Effects of Choice-Making Opportunities on the Behavior of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

Students with emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD) typically experience academic and social difficulties in school settings. One intervention, opportunities to make choices, has been implemented for students with E/BD to address inappropriate behaviors. Three elementary-aged students with E/BD from a self-contained special education classroom participated in this study. A multiple-baseline, across-students, single-subject design was used to compare the effects of Choice and No Choice conditions on multiple academic and social behaviors. All study sessions were conducted during regularly scheduled math activities in the special education classroom by the classroom teacher. Results suggest that opportunities to make choices during academic situations positively affected the academic and social behaviors of two of the three students. Limitations of and future research directions for opportunities to make choices for students with E/BD are provided.