outside
the regular school system along with multi-system treatment plans.
4.3
Students with Behavioural Challenges Section 4
Targeted Interventions Based on the Five Categories
The following sections identify programs and services required by students
described in each of the five categories along the continuum. The breakdown of
programming needs by category is not meant to be all-inclusive but does
identify the types of services and resources that are available and/or required,
and forms the basis for program recommendations. At the end of each
category, a number of questions are posed for staff at the divisional, school,
and classroom levels to assist them in reviewing their current procedures and
interventions for students with behaviour problems.
Category 1: Students needing learning supports
Students whose behaviour problems can be adequately addressed by
the school, providing a positive educational environment that matches
their learning styles and academic levels.
At this level, behaviour problems are largely school-based since these
are primarily due to learning deficits or differences. These problems
generally do not show up until the child begins school since most parents
accommodate the child’s learning level and style in the home. The more
formal, standardized expectations of school often highlight these
problems. If these learning difficulties are not addressed, behaviour
problems may spill over into the family and become a major focus of the
school program. Early identification and intervention are critical.
Program Responses Resources Required
• Development of a general • School-based resources
differentiated educational philosophy • In-school teams
in the school • Parental supports
• Programming that matches teaching
• External organizations
strategies with learning needs and
learning styles • Collaborative parenting skills
• Assistance may be required from a programs
resource teacher or clinician to
identify unique processing needs
• Collaboration between the school and
the parents
• Utilization of specialized teaching
programs, e.g., Reading Recovery
• Development of early identification
and intervention programming
• Provision of staff training in
programming areas such as
differentiated instruction and
curriculum adaptations
4.4
Section 4 Students with Behavioural Challenges
Some questions to consider when determining the actions
needed at the divisional, school, and classroom levels.
Divisional
• Are parents and community members involved in the division?
• What training programs are in place for teachers?
• What staffing levels are available to address academic issues?
• Are specialists available at the divisional level for consultation on
individual students for academic programming?
• What proactive early literacy and early numeracy programs are in place?
• What intervention programs are available for students with academic
Division difficulties, e.g., Reading Recovery™?
School
• Are the parents and community involved in the school?
• Has the school addressed the issue of positive learning climate?
• What programs and strategies are in place to provide extra
academic assistance to students?
• Are parents involved in assisting with their child’s learning progress,
e.g., reading development, language development?
School
• Does the school have a variety of resources and books at various reading
levels that teachers can use in addressing varying academic levels?
• What divisional resources are accessible to the school for
students with learning problems?
Classroom
• Are teachers using differentiated instruction? Adaptations?
• Does the teacher provide lessons that are well-planned,
relevant, and interesting?
Classroom • Are the teachers addressing individual differences? In what ways?
• Do teachers set high and attainable expectations?
• Do the teachers work collaboratively with parents to help their children with
learning progress?
For additional information on the interventions in Category 1, please see
Sections 3, 5, and 8.
4.5
Students with Behavioural Challenges Section 4
Category 2: Students needing redirection and positive
discipline practices
Students whose behaviour challenges can be adequately addressed by
home and/or school management and positive discipline practices.
In this category, behaviour challenges occur primarily at school. These
behaviours might be a problem for the parents if the behaviours conflict with
parental beliefs or values. Problems may be particularly noticeable when a child
enters school, since the school represents a unique culture with expectations
that may be inconsistent with the beliefs or values of the home. The behaviour
problems in this category are largely an educational issue in that the students
are not aware of: (a) the behavioural expectations of the school; or (b) the
commitment from staff to have students comply with these expectations; or (c)
the skills needed to function successfully in the classroom. Students may be
confused by inconsistencies in the expectations and variations in corrective
strategies taken by teachers within the school or between home and school.
Students with problems in this category may respond positively to a particular
teacher or management style and may not appear to have problems in these
classrooms. In cases where a student’s behaviour dramatically affects the
classroom learning environment and where the student will not respond to the
teacher’s corrective efforts, or where they largely occur outside the classroom,
the principal may need to become involved.
Program Responses Resources Required
• Development of codes of conduct • School-based resources
with community support • Community-based resources
• Provision of professional • Collaborative efforts at providing
development activities for staff parenting programs
members with focus on classroom • Divisional staff trained in behavioural
management skills
• Utilization of teacher assistance intervention strategies
teams or in-school teams to provide
suggestions to teachers
• Provision of programming to
students on prosocial skills, e.g.,
Second Step, anger management
• Provision of parenting programs
focusing on dealing with behavioural
difficulties
• Utilization of school-wide positive
discipline practices
• Provision of school liaison workers
• Work with the community to address
major issues, e.g., racism, gangs
• Utilization of the services of in-
school supports such as counsellors
or resource teachers
• Development of a positive school
climate
Program responses and resources
required, from Category 1, should also
be considered.
