Moving Targets and Missed Opportunities: Being Honest With Teachers and Ourselves

Abstract

This article provides a conceptual commentary on the special series on potential burnout of teachers of students with emotional and behavioral difficulties (EBD). The issue of teacher burnout is considered through a dynamic, ecological systems theory framework to summarize the complexities of working with students with EBD and to highlight the importance of addressing their needs from a whole child in context perspective. Current limits of eividence-based practices, service delivery structures, and research approaches are also considered and possible steps forward are discussed.

Keywords

dynamic systems correlated constraints behavioral elasticity supported professionalism data-driven service delivery

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bronfenbrenner

(1996). Foreword. In Cairns

R. B.

Elder

G. H.

Costello

E. J.

(Eds.), Developmental science (pp. ix–xvii). Cambridge University Press.

Cairns

R. B.

(1979). Social development: The origins and plasticity of interchanges. Freeman.

Cairns

R. B.

(2000). Developmental science: Three audacious implications. In Bergman

L. R.

Cairns

R. B.

Nilsson

L.-G.

Nystedt

(Eds.), Developmental science and the holistic approach (pp. 49–62). LEA.

Cairns

R. B.

Bergman

L. R.

Kagan

(1998). Methods and models for studying the individual. Sage.

Cairns

R. B.

Cairns

B. D.

(1994). Lifelines and risks: Pathways of youth in our time. Harvester Wheatsheaf.

Cantor

Osher

(Eds.). (2021). The science of learning and development: Enhancing the lives of all young people. Routledge.

Cantor

Osher

Berg

Steyer

Rose

(2019). Malleability, plasticity, and individuality: How children learn and develop in context. Applied Developmental Science, 23(4), 307–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2017.1398649

Cappella

Frazier

S. L.

Smith

E. P.

Hwang

S. H. J.

(2020). Strengthening social processes to support youth with emotional and behavioral difficulties: An ecological, public health approach in afterschool programs. In Farmer

T. W.

Conroy

Farmer

E. M. Z.

Sutherland

K. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of research on emotional & behavioral disorders: Interdisciplinary developmental perspectives on children and youth (pp. 167–182). Routledge.

Causadias

J. P. M.

Cicchetti

(2018). Cultural development and psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 30, 1549–1555. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579418001220

10.

Chen

C-C.

Sutherland

K. S.

Kunemund

Sterrett

Wilkinson

Brown

Maggin

D. M.

(2021). Intensifying interventions for students with emotional and behavioral difficulties: A conceptual synthesis of practice elements and adaptive expertise. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 29, 56–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1063426620953086

11.

Chorpita

B. F.

Daleiden

E. L.

(2009). Mapping evidence based treatments for children and adolescents: Application of the distillation and matching model to 615 treatments from 322 randomized trials. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 566–579. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014565

12.

Darling-Hammond

Flook

Cook-Harvey

Barron

Osher

(2020). Implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development. Applied Developmental Science, 24, 97–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2018.1537791

13.

Dawes

Sterrett

B. I.

Brooks

D. S.

Lee

D. L.

Hamm

J. V.

Farmer

T. W.

(2024). Enhancing teachers’ capacity to manage classroom behavior as a means to reduce burnout: Directed consultation, supported professionalism, and the BASE model. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 32, 110–123. https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266241235154

14.

De Los Reyes

Talbott

Power

T. J.

Michel

J. J.

Cook

C. R.

Racz

S. J.

Fitzpatrick

. (2022). The Needs-to-Goals Gap: How informant discrepancies in youth mental health assessments impact service delivery. Clinical Psychology Review, 92, 102114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102114

15.

Estell

D. B.

Farmer

T. W.

Irvin

M. J.

Crowther

Akos

Boudah

D. J.

(2009). Students with exceptionalities and the peer group context of bullying and victimization in late elementary school. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 18, 136–150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-008-9214-1

16.

Farmer

T. W.

(2020). Reforming research to support culturally and ecologically responsive and developmentally meaningful practice in schools. Educational Psychologist, 55, 32–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1698298

17.

Farmer

T. W.

(2024). Centering the margins: Dynamic systems, targeted universalism, and special education. Review of Research in Education, 47, 213–217. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X231218883

18.

Farmer

T. W.

Bierman

K. L.

Hall

C. M.

Brooks

D. S.

Lee

D. L.

(2021). Tiered systems of adaptive supports and the individualization of intervention: Merging developmental cascades and correlated constraints perspectives. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 29, 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1063426620957651

19.

Farmer

T. W.

Chen

C.-C.

Hamm

J. V.

Moates

M. M.

Mehtaji

Lee

Huneke

M. R.

(2016). Supporting teachers’ management of middle school social dynamics: The scouting report process. Intervention in School and Clinic, 52, 67–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451216636073

20.

