Responsibilities and Instructional Time: Relationships Identified by Teachers in Self-Contained Classes for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities

Abstract

Teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disabilities face complex challenges supporting students’ academic and behavioral needs. These teachers require support from administrators, but administrators are seldom prepared to provide support. Furthermore, research seldom operationalizes support in ways that provide actionable advice to administrators. Prior research indicates that teachers frequently feel overburdened with excessive responsibilities, and they often provide insufficient instructional opportunities for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities. However, prior research has not determined whether a relationship exists between teachers’ responsibilities and their instruction. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between teachers’ instructional time and the extra responsibilities they have. Results suggest that teachers’ noninstructional responsibilities are associated with less instructional time. Despite limitations to data collection methods, these findings have significant implications for administrative support.

Keywords:

• administrative support
• emotional and behavioral disabilities
• special education
• teacher responsibilities
• teacher time use
• working conditions

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth Bettini

Elizabeth Bettini is a doctoral student at the University of Florida. Her current research interests include special education teachers’ working conditions, special education teacher quality, and teacher effectiveness for serving students with emotional and behavioral disabilities.

Jenna Kimerling

Jenna Kimerling is a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida. Her current research interests are special education teacher quality, contextual factors in the measurement of teacher quality, and student engagement.

Yujeong Park

Yujeong Park is an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Her current research interests include a focus on improving the reading-related outcomes of students with high-incidence disabilities and using student assessment data to promote effective reading instruction. She is also a highly skilled quantitative methodologist.

Kristin M. Murphy

Kristin M. Murphy is an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Her current research interests are teacher quality and professional development in exclusionary school settings, provision of services to students with disabilities in exclusionary school settings, and special education teachers’ working conditions.