4.6
Section 4 Students with Behavioural Challenges
Some questions to consider when determining the actions
needed at the divisional, school, and classroom level.
Divisional
• Has the division/district developed a Code of Conduct?
• What policies and procedures have been developed to address
behavioural concerns?
• What supports are available to assist schools with behavioural challenges?
• What training programs have been provided on effective
Division
classroom management?
• Does the division have clear policies and procedures in place
regarding appropriate consequences?
School
• Are all students encouraged to participate in school activities?
• Have workshops and training sessions been provided on ways to
address discipline concerns?
• Is support to parents offered on behaviour issues?
• Does the school enforce school rules in a fair and consistent manner?
School • Are positive behavioural interventions stressed over punitive interventions?
• Are programs in place to address behavioural issues, e.g., anger management?
• Are supports available for teachers to address behavioural problems?
Classroom
• Do students feel welcome?
• Do students from diverse backgrounds feel welcome?
• Are parents involved when students become discipline problems?
Classroom
• Are students’ strengths and interests valued?
• Are classroom rules developed with the students and enforced consistently?
• Are the rules taught, demonstrated, practised, and rehearsed?
• Are there consistent expectations and classroom routines in place?
For additional information on the interventions described in Category 2,
please see Sections 3, 6, and 8.
Category 3: Students needing specialized interventions and
supports to address specific disabilities
Students whose behaviour challenges require specialized interventions
with a strong parent-school partnership and multidisciplinary support
(e.g., Students with severe behavioural disorders and syndromes that
create highly dysfunctional behaviours).
4.7
Students with Behavioural Challenges Section 4
In this category, students have difficulties inhibiting or controlling negative
behaviours. For some students, these behaviours may just be part of who they
are. These behaviours may be related to specific disorders or syndromes of a
genetic or neurological nature. This includes students with formal mental health
diagnoses associated with emotional problems. These students can be quite
impulsive, aggressive, and demanding. Their problems are noticeable in the
home, school, and community. They can usually be identified early in the child’s
life and early intervention is preferred. However, some parents may adapt to
their child’s behavioural style and not recognize these problems until the child is
older or enters school. Students with behaviour problems in this category
require specific interventions designed to address the underlying neurological,
psychological, or environmental factors that are driving these behaviours, as
well as the specific needs of the child.
Program Responses Resources Required
• Development of targeted intervention • In-school resources
plans to meet the needs of the students • Clinical services
• Utilization of medical, clinical, • Individual Education Planning team
educational, and other community • Community-based resources
specialists on Individual Education
Planning teams • Pre-school resources including
• Involvement of resource teachers in parent-child centres, day cares,
direct teaching on a one-to-one or nursery programs
small-group basis • Community organizations for support
• Involvement of counsellors in and information
prevention and postvention activities • Community clinics that address
• Provision of a variety of programs specific disabilities
and activities on social awareness,
anger control, and conflict resolution
• Involvement of clinicians in creating and
monitoring programs to modify
behaviours or teach communication skills
• Utilization of medical personnel since
many of these children will have a medical
or mental health diagnosis
• Involvement of child care workers or
mental health professionals to work with
the home and child
• Provision of supports for family members
faced with the stress of a difficult
parenting situation
• Utilization of parent associations and
advocacy groups for important information
and resources
• Utilization of child care workers or early
childhood behaviour specialists
• Involvement of Speech-Language
Pathologists at an early age to prevent
the development of associated
behavioural difficulties
Program responses and resources
required from Category 1 and 2 should
also be considered.
4.8
Section 4 Students with Behavioural Challenges
Some questions to consider when determining the actions
needed at the divisional, school, and classroom level.
Divisional
• What policies have been developed for the use of Individual
Education Plans?
• How does the division involve parents in the planning process?
• How does the division work with other agencies to provide
needed interventions?
• What early intervention programs for behaviour are in place?
• What early intervention screening is done to identify
Division students with behavioural problems?
• What has the division implemented to work with other agencies to
address common service needs?
School
• What specific training has been provided to staff members
regarding Individual Education Planning for children with
targeted disorders and syndromes?
