Effect of a school consulting program aimed at helping teachers integrate students with behavior difficulties in secondary school
Mainstreaming of behavior disorder students is a challenging task for teachers, particularly at secondary schools. A collaborative school consulting program (ACES), using functional behavior assessment and applied behavioral techniques, was offered to teachers working with adolescents with behavioral difficulties in regular classrooms. Its goal was to facilitate integration of adolescents with behavior difficulties in mainstream classes of secondary schools. ACES proposes five to six consultation meetings throughout the school year, between November and May, and is offered in two ways, either individually or in groups. One hundred and twenty-nine teachers (88 women and 41 men) participated in the project allocated into two treatment groups (n = 85), and one comparison group (n = 44). The results showed no significant difference in the quality of the master-pupil relationship, but a significant decrease in teacher stress for the treatment groups compared to the comparison group. While attitudes toward inclusive education become more negative at the end of the school year for the control group, they remain stable for treatment groups.