Transporting Behaviorally Disordered Adolescents: A Descriptive Analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to share the results of an observational study con ducted on the frequency and severity of misbehaviors of 98 behaviorally dis ordered adolescent students as they rode school buses to and from a self contained, day-school program for an entire year. Events promulgated by the Board of Education during that year allowed data to be collected on the same students on two different transportation arrangements: mainstreamed and cate gorical. Misbehaviors were classified and recorded according to types. As a measure of impact upon school personnel, the type and frequency of interventions employed by them during the year are also reported. Results indicate a tremen dous increase in students ' misbehaviors and subsequent interventions during the period of categorical transportation. Transportation as a related service is mandated by the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. Its express purpose is to assist handicapped children to benefit from special education at all levels. Defined as a sequential series of events necessary to move passengers from origin to destination (Turner, 1980a), transportation service for the handi capped has traditionally been viewed administratively as opposed to programatically. That this is so is supported by the rather sparse body of literature on the subject which focuses upon the costs of transporting handicapped individuals (Bluth & Sweeney, 1981; Hennigan, 1978; Morgan, 1975), the safety of handicapped individuals during the bus ride (Turner, 1980a), modifications in the way of specialized equipment necessary for transporting the physically handicapped (Turner, 1980b), and the training of bus drivers and aides (Chiang, Iwata, & Dorsey, 1979; Land, 1984; Rogers, 1980). In this respect, transportation as it relates to the movement of students to and from school appears to be one of those educational "givens". Perceived and dealt with administratively, its effectiveness is typically judged against criteria reflecting administrative priorities. Thus, while transportation service is an integral — indeed a mandated —component of the overall educational process, it remains divorced from the rigors of programatic scrutiny and evaluation. Very little attention has been given to studying the different types of transportation arrangements available to school districts and the degree to which they might influence student behavior. Likewise, there have been no studies to examine the various impact one type of bus transportation arrangement versus another might have upon school personnel. In fact, it has yet to be acknowledged in the literature that the quality of events which occur during the bus rides may directly influence the quality of education students are capable of receiving in school. In the case of behaviorally disordered students, the type of bus transportation provided them may have serious programatic implications for both students and school personnel. Problems which occur among students on the buses may potentially produce results that linger far into the school day and interfere with the ongoing purposes of the school setting. The more frequent the incidents of bus misbehavior, the more time students, teachers, counselors, and administrators must invest sorting through a myriad of accusations and reports in their attempt to achieve resolution. The more severe the incidents of misbehavior, Behavioral Disorders May 1987 185 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.211 on Tue, 09 Aug 2016 06:02:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms the more profound the emotional repercussions for the students involved. While students enter their educational environment angry and unsettled, teachers must attempt to estab lish a readiness set for learning to occur. Currently, more than half (57%) of all behaviorally disordered students are served in separate classes, separate schools, and environments other than the regular classroom (U.S. Department of Education, 1985). Recently data has been gathered to show how these students are transported to and from their educational settings. Preliminary findings from a national survey on the plan and design of programs for behaviorally disordered/seriously emotionaly disturbed (Grosenick, George, & Geroge, 1985) indicate that districts use a variety of transportation options to transport behaviorally disordered students. While 83% of the 126 districts responding to the survey indicated grouping behaviorally disordered students with nonhandicapped students on buses, 71% of those districts also had provi sions for grouping behaviorally disordered students exclusively on separate buses. Trans porting behaviorally disordered students together on separate buses for their rides to and from school may be administratively efficient. In some districts, for example, grouping handicapped students together on buses greatly facilitates the computation of state reim bursement monies appropriated for transportation. The purpose of this paper is to share the results of a data collection effort regarding the frequency and severity of incidents of bus misbehavior of behaviorally disordered adoles cents as they rode their buses to and from school for an entire year. Circumstances occurred during the year which permitted data to be collected on the same group of students of two different transportation arrangements, categorical and mainstreamed. Instances of misbehavior were tallied and later classified according to type. Asa measure of the impact on school personnel, information was collected on the types and frequency of bus interventions employed by school staff during the year.