EBD School Design
Daikos & Gero, 2015
Designing Classrooms for Students
with Emotional Behavior Disorders
O
ne of the greatest social justice challenges facing educators
today is how to best serve children with Emotional Behavioral
Disabilities (EBD). Many students come to school with entrenched emotional and/or behavioral difficulties that impede their and
other students’ ability to access their education. External behaviors typically associated with these students exhibit a range of social, emotional,
and behavioral problems, including physical aggression, school refusal,
bullying, and defiance towards authority.
The Department of Education’s 36th
Annual Report on Individuals with Disabilities Act indicated that students who
have been identified as EBD represent
6.2% of the student population, a subset
population within Special Education
that has consistently increased annually.
BY CHRISTOPHER L. DAIKOS
MIT, MED, EDS
Nationally students with disabilities
have a graduation rate of 63%, yet students with EBD have a national graduation well below 50%. With the current
model of training, facilities and services
in place we see results in which students with EBD are arrested at a rate
of 60% prior to leaving school and 40%
are on probation prior to leaving school.
The data clearly indicates, nationally,
the services we provide students with
EBD result in the strongest conduit in
the school to prison pipeline. This is a
national crisis that few are paying attention to. Those involved in designing and
outfitting educational spaces can help
right this wrong.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
To qualify for special education
services for EBD, schools must first
attempt two evidence-based interventions to address behaviors of concern.
If the interventions fail, students are
assessed based on the following criteria
set by the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA), which defines
EBD as meeting one or more of the
following criteria:
See Page 26
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