Farmer

T. W.

Dawes

Hamm

J. V.

Lee

Mehtaji

Hoffman

A. S.

Brooks

D. S.

(2018).Classroom social dynamics management: Why the invisible hand of the teacher matters for special education. Remedial & Special Education, 39, 177-192. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932517718359

21.

Farmer

T. W.

Gatzke-Kopp

Latendresse

S. J.

(2020). The development, prevention, and treatment of emotional and behavioral disorders: An interdisciplinary developmental systems perspective. In Farmer

T. W.

Conroy

Farmer

E. M. Z.

Sutherland

K. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of research on emotional & behavioral disorders: Interdisciplinary developmental perspectives on children and youth (pp. 3–22). Routledge.

22.

Farmer

T.W.

Hamm

J. V.

(2016). Promoting supportive contexts for minority youth in low-resource rural communities: The SEALS model, directed consultation, and the scouting report approach. In Crockett

L. J.

Carlo

(Eds), Rural ethnic minority youth and families in the United States (pp. 247-265). Springer.

23.

Farmer

T. W.

Lee

D. L.

Therrien

(2022). Targeted-universalism and tiered systems of adaptive support: Centering intervention on the developmental needs of students with exceptionalities. In Farmer

T. W.

Talbott

Lee

McMaster

Aceves

(Eds.), Handbook of special education research: Theory, methods, & developmental processes (pp. 354–365). Routledge.

24.

Farmer

T.W.

Lines

M.M.

Hamm

J.V.

(2011). Revealing the invisible hand: The role of teachers in children’s peer experiences. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. 32, 247-256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2011.04.006

25.

Farmer

T. W.

Serpell

Scott

DeVlieger

S. E.

Brooks

D. S.

(2022). The developmental dynamics of emotional and behavioral difficulties of youth of color: Systemic oppression, correlated constraints, and the need for targeted universalism. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 30, 71–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266211068892

26.

Farmer

T. W.

Stuart

Lorch

Fields

(1993). The social behavior and peer relations of emotionally and behaviorally disturbed students in residential treatment: A pilot study. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 1(4), 223–234. https://doi.org/10.1177/106342669300100404

27.

Farmer

T. W.

Sutherland

K. S.

Talbott

Brooks

Norwalk

Huneke

(2016). Special educators as intervention specialists: Dynamic systems and the complexity of intensifying intervention for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 24, 173–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/1063426616650166

28.

Farmer

T. W.

Van Acker

Pearl

Rodkin

P. C.

(1999). Social networks and peer-assessed problem behavior in elementary classrooms: Students with and without disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 20, 244–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/074193259902000408

29.

Farrington

C. A.

(2020). Equitable learning and development: Applying science to foster liberatory education. Applied Developmental Science, 24, 159–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2019.1609730

30.

Gariépy

J.-L.

(1996). The question of continuity and change in development. In Cairns

R. B.

Elder

G. H.

Costello

(Eds.), Developmental science (pp. 78–96). Cambridge University Press.

31.

Gest

S. D.

Madill

R. A.

Zadzora

K. M.

Miller

A. M.

Rodkin

P. C.

(2014). Teacher management of elementary classroom social dynamics: Associations with changes in student adjustment. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 22, 107-118. https://doi.org/10.1177/1063426613512677

32.

Gottlieb

(2007). Probabilistic epigenesis. Developmental Science, 10(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00556.x

33.

Gunter

P. L.

Denny

R. K.

Jack

S. L.

Shores

R. E.

Nelson

C. M.

(1993). Aversive stimuli in academic interactions between students with serious emotional disturbance and their teachers. Behavioral Disorders, 18(4), 265–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874299301800405

34.

Hammond

(2020). Looking at SoLD through an equity lens: Will the science of learning and development be used to advance critical pedagogy or will it be used to maintain inequity by design? Applied Developmental Science, 24, 151–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2019.1609733

35.

Hobbs

(1982). The troubled and troubling child. Jossey-Bass.

36.

Iris Center. (2024). What is fidelity of implementation? https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/ebp_02/cresource/q1/p01/

37.

Kauffman

J. M.

Badar

(2013). How we might make special education for students with emotional or behavioral disorders less stigmatizing. Behavioral Disorders, 39(1), 16-27. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874291303900103

38.

Kern

McIntosh

Commisso

C. E.

Austin

S. C.

(2020). Multi-tiered systems of support. In Farmer

T. W.

Conroy

Farmer

E. M. Z.

Sutherland

K. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of research on emotional & behavioral disorders: Interdisciplinary developmental perspectives on children and youth (pp. 200–213). Routledge.

39.

