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Participants previously showed low on-task behavior during reading. Reading materials were delivered at instructional, frustration, and independent levels to compare task engagement and comprehension. On-task behavior was highest at the instructional level, while comprehension was highest at the independent level and lowest at the frustration level.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/instructional-level-and-engagement-in-students-with-behavioral-disorders/595118/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/instructional-level-and-engagement-in-students-with-behavioral-disorders/595118.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Bulrr","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-16","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What instructional materials were compared in the study?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Reading materials were presented at three difficulty levels: instructional (93%–97% known words), frustration (less than 93% known words), and independent (greater than 97% known words).","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How did the difficulty level affect on-task behavior?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"All four students showed the highest percentage of on-task behavior when reading materials were at their instructional level.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How did the difficulty level affect comprehension scores?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Comprehension scores were highest for all four students at the independent level and lowest at the frustration level.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},595118,1792114184,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":44,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},5909892115043,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Instructional Level and Engagement in Students With Behavioral Disorders  \nBehavioral Disorders 2022, Vol. 47(4) 236–244  \n© Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2021 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/01987429211050014](DOI: 10.1177/01987429211050014)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/01987429211050014)[journals.sagepub.com/home/bhd](journals.sagepub.com/home/bhd)  \nChelsea E. Carr 1, John Umbreit 1, and Rebecca Hartzell 1  \nAbstract  \nThis study examined the effects of adjusting the difficulty level of instructional materials on the on-task time and comprehension of four students with emotional and behavioral disorders. All participants previously exhibited low rates of on-task behavior during reading assignments. Students were presented with reading materials at their instructional, frustration, and independent levels to assess the effect on time on-task and comprehension. All four students demonstrated the highest percentage of on-task behavior when presented with reading materials at their instructional level. Comprehension scores were highest for all four students at the independent level and lowest at the frustration level.  \nKeywords  \nemotional and behavioral disorders, instructional level, frustration level, independent level, engagement  \nResearch has consistently demonstrated that students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) often engage in behavioral problems that negatively affect their academic achievement (e.g., Bradley et al., 2008; Kauffman & Landrum, 2017; Nelson et al., 2004) . Behavioral problems are particularly concerning in school settings because they cause a disruption to the ongoing classroom activities and interfere with work completion, task engagement, participation in academic activities, and with other prosocial behaviors (Lane et al., 2005; Losinski et al., 2017; Wadsworth et al., 2015) . Consequently, students with EBD may miss valuable instructional time which could lead to academic underachievement, students receiving lower grades, and performing below their general education peers (Lane et al., 2008; Ysseldyke et al., 2017) .  \nVarious aspects of academic tasks may set the occasion for problem behavior (e.g., difficulty level, amount, and preference for the task) . Of particular interest in this study is the difficulty level of academic tasks. Several researchers have demonstrated that difficulty level can lead to an increase in problem behavior (e.g., DePaepe et al., 1996; Gickling & Armstrong, 1978; Treptow et al., 2007; Umbreitet al., 2004) . When students are provided tasks that are either too difficult or too easy, they may engage in problem behavior to avoid those tasks (Gunter et al., 1993; Umbreitet al., 2004). Gickling and Thompson (1985) suggested that students’ optimal learning occurs when they are provided with academic tasks that allow an appropriate level ofchallenge. This is referred to as the instructional level—when tasks are not too easy or too hard, but “just right.” Gickling and Armstrong (1978) operationally defined the instructional level for reading as assignments in which students  \ncould read between 93% to 97% of the words. Assignments that are too difficult, that is, at the student’s frustration level, are those that contain less than 93% known words. In contrast, assignments that contain more than 97% known words are considered too easy and are deemed at the student’s independent level.  \nResearch has demonstrated that providing students with reading assignments at their proper instructional level improves their task engagement, task-completion, and task comprehension (Burns, 2002; Gickling & Armstrong, 1978; Treptow et al., 2007). However, these previous studies have focused on students without disabilities and students with learning disabilities. We were unable to find any similar studies with students with EBD