• What interventions are used with special types of disabilities, e.g., a
student with autism?
• What specialized programs and supports are available in the school
School to assist with severe behaviour problems?
• What small group interventions are available?
• Do parent associations and advocacy groups have a place to share
information on children with specific disorders and syndromes?
Classroom
• Does the classroom teacher utilize suggestions from resource,
teacher, school counsellor, and clinical staff?
• What role does the classroom teacher have in IEP development?
Classroom • How does the teacher work effectively with parents/guardians of the
student with behavioural difficulties?
• Does the teacher provide feedback to support staff and external
agencies on the success or failure of specific interventions?
• What supports can the teacher address to assist students
with severe problems?
For additional information on the interventions described in Category 3,
please see Sections 3, 7, and 8.
4.9
Students with Behavioural Challenges Section 4
Category 4: Students needing intersectoral involvement with
treatment plans or placements
Students whose behaviour challenges require highly individualized education and
treatment plans with strong interagency partnerships including primary care
workers, e.g., students with severe to profound emotional/behavioural disorders
and/or severe neurological damage with corresponding violent behaviours.
In this category, students have particularly complex needs, since their
experiences have helped create distorted life views and often-violent behavioural
coping strategies. Many of these students live in families where they
experience severe neglect and are often left to meet their own
basic needs. Physical and/or sexual and emotional abuse are
often part of their life experience. Their ability to trust adults is
greatly affected and their need to maintain personal control may
be extreme. Often, Child and Family Services has become
involved before the child has entered school. Sometimes it
is the school that identifies the need for involvement.
It is not always possible to ensure the child’s safety or well-being
without placing the child in care on a temporary or permanent
basis. These students may rotate in and out of care, creating
uncertainty and confusion. In some cases, the child’s behaviour
is so extreme that the parent is not able to provide
any reasonable control and arranges placement on a voluntary .
Students in this category have often had such emotionally damaging life
experiences that they respond to social situations with basic mistrust, fear, and
intense anxiety. These intense feelings typically translate into confrontational
and aggressive behaviours. In other cases, depression, withdrawal, and suicidal
behaviour are involved. It is difficult to parent these children. They place such
stress on families that the primary caregivers leave the relationship or withdraw
emotionally from the child. This can produce chronic fear of rejection and
abandonment and anger towards caregivers.
Basic mistrust of authority and issues of power and control become
paramount. Even when placed in care, these students experience multiple
short-term placements and find it difficult to form any emotional attachment
with caregivers. Students who focus their psychological energy on survival
issues often appear to have functional cognitive delays, particularly affecting
language. This leaves little energy for academics and, over time, the
cognitive gap increases. Some of these students may also have a significant
neurological dysfunction that affects their performance. There are a number
of reasons for this, including perinatal alcohol and substance abuse,
malnutrition of mother or child, chronic neglect, and physical trauma.
Neurological dysfunctions may affect all cognitive skills or affect only specific areas
of learning including the ability to control impulses. In some cases, brain damage
may directly produce violent behaviours. This has been noticed in students where
there was subtle damage to the front of the temporal lobes. This is an area of the
child’s brain that is particularly susceptible to brain damage, particularly by such
actions as shaking the child while still an infant or toddler.
4.10
Section 4 Students with Behavioural Challenges
Relationships modeled and developed within the family may be quite
destructive. Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether the child was a
product of destructive family relationships or whether the child’s
behaviours were the stressors that produced such relationships. Whatever
the cause, the needs of these families are beyond those provided by
simple “parent education programs.” These families are often in a survival
mode and interventions need to respond to overall family dynamics and
coping styles.
Program Responses Resources Required
• Development of highly individualized • Early intervention programs,
education and treatment plans with e.g., Baby First, Early Start, FAST
strong interagency partnerships • Pre-school programs, e.g., parent-
• Involvement of primary caregivers in child centres
developing as well as implementing • In-school and community supports
these plans is critical • Services provided by the
• Development of interagency
Departments of Health or Family
approaches to the problem, e.g., Services and Housing
interdepartmental protocol agreement • Services provided to the home for
has mandated a cooperative working
relationship when programming for early intervention
these students • Coordinated services involving
• Development of coordinated multi- several agencies
system 24-hour plans (circles of care
or Behaviour Intervention Plans)
• Provision of training for staff in the
development of Behaviour Intervention
Plans and multi-system planning
• Consideration of the use of specific
school-based resource centres
• Community based treatment
programs
• Utilization of family interventions as
developed by Child and Family Services;
utilization of mental health initiatives and
adolescent treatment programs
• Involvement with Manitoba Justice in both
open and closed custody and its Youth
Justice committees
• Development of individual transition plans
when students are in these specialized
programs and the need for transition
planning when students are moving
between systems
Program responses and resources
required from Category 1, 2, and 3
should also be considered.
4.11
Students with Behavioural Challenges Section 4
Some questions to consider when determining the actions
needed at the divisional, school, and classroom level.
Divisional
• What policies and procedures are in place to address multi-system planning?
• How does the division work with early intervention programs such as
Child Day Care, Early Start, Child Development Clinic, etc.?
• Have selected staff members received training on multi-system planning?
• How are extra supports put in place for severely
emotionally/behaviourally disordered students? What type of supports?
• What arrangements are in place to access psychiatric or mental health supports?
Division
School
• Does the school have access to external agencies or treatment facilities?
• What procedures are in place to work with outside agencies,
e.g., Marymound Inc., and Manitoba Adolescent Treatment Centre?
• What procedures are used to transition students into a regular
program from a treatment facility?
• How does the school coordinate a multi-system plan?
School
• How are students’ strengths and interests taken into account in the
planning process?
Classroom
• How is the teacher involved in the development of a multi-agency
treatment plan?
• How does the teacher work effectively with a paraprofessional?
Classroom • What training is provided for the teacher and paraprofessional in working
with the emotionally-behaviourally disordered (EBD) student?
• How are common goals established between the home, school, and external
agencies?
For additional information on the interventions described in Category 4, please
see Sections 3, 7, and 8.
4.12
Section 4 Students with Behavioural Challenges
Category 5: Students needing intensive coordinated multi-system
interventions and highly personalized treatment facilities tailored
to address individual needs
Students whose life experiences have been so damaging they are
unable to function in a school setting even with extensive modifications
and comprehensive co-ordinated multi-system support services.
In this category, students may not be in school, but remain the division’s
responsibility. Extreme violence and antisocial behaviour mark their behaviour.
Reasons for these behavioural patterns vary, ranging from significant
neurological involvement to the most extreme and destructive developmental
experiences (e.g., profound neglect and abuse, multiple placements with
accumulated damaging experiences, etc.). Sometimes the etiology is mixed.
These students are identified very early, often before school entry. Difficulties
are typically compounded once they reach school due to their lack of prosocial
skills, high level of need, developmental level (emotionally and/or cognitively),
and where school fits within their survival hierarchy. They differ from the students
in the previous categories by the degree to which their behaviour places others
around them in danger. They tend to have highly violent outbursts that endanger
others. Careful evaluation and the opportunity to be viewed in a controlled
environment indicate that their outbursts are neither caused by nor can be
managed by their environment. Pharmacological interventions have been tried
and found unsuccessful in controlling behaviour.
Children in this category require highly individualized and intensive
programming with a developmental and family focus. It must be delivered
at the earliest possible opportunity. They may require resource-intensive
and protective environments in combination with coordinated multi-
system planning.
Program Responses Resources Required
• Utilization of community-based • Psychiatric services and programs
programs • Community-based programs
• Utilization of multi-system planning • Coordinated services
and involvement • Partnerships across systems
• Facilities to accommodate these
individuals, e.g., custodial care, high-
level group homes
• Coordinated efforts at early
intervention and identification
4.13
Students with Behavioural Challenges Section 4
Some questions to consider when determining the actions
needed at the divisional, school, and classroom level.
Division
• How will the division be involved in a coordinated multi-system
intervention process?
• What transition procedures will be used when the student is able to
return to school?
• How will the division partner with other services to provide an
educational component in the programming?
Division
School, Classroom
Students in this category are unlikely to attend a regular school or
classroom, but schools may want to provide some sense of contact and
have a systematic plan for safe entry when the student is school-ready.
Classroom
School
This section has focused on the five categories of interventions
utilized with students with behavioural challenges. Within each
category, four main areas have been addressed: (1) the nature
of the behaviour challenge being addressed, (2) the
programming responses, (3) the resources required, and (4)
actions that need to be taken at the divisional, school, and
classroom level. It is important to remember that students will
move back and forth along the continuum and that students may
require interventions from more than one category.
4.14
Summary of Program Interventions for Students with Behavioural Challenges
Section 4
Students with Behavioural Challenges
*An IEP may be utilized at any level
4.15
Students with Behavioural Challenges Section 4
NOTES
4.16
