Abstract
Students of color, especially Black males identified as having emotional behavior disorders (EBD), are overrepresented in exclusionary practices. Exclusionary practices, such as in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, and expulsion, negatively impact academic and social–emotional–behavioral outcomes for all students, especially students with EBD. This article identifies the overlapping principles of culturally responsive teaching and culturally responsive pedagogy as theorized by Gay and Ladson-Billings so that teachers of students of color identified with EBD can better support the specific learning needs of their students. These principles are explicitly applied to behavior-specific praise and error corrections, two evidence-based classroom behavioral management practices.
Keywords
Mr. Considine, a 10th-grade inclusion math teacher, is trying to figure out how to best support his student Darius. Darius is well-liked by his peers and other teachers; he is a gregarious student with a great sense of humor. Living with his younger sister, mother, and grandmother, family and his neighborhood are very important to Darius. He attends church with his family every week and is part of his neighborhood’s regular baseball and basketball pick-up games. Darius also mentors younger students at his local community center. He feels fiercely loyal to his family and that it is his job to be a role model for his younger sister. Darius is particularly close to his grandmother, the matriarch of a large, extended family. His grandmother regularly hosts the family for Sunday dinners and holidays.
A Black student in a primarily White school, Darius has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) because he is diagnosed with anxiety disorder, which presents as opposition in class when he feels overwhelmed with an academic task. When given a task Darius does not feel confident about, he puts his head down and pushes his paper off his desk. Mr. Considine often responds to this by yelling at Darius that sleeping through class will get him nowhere in life. This results in Darius engaging Mr. Considine in arguments about the assignment, progressing to Darius refusing to initiate or complete his work, and ending with Mr. Considine sending Darius to the office. Darius is currently failing the class and missing, on average, at least 60 min of class per week due to being sent to the office. Mr. Considine feels overwhelmed and very unsure about how to support Darius effectively. Mr. Considine knows that what he is doing isn’t working. Although he has read the IEP, which states that he should use specific praise and error corrections, he feels that being specific about the negative impact of sleeping in class would be correcting Darius’ error. He feels stuck in a negative cycle of arguments with Darius, impacting their relationship and Darius’ success in his class. He emails his inclusion support teacher to ask for advice.
Inequitable Educational and Social–Emotional–Behavioral Outcomes
In the vignette, Mr. Considine applies an exclusionary practice with Darius. An exclusionary practice is removing a student from instruction through time-outs, being sent to the office, in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, or expulsion to decrease unwanted student behaviors. Although they are used widely within schools, exclusionary practices are deeply problematic. The evidence is clear that excluding students from instruction impedes learning and negatively impacts their academic and social–emotional–behavioral outcomes (Noltemeyer et al., 2015; Novak, 2018; Skiba et al., 2014). A meta-analysis completed by Noltemeyer and colleagues (2015) found that the more suspensions students experiences, regardless of whether the suspensions are in-school or out-of-school, the lower students’ academic achievement and the higher the risk of dropping out.
Exclusionary practices disproportionately impact students of color (i.e., non-White and indigenous students), specifically negatively impacting Black students receiving special education services. In 2017–2018, Black students accounted for 17.7% of students served under IDEA, yet they received suspensions and expulsions greater than their total enrollment percentage (Office for Civil Rights, 2022). Furthermore, Black males in primary grades lose an average of 86 days of instruction due to out-of-school suspensions per 100 enrolled students, with rates much higher at the secondary school level (Losen & Martinez, 2020).
In addition, schools often identify students of color for special education services at disproportionate rates, most notably in the emotional disturbance (ED) category, hereafter referred to as emotional behavioral disorders (EBD; Brown et al., 2019; Sullivan & Proctor, 2016). This is concerning because students with EBD experience the least favorable academic and social–emotional–behavioral outcomes of all students with disabilities (Cartledge & Dukes, 2009; Mitchell et al., 2019). Students with EBD are more likely to be educated in segregated settings, are more likely to become involved in the juvenile justice system, and are at higher risk of dropping out of high school (Freeman et al., 2019; Gage et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2004). Among students with disabilities, Black students with EBD, such as Darius, are at exceptionally high risk for exclusionary practices (Gage et al., 2019; Townsend, 2000; Zhang et al., 2004).
Culturally Responsive Education and Evidence-Based Practices
To address the disproportionate use of exclusionary practices in schools, the federal government suggests that schools continuously observe and assess discipline policies and procedures to eliminate discrimination and disproportionality among students of color (U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education, 2014). In addition to federal, state, and local policy changes, it is also essential for teachers to learn about who their students are holistically so that individual needs can be addressed effectively. Two such avenues are culturally responsive educational practices and evidence-based practices. Whereas these strategies are helpful for all diverse students, this article focuses on Black male students because they are most overrepresented in the use of exclusionary practices and identification of EBD.
