Social Networks in Mainstream Classrooms

This study examines the social networks formed in mainstreamed classrooms that contained students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The sample consisted of 20 students with EBD and their classmates in 16 third- through sixth-grade classes ( N = 406). A group-administered interview gathered information on classroom social networks and on peer-assessed behavioral characteristics. Teachers completed the Teacher Report Form for students with EBD. Although they were significantly higher in peer-assessed aggression and disruption and lower in cooperation than general education boys, boys with EBD tended to associate with peers at a level comparable to that of general education boys. The peer clusters containing boys with EBD were characterized by high levels of peer-assessed aggression and disruption and low levels of peer-assessed cooperation, leadership, and academic performance.