The Tragedy of Exclusion - Students with Emotional Disabilities

In the past 50 years the numbers of students with emotional/behavioral disorders who are suspended. expelled and or placed in isolated classrooms or schools has not changed in any significant way.

Whlle Black boys are signifcantly more apt to be labeled ED, and be subjected to the most exclusionary practices, the problem goes beyond them to include all students identified as having an ED.

Students who are identified as having an Emotional Disability under special education law face the very real possibility of spending their entire school careers in a setting isolated from their typical peers.

The rates of inclusion for other disabilities have climbed significantly over the past 25 years, the ED rates haven't budged.

Can anything be done?

Summary

The host discusses the persistent issue of disproportionality in special education, where students with emotional disabilities—especially African American boys—are disproportionately placed in segregated settings or excluded through suspensions. The episode reviews research on the ineffectiveness of exclusionary discipline and explores inclusive solutions such as Universal Design for Learning and positive peer relationships.

Key takeaway

Disproportionality in Special Education Placements

The disproportionality problem, particularly for African American boys labeled with emotional disability, has not improved in fifty years.

The host describes a case where a school district tried to place a very young child in a non‑public school program, which prompted reflection on this issue. 

Harms of Exclusionary Discipline

Suspensions and expulsions are ineffective, increase dropout risk, lead to criminal justice involvement, and waste human potential.

The article excerpt states that disciplinary removals result in lost educational opportunities, increased dropout risk, criminal justice involvement, increased public expense, and lost economic self‑sufficiency. 

Segregation May Worsen Behavior

Placing students with emotional disabilities in segregated facilities can cause behavioral regression and modeling of new, more intensive issues from peers.

Research is cited suggesting that segregated placements lead behaviorally challenged students to regress and develop new behavioral issues learned from each other.

Impact on School‑Wide Achievement

Harsh discipline policies threaten the academic success of all students, even those never suspended.

The transcript notes a strong correlation between suspensions, negative school environmental conditions, and lower school‑wide achievement. 

Inclusive Solutions: UDL and Teacher Training

Universal Design for Learning provides class‑wide accommodations that reduce frustration and sensory overload, allowing students with emotional disabilities to learn using their strengths.

The host explains that UDL offers an instructional framework in general education classrooms that respects individual cognitive strengths and reduces barriers to literacy. 

Fostering Positive Peer Relationships

Successful inclusion depends on teacher attitude, systematic social‑skills instruction, and opportunities for positive peer interactions.

The article identifies facilitating positive relationships between students with and without emotional disabilities as a critical factor, contingent on teacher preparation and structured social skill development. 

Supreme Court on Exclusion

Total exclusion from education for more than a trivial period is a serious event in a child’s life.

the article quotes the United States Supreme Court’s observation on the gravity of lengthy exclusion. 

This is the article that was read from in the program:

https://socialchangenyu.com/review/we-cant-tolerate-that-behavior-in-this-school-the-consequences-of-excluding-children-with-behavioral-health-conditions-and-the-limits-of-the-law/

An NPR story about kids identified with ED:

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/26/g-s1-117447/school-disability-emotional-behavioral-disorder-special-education

Wrights Law's opinion:

https://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/the-negative-effects-of-separating-children-with-disabilities/

EdSource, a California perspective:

https://edsource.org/2022/stop-isolating-students-with-disabilities/667500

The National Council on Disabilities:

https://www.ncd.gov/assets/uploads/docs/ncd-segregation-swd-508.pdf

Thanks to Soundimage.org for the free access to the AI generated used in this podcast (https://soundimage.org/) 

Transcript

A recent case I worked on where a school district was attempting to place a very young child in a Non-Public school program reminded me of the issue of disproportionality, which in special education measures the much higher rates of children with emotional/behavioral issues being placed in these programs or excluded from school through suspensions and expulsions.  

Studies indicate that the needle hasn’t move on this problem in 50 years.  It is particularly serious among African Americans, particularly boys.  However, it goes beyond race to affect all children with the label of an Emotional Disability.

I’ll be reading excerpts from an article on the topic.  The title is, “We Can’t Tolerate That Behavior”.   A link is included to this and other articles/studies on the subject.

 The article reads in part:

The disciplinary exclusion of children with behavioral health conditions is rampant in public schools in the United States. The practice of suspending and expelling students with behavioral challenges, results in the isolation and segregation of some of the most vulnerable students. 

Research has clearly established that these exclusionary practices are ineffective, both in addressing behavioral challenges, and in keeping schools safer. In fact, disciplinary removals result in lost educational opportunities, increased dropout risk, criminal justice involvement, increased public expense, and lost opportunities for economic self-sufficiency in life.

Students with behavioral health conditions—disabilities that may manifest in behaviors that school staff deem anti-social, bizarre, aggressive, or disruptive—can be subjected to repeated isolation, segregation, disciplinary removals, and complete loss of access to an education.

The wasted human potential is tragic. In so many schools, kids with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges are still poorly understood, and treated in a way that is completely at odds with what is now known about how they came to be challenging in the first place. The frustration and desperation felt by parents and teachers is palpable. 

Despite a general decrease in segregated placements for students with disabilities over the past twenty-five years, students with an ED classification are still disproportionately excluded from general education settings and placed in separate facilities.

Some researchers argue that segregated placements can result in behaviorally challenged students actually regressing and developing new and more intensive behavioral issues that they learn and model from each other. 

Though students identified under certain categories of disability may be more likely to act aberrantly…it is also possible that these students are targeted more by school staff and penalized for more minor disciplinary infractions.

Students with recurrent suspensions have large deficits in academic and social skills.  just as students with learning disabilities may lack skills necessary to become proficient in reading or writing, behaviorally challenging kids may struggle to master skills required for proficiency in handling life’s social, emotional, and behavioral challenges.

Harsh discipline policies and high rates of suspension and expulsion actually “threaten the academic success of all students, even students who have never been suspended.”

Research shows a strong correlation between suspensions, negative school environmental conditions, and lower school-wide achievement.

For children facing disciplinary exclusion, the harms and long-term risks are great. Children who are suspended from school are more likely to academically underperform, drop out, and become involved in the juvenile justice system, leading to a host of other potential life-long consequences. 

The part is my commentary.

Is there a solution?

There are ways progressive schools are making the leap from exclusionary practices to inclusion.

Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, provides an instructional framework in general education classrooms that allows students to learn using their individual cognitive strengths.  Both instruction and assessment use a student’s strongest modalities.

UDL provides class wide accommodations that reduce frustration, sensory overload and barriers to literacy, while providing a standards-based curriculum that all students are able to access.

By teaching a child using their strengths instead of focusing on deficits is tremendously helpful for kids with ED.  They are hungry for acceptance and understanding, and respecting the way they learn is key.

Another critical factor is facilitating positive relationships between students with and without ED in a general education classroom. 

Research indicates this dependent on a number of variables including teacher attitude and preparation, systematic instruction of social skills, and opportunities for positive peer interactions.

In light of these findings, a focused effort on teacher training and development of skills necessary to educate students with behavioral health conditions could allow for far more successful inclusive educational programming.

As the United States Supreme Court noted, “total exclusion from the educational process for more than a trivial period . . . is a serious event in the life of the suspended child.”