Kornienko

Dishion

T. J.

(2018). Peer network dynamics and the amplification of antisocial to violent behavior among adolescents in public middle schools. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 26, 21-30.

40.

Kuhn

T. S.

(1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. University of Chicago Press.

41.

Lee

C. D.

(2020). Practice that supports learning and development: A commentary. Applied Developmental Science, 24, 141–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2019.1609735

42.

Lee

C. L.

Lerner

R. M.

Gadsden

V. L.

Osher

(Eds.). (2023). The science of learning and development. Review of Research in Education, 47(1), 155–160. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X231218731

43.

Maggin

D. M.

Wehby

J. H.

Farmer

T. W.

Brooks

D. S.

(2016). Intensive interventions for students with emotional and behavioral disorders: Issues, theory, and future directions. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 24, 127–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/1063426616661498

44.

Magnusson

Cairns

R. B.

(1996). Developmental science: Principles and illustrations. In Cairns

R. B.

Elder

G. H.

Costello

(Eds.), Developmental science (pp. 7–30). Cambridge University Press.

45.

Masten

A. S.

(2001). Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56, 227–238. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.227

46.

Nasir

N. S.

(2018). When development is not universal: Understanding the unique developmental tasks that race, gender, and social class impose: Commentary on Rogers and Way. Human Development, 61(6), 332–336. https://doi.org/10.1159/000494302

47.

Nasir

N. S.

(2020). Teaching for equity: Where developmental needs meet racialized structures. Applied Developmental Science, 24, 146–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2019.1609737

48.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). Students with disabilities. Condition of Education, U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg

49.

Osher

Cantor

Berg

Steyer

Rose

(2020). Drivers of human development: How relationships and context shape learning and development. Applied Developmental Science, 24, 6–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2017.1398650

50.

Ringeisen

Stambaugh

Khoury

(2020). The epidemiology of childhood emotional and behavioral disorders. In Farmer

T. W.

Conroy

Farmer

E. M. Z.

Sutherland

K. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of research on emotional & behavioral disorders: Interdisciplinary developmental perspectives on children and youth (pp. 23–34). Routledge.

51.

Sameroff

A. J.

(2020). It’s more complicated. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 2, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-061520-120738

52.

Scott

L. A.

Bell

(2024). Understanding the relationship between race and career intent of teachers serving students with emotional and behavior disorders. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266241272028

53.

Shonkoff

J. P.

(2020). Making developmental science accessible, usable, and a catalyst for innovation. Applied Developmental Science, 24, 37–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2017.1421430

54.

Shores

R. E.

(1993). Classroom management strategies: Are they setting events for coercion? Behavioral Disorders, 18, 92–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874299301800207

55.

Shores

R. E.

Wehby

J. H.

(1999). Analyzing the classroom social behavior of students with EBD. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 7(4), 194–199. https://doi.org/10.1177/106342669900700401

56.

Southam-Gerow

M. A.

Cox

J. R.

Kinnebrew

(2020). Managing and adapting practice (MAP). In Farmer

T. W.

Conroy

Farmer

E. M. Z.

Sutherland

K. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of research on emotional & behavioral disorders: Interdisciplinary developmental perspectives on children and youth (pp. 321–340). Routledge.

57.

Spencer

M. B.

(1999). Social and cultural influences on school adjustment: The application of an identity-focused cultural ecological perspective. Educational Psychologist, 34, 43–57. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3401_4

58.

Spencer

M. B.

Lodato

B. N.

Spencer

Rich

Graziul

English-Clarke

(2019). Innovating resilience promotion: Integrating cultural practices, social ecologies and development-sensitive conceptual strategies for advancing child well-being. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 57, 101–148.

59.

Steinberg

Knitzer

(1992). Classrooms for emotionally and behaviorally disturbed students: Facing the challenge. Behavioral Disorders, 17(2), 145–156. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874299201700208

60.

Talbott

De Arment

Sterrett

Chen

C-C.

(2020). Leading the team for youth with emotional and behavioral disorders. In T. W. Farmer

M. Conroy

Farmer

E. M. Z.

Sutherland

K. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of research on emotional & behavioral disorders: Interdisciplinary developmental perspectives on children and youth (pp. 449–461). Routledge.

61.

Talbott

De Los Reyes Power

T. J.

Michel

J. J.

Racz

S. J.

(2021). A team-based collaborative care model for youth with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in education and healthcare settings. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 29(1), 24–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1063426620949987

62.

van den Berg

Y. H. M.

Stoltz

. (2018). Enhancing social inclusion of children with externalizing problems through classroom seating arrangements: A randomized control trial. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 26, 31-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1063426617740561

63.

Wentzel

K. R.

(2021). Open science reforms: Strengths, challenges, and future directions. Educational Psychologist, 56(2), 161–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2021.1901709