Students with emotional and behavioural disability who receive their education in special settings often do not have access to the curriculum through evidence-based pedagogies, such as direct instruction, and instead complete packets of worksheets or participate in distance education. The current study was a collaborative action research project involving a special school for students with emotional disability and a local university to examine the effects of replacing online distance education with in-person direct instruction underpinned by Universal Design for Learning. Researchers sought to discover teacher and student perceptions of Universal Design for Learning, enablers and barriers to its implementation, and its effect on attendance and behaviour. Results suggested satisfaction on the part of both students and teachers and a positive effect of Universal Design for Learning on both attendance and behaviour.

The education of children with behavioural difficulties is under scrutiny from various quarters. The provision of specialised school environments is being questioned, at the same time as there is pressure to minimise the exclusion of disruptive pupils. This study looked at the rate of psychiatric disorder that was prevalent in a school for emotionally and behaviourally disordered (EBD) pupils, and found, using DSM III-R criteria, that 24% of the sample had depression, 11% had overanxiousness, and 70% had a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADHD). Educational attainment assessment showed that 75% had a reading age that was at least 2 years below their chronological age. These results suggest that such settings are dealing with a very disturbed group of youngsters.