In this article, we describe critical principles of culturally responsive education and demonstrate the application of these principles to evidence-based practices for Black students with EBD. There are many evidence-based practices for students with EBD, such as differential reinforcement, behavioral contracting, planned ignoring, group contingencies, and opportunities to respond (Simonsen et al., 2008). The evidence-based practices of behavior-specific praise and error correction were selected as the focus of this article to illustrate the application of culturally responsive education to evidence-based practices for Black students with EBD. Readers are encouraged to consider how the culturally responsive principles presented in this article can be applied to other evidence-based practices.
Culturally Responsive Education
Cultural and racial differences between Black students and school teachers and staff may lead to exclusionary practices and lower perceptions of school climate for Black students (Bireda, 2002; LaSalle et al., 2020). U.S. school student populations are becoming more diverse, but most teachers are White (79%) and female (76%; National Center for Educational Statistics, 2021). These racial mismatches may also translate to cultural mismatches, which can create classroom cultures that promote misunderstandings of student behavior. For example, it was mentioned earlier that Darius is considered gregarious. Some Black males may communicate in a way that does not conform to the expectations of the Eurocentric school environment. Teachers may perceive this social communication between Black students and their peers as loud and confrontational (Cartledge & Fellow-Milburn, 1996), but the students may enjoy being social together.
Within the context of this article, the definition of culture as developed by Sugai and colleagues (2012) is applied: “the extent to which a group of individuals engage in overt and verbal behavior reflecting shared behavioral learning histories, serving to differentiate the group from other groups, and predicting how individuals within the group act in specific setting conditions” (p. 199). Darius’ race is Black; his culture has been learned from and practiced by his family and close community. Race and culture are separate entities and should be understood as such by educators.
Implementing culturally responsive education effectively bridges the gap between the incongruity of the culture of students of color and school personnel while combating discrimination and disproportionality (Cartledge & Dukes, 2009). Culturally responsive education contains two prongs, one that focuses on teacher practice, called culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2013), and one that focuses on teacher posture and framework, called culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995). Gay (2010) defines culturally responsive teaching “as using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more responsive to and effective for them” (p. 31). Ladson-Billings (1995) defines culturally relevant pedagogy as: specifically committed to collective, not merely individual, empowerment. Culturally relevant pedagogy rests on three criteria or propositions: (a) students must experience academic success, (b) students must develop and/or maintain cultural competence, and (c) students must develop a critical consciousness through which they challenge the status quo of the current social order. (Ladson-Billings, 1995, p. 160)
Gay and Ladson-Billings’ frameworks possess similar principles. Three main principles emerge when mapped onto each other, as illustrated in Figure 1. Principle 1, students must experience academic success that is comprehensive, inclusive, multidimensional, and empowering. Principle 2, students must develop and/or maintain their cultural competence that is validating, affirming, multidimensional, and humanistic. Principle 3, students must develop a critical consciousness that is multidimensional, transformative, emancipatory, normative, and ethical, through which they challenge the status quo of the current social order.
Ladson-Billings and Gays’ Combined Culturally Responsive Frameworks Reflect Three Common Principles
Evidence-Based Practices
Evidence-based practices are strategies that rigorous empirical research has shown to be effective for a particular population of students (Cook & Odom, 2013; Zaheer et al., 2019). Specific to EBD, evidence-based practices for this population have been shown to improve behavioral functioning and academic performance (Green et al., 2020; Zaheer et al., 2019). Teachers must include culturally responsive teaching practices within evidence-based practices to interact more effectively and support students of color.
Behavior-Specific Praise
Behavior-specific praise is a way for teachers to acknowledge and promote desired behavior to improve the behavioral skills of students with EBD (Meyer et al., 2021). When using behavior-specific praise, a teacher provides a verbal praise statement to a student for exhibiting preferred behaviors (Zaheer et al., 2019). Behavior-specific praise statements include the desired behavior and a positive comment praising the student for showing it so students know their teacher notices and appreciates their use of desired behaviors (Royer et al., 2019; Villeda et al., 2016). For example, “Thank you, Darius, for getting started on your work. I appreciate your responsibility,” “Darius, I like how you’re sitting up in your chair completing the assignment, and thank you for your hard work,” and “Darius, I like how you asked me for help when you were confused by the assignment. Thank you for taking the initiative.”
Recommended rates of behavior-specific feedback are four for every corrective statement or reprimand (Villeda et al., 2016); however, a higher ratio of behavior-specific praise to corrective statements is recommended for students with EBD (Downs et al., 2019; Meyer et al., 2021). This means that teachers of students with EBD may need to praise behaviors that approximate the desired behavior to encourage them to sustain engagement in class activities and decrease exclusionary practices (Tobin & Vincent, 2011).
Preference assessments are helpful tools for teachers to learn about how their students prefer to receive praise (Fefer et al., 2016). Some students may enjoy receiving public praise, whereas others may be embarrassed by it. Some students enjoy verbal praise, whereas others enjoy an email or phone call home. Teachers can and should demonstrate that students’ cultures are valued and desires for praise will be honored by learning more about student preferences and incorporating them into their specific praise statements.
Error Corrections
Error corrections refer to teachers briefly addressing minor behavioral mistakes, correcting these errors similar to correcting academic mistakes (Meyer et al., 2021). When correcting errors, the teacher should provide immediate, brief, and private feedback to the student (Collier-Meek et al., 2019; Meyer et al., 2021; Simonsen et al., 2008). When giving an error correction, the teacher informs the student what mistake has been made, then tells the student the desired behavior. Reminders of the desired behaviors can be verbal, visual, modeled, or rehearsed to ensure students with EBD understand how to perform the desired behavior (Meyer et al., 2021; Simonsen et al., 2008). For example, Mr. Considine might say, “Darius, I see you pushed your book onto the floor. The direction is to open the book to page 253. I will help you once you follow that direction.” When Darius opens his book or sits up appropriately, the teacher should immediately praise this desired behavior and say, “I see that you’re ready with your book open to the right page; thanks, Darius. How can I help you?”
Principle 1
When implementing culturally responsive educational practices, one of the main objectives is for all students to experience academic success. Academic success is not only determined by end-of-the-year test performance but, more importantly, by what students know and can perform as a result of classroom instruction (Ladson-Billings, 2006). For example, Mr. Considine may present budgeting as a new concept in class. To assess student progress, he may have the students provide examples of how they would budget their money from a part-time job to be able to purchase items they need and want. By having the students use the concept of budgeting with their own money, their interests connect to the curriculum, making it a culturally responsive practice. Most of all, the teacher can gauge whether or not the students have mastered the newly presented concept by evaluating the budgets that students create.
In addition to ensuring that students experience academic success, Mr. Considine must create an inclusive and empowering classroom environment. To expound upon the example above, students can share their budgets with the class or in small groups after completing the budgeting assignment. Allowing students to share personal needs and wants from their budgets can facilitate classroom discourse that helps students develop a sense of community and create an inclusive and empowering space.
To help Darius feel a sense of accomplishment and establish an inclusive and empowering environment, Mr. Considine can provide culturally responsive, behavior-specific praise that acknowledges his classroom achievements and his close relationship with his family. The example above can be revised to, “Thank you, Darius, for getting started on your work. I appreciate your responsibility. I’m going to email Grandma and let her know how much initiative you have been taking in starting your work!” and “Darius, I like how you asked me for help with this challenging assignment. Thank you for taking the initiative; you are showing great leadership skills. The students at the community center have a great example of a leader.” These examples of culturally responsive behavior-specific praise validate Darius’ ability to succeed and create an inclusive and empowering environment by acknowledging his close relationship with his family and leadership role at the local community center.
Behavior-specific praise demonstrates to students with EBD that they are experiencing success, having met the high standards for learning set by their teacher. Behavior-specific praise also empowers students with EBD to continue engaging in desired academic or social behaviors. When culturally responsive practices are included within behavior-specific praise, students with EBD are recognized as multidimensional beings, not just anonymous students in the classroom.
Principle 2
Along with academic success, culturally responsive education should help students with EBD to develop and maintain cultural competence. Teachers can support student development of cultural competence by celebrating their cultures within the classroom (Ladson-Billings, 2006). By doing so, all students can better understand the cultures and lives of diverse people worldwide (Gay, 2010). Developing cultural competence also involves teachers fostering and maintaining a positive classroom climate, meaningful student–teacher relationships, and culturally responsive instructional techniques (Gay, 2010). For example, Mr. Considine may have the students work in small groups to research and discuss artists from the cultural backgrounds represented in the classroom. The students would research the costs of various art pieces (e.g., sculptures, paintings, ceramics), compare the prices (using mathematical functions), and discuss why they believe each piece has a specific price. This activity also will allow students to discuss their cultural backgrounds and what the art pieces represent to each culture. By completing this assignment, Mr. Considine has created an environment that develops and maintains cultural competence and validates the cultures represented in the classroom.
Teachers also help to develop and maintain cultural competence by closing gaps between school and home cultures. Culturally responsive teachers accomplish this through diversifying instructional and curricular strategies and materials (Gay, 2010). Connecting real-life math concepts (e.g., calculations, patterns, proportionality) to the arts, employment patterns, or populations of different ethnic groups represented in the classroom (Gay, 2010) is a way to diversify instructional strategies and materials. Revising the example above, Mr. Considine might say, “Darius, I see that you are ready with your book open to the right page; an excellent choice. Let’s discuss your questions about the assignment and think of some solutions” or, “Darius, I believe in you. I know that you can make great choices. I see that you’ve pushed your book onto the floor. When you open the book to page 253, we can tackle this assignment together as a team.” These error corrections recognize Darius’ humanity, validate his capability to make positive choices, and highlight the teacher’s feelings of connectedness to him.
Error corrections can be a culturally responsive instructional technique to help maintain a positive classroom environment for students with EBD while building meaningful student-teacher relationships. Error corrections are humanistic; teachers do not (and should not attempt to) control students, as the power to engage in an expected behavior wholly resides within the student. By cultivating this classroom environment, students of color and students with EBD can learn tools to succeed in an often-oppressive school system (Delpit, 2006; Ladson-Billings, 2006; Urrieta, 2004).
Principle 3
Finally, culturally responsive education must assist students in challenging and examining current social inequities (Ladson-Billings, 1995). To help students develop this critical consciousness, teachers also should be aware of issues regarding race, class, and gender before incorporating them into their lessons (Gay, 2010). For example, Mr. Considine may have students compare differences in salary between gender and race in the United States and chart their results by state. Students would have a visual of the results, which could help facilitate a classroom discussion about the reasons for the differences in salary among genders and races and possible solutions. Also, Mr. Considine may have students investigate the statistics regarding racial inequities in school suspensions or arrests in public schools in their communities. Students could create visual representations of the statistical data using data visualization tools and discuss their opinions of why racial inequities in school suspensions or arrests exist and possible solutions.
In addition to critical consciousness, culturally responsive teaching also transforms and frees students to use characteristics of their culture during instruction (Gay, 2010). This transformation and freedom release students of color from the constraints of Eurocentric, mainstream methods of knowledge and learning (Gay, 2010). Teachers can achieve this by using students’ strengths to drive instructional and curriculum design (Gay, 2010). Culturally responsive teaching recognizes the positive attributes of students and magnifies those attributes during instruction (Gay, 2010). Revising the example above, Mr. Considine might say, “Darius, great job sitting up and completing the salary assignment. This is a challenging concept, and you are rocking it!” Receiving behavior-specific praise validates that the student is succeeding in an environment they may have previously found aversive and oppressive.
Teachers must develop a culturally responsive mindset, which may be a shift in perception and pedagogical framework. Furthermore, while educating the whole child and allowing children to maintain their cultural identities, teachers must use classroom management practices that effectively increase the academic success and pro-social skills of students with EBD. Queries that teachers may use to develop their repertoire of behavior-specific praise statements and error corrections can be found in Table 1.
Developing Culturally Responsive Behavior-Specific Praise Statements and Error Corrections.
Both behavior-specific praise and error corrections support students with EBD’s development of critical consciousness. Within schools and classrooms, norms should be co-created with collaboration from families, community members, and students. Therefore, these evidence-based practices should be normative and ethical within the context of each school. For students with EBD like Darius, who may struggle with norms, both evidence-based practices are transformative in supporting the student’s academic and social–emotional–behavioral growth.
Conclusion
Students of color receive higher rates of exclusionary practices than their White peers (Holzman et al., 2012; Liu et al., 2022; Skiba et al., 2014). This is especially true for Black males, who are not only disproportionately removed from class due to exclusionary practices but also over-identified in receiving special education services and identified as having EBD (Brown et al., 2019; Sullivan & Proctor, 2016). Black males with EBD miss learning time due to removal from the classroom, negatively impacting their academic and social–emotional–behavioral outcomes (Cartledge & Dukes, 2009; Freeman et al., 2019; Gage et al., 2019; Mitchell et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2004). Overlapping culturally responsive practices developed by Gay and Ladson-Billings within evidence-based practices affirms the humanity of students of color. Mr. Considine would learn more holistically about Darius and his culture to relate to him more effectively and then incorporate this knowledge into implementing behavior-specific praise statements and error corrections.
Footnotes
Authors’ Note
The vignette used in this article is a fictionalized account drawn from the authors’ experiences as teachers, speech-language pathologists, and school psychologists in urban settings and working with students of color with EBD.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
