MAXIMIZING RESOURCES FOR SERVICING THE NEEDS OF CHILDREN EXHIBITING BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN PRIMARY-SCHOOL - THE SHIFT FROM WITHDRAWAL TO OUTREACH

Socio-psycho-educational resource (SPER) centres were first establishe d in Western Australia in 1977 for the purpose of educating and managi ng primary school-aged children with severe behaviour problems. Each c entre functioned as a separate unit located on the campus of a host pr imary school. Selected children were initially withdrawn from their re gular schools to attend the SPER centre where they received a speciali sed program aimed at decreasing their problematic behaviour. The host school assisted re-entry of SPER centre children into the mainstream b y providing part-time integration within its regular classes prior to eventual return to the regular school. In 1988 the Coolbellup SPER Cen tre began to replace this withdrawal service model with an outreach mo del. By 1991 the preferred method was to deliver intervention programs within a child's home school. Data revealed that the outreach model w as able to service in excess of three times as many children each year as the withdrawal model, with only a minimal increase in teaching sta ff and with an associated reduction in the length of waiting lists. Po st hoc evaluation of student records demonstrated high levels of succe ss for the outreach model, based on teacher ratings of improvement in rule following, peer interactions, and overall school behaviour and pe rformance. Other benefits of the outreach program are discussed.