Teachers should recognize the limits of their expertise in dealing with students with chronic behavioral problems and make appropriate referrals. Before referring students outside the classroom, teachers must document intervention strategies attempted. Initial referrals may be made to parents, with a call, email or letter describing the problem, interventions tried, and proposed plan. For some students, their behavior resists all modification attempts and is a response to negative environmental influences like failure in and out of school. When meeting with parents, conferences should avoid blame and focus on collaboratively helping the student regulate their behavior. Referrals to specialized assistance may be needed for problems unresponsive to classroom treatment or beyond a teacher's expertise.

1. Chapter 10 – Seeking Outside Assistance
Introduction
Teachers need to recognize that there are limits
to their expertise in dealing with students with
chronic behaviour problems and make appropriate
referrals without feeling professional inadequacy.
Prior to making outside referrals teachers should be
able to demonstrate through documentation, the
various intervention strategies they have
undertaken prior to the referral.
*

2. Parent Referrals
One of the initial referrals may be to the
student’s parent(s) /guardian. Contact can be
initiated with a phone call, e-mail or letter.
Contact parents when:
1) Misbehaviour continues after the teacher has
exhausted the strategies in this text. (exceptions)
2) The teachers is “confident” that parent support will
have a positive influence on the student’s behaviour.
* Important: Prior to making parental contact, students
must be given “the choice” between improving his
behaviour or having his parent(s) notified.
*

3. Parent Referrals
Talking to Parents – What they need to know:
1) Detailed description of the problem (could be
a result of dialogue with other professional
staff)
2) An explanation of the intervention strategies
attempted to date.
3) A comprehensive proposed plan of action

4. The Nature of Persistent Misbehaviour
Referrals
Some students display deviant behaviours
that resist all attempts at modification.
These students are often reacting in
response to negative influences in their
environment.

5. Influences that impact a student’s low
success/failure ratio
1) Failure in the classroom environment.
1) Student misbehaviour serves as protection from
further hurt and feelings of inadequacy
(Wolfgang 1999)
2) Such students receive reward and gratification
from their success at focusing attention on
themselves than from meeting appropriate
behavioral and instructional expectations.

6. Influences that impact a student’s low
success/failure ratio
2) Failure Outside the classroom environment
Students may have experienced longitudinal
attachment issues. They have embedded high
levels of apprehension, distrust, disappointment,
anger, or outrage which manifest in what
appears to benign contexts.

7. Influences that impact a student’s low
success/failure ratio
3) Failure as a Result of Primary Mode of
Contact
Students may have experienced longitudinal
behaviourial issues that emerge during
preschool and kindergarten years. For many
students their success/failure ratio continues
in a downward trend. Some students may be
diagnosed with learning disabilities or mental
health issues.

8. Reality for many parents
1) When their child is viewed as a failure they also
can see themselves as “failures” and can become
very defensive - looking to deflect responsibility.
2) Many parents don’t like school either and they
often bring negative baggage about their own
schooling which impacts their child and limits their
ability to work within a collaborative school
environment.
3) The School must encourage self-efficacy for
parents - often parents of children who have had a
longitudinal history with a chronically misbehaving
child feel bankrupt.

9. Conducting Parent Conferences
Parents need to be reinforced that the reason for the
conference is that everyone cares about the student.
The conference should avoid “shame” and “blame” -
it is not a tribunal.
The conference focus is on the child’s behaviour and
how, as a collaborative team, we can assist the child
to self-regulate his or her behaviour.

10. Conducting Parent Conferences
Parents and or the student may personally
attack the professional staff at the conference.
In order to preserve one’s professional
competence and integrity we need to avoid
words but focus on the actual history which would
include anecdotal records and related
documentation of the interventions that have been
attempted. (Danger that some parents may feel
blindsided at this point)

11. Symptoms of Serious Problems
1. Changes in physical appearance.
2. Changes in activity level
3. Changes in personality
4. Changes in achievement
5. Changes in health or physical abilities.
6. Changes in socialization
Duty Bound to report (review school protocols) - abuse -
suicide - threat to themselves or others.

12. Generic Principles of Chapter 11
11-1 Professional teachers recognize that some chronic
misbehaviour problems are not responsive to treatment within
the classroom or are beyond their expertise and necessitate
specialized outside assistance.
11-2 When outside assistance must be sought to manage a chronic
misbehaviour problem adequately and appropriately, the use of
a multidisciplinary team is the most effective approach.
11-3 Parental support and cooperation with the school is critical
when attempting to manage a student who chronically
misbehaves. Careful planning and skilled conferencing
techniques are essential to develop a positive working
relationship between home and school.