An assessment of student and teacher behavior in treatment and mainstreamed classes for preschool and kindergarten

Data were collected in mainstreamed and treatment classrooms on the rate and form of problem behaviors to identify conditions under which children, referred for special services due to learning and behavior problems, differed from normative classmates. In general, children who were referred exhibited higher rates, longer episodes, and more forms of inappropriate behavior than their nonreferred peers. Higher rates of teacher attention also were associated consistently with the referred children's higher rates of inappropriate behavior. Analysis of common class activities further indicated that referred children exhibited individual differences in terms of the activities in which they were most inappropriate. Finally, an examination of several environmental factors, such as group size and teacher presence, indicated that these factors were not associated consistently with high or low rates of inappropriate behavior.