Teachers of Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Reported Professional Development Needs: Differences Between Fully Licensed and Emergency-Licensed Teachers

Abstract

A major provision of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Education Act of 2001 is the guarantee that all students in America's schools will be taught by teachers who are "highly qualified." At the same time, a large percentage of teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are not fully licensed teachers, and this has implications in multiple areas, including quality of academic instruction and teacher attrition. The purposes of this study were to examine (a) teacher-reported professional development needs and (b) differences in reported needs between fully licensed and emergency-licensed teachers of students with EBD. Licensed teachers reported greater feelings of competence than did emergencylicensed teachers for each of 6 factors, and 2 of these factor means (Instructional Planning and Classroom Management) were significantly different. Limitations of the current study, as well as implications of the findings, are discussed.

Keywords:

• alternative certification
• emotional and behavioral disorders
• professional development
• teacher perceptions