Who is Identified as Emotionally/Behaviorally Disordered? (continued)

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Learners identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered are the most likely of all learners with identified disabilities to drop out of school. The percentage of learners identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered, 14 years and older, graduating with a high school diploma or certificate has decreased from 8.82% of all learners in the 1988-89 school year to 7.84% in 1992-93. Fifty percent of learners identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered drop out of school, most by the 10th grade. Fifty-eight percent leave school without graduating (Wagner, 1991). Among learners identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered, 42% graduate as compared to 56% of all learners with disabilities and 71% of all learners (Wagner et al., 1991).

The National Longitudinal Transition Study of Special Education Students (NLTS) reported similar results. The graduation rate for students identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered is second lowest; only learners with multiple disabilities have a lower rate.

The dropout rate of students identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered is the highest among the disability groups; learners with learning disabilities have the next highest dropout rate at 32.3%. Among students with disabilities, the percentage of students identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered who age out of school is relatively low, but is the highest in suspension and expulsion. According to NLTS dropping out of school is the culmination of a cluster of school performance problems, including high absenteeism and poor grade performance. Students identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered had the highest rate of absenteeism among all learners with disabilities (17.7 days a year) and the highest likelihood of failing a course (43.9%) (U.S. Office of Education, 1992).

They May Have Learning Problems or Communication Disorders

Many learners identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered may have learning problems or communication disorders. Although the early work of Morse, Cutler, and Fink (1964) suggested that learners identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered had above average cognitive ability, more recent studies indicate that these learners exhibit average or lower than average measured cognitive abilities when compared to their typical peers (Coleman, 1986). Learners with more severe behavioral disorders exhibit intelligence quotients in the mentally retarded range (Freeman & Ritvo, 1984).

In one study, 97% of the learners identified as demonstrating mild to moderate emotional/behavioral disorders fell more than one standard deviation below the mean on an individually administered test of language (Camarata, Hughes, & Ruhl, 1988). The pattern of these learners' language problems was consistent with the pattern of learners identified as learning disabled. After studying the communication performance of adolescents identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered and their nonidentified peers, Rosenthal and Simeonsson (1991) suggested that communication deficits may be a central feature of emotional/behavioral disorders.

Fessler, Rosenberg, and Rosenberg (1991) reported that more than 37% of learners in their sample were identified as both learning disabled and emotionally/behaviorally disordered. Teachers rated the academic achievement of learners identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered at a level equal to that of learners identified as learning disabled (Luebke, Epstein, & Cullinan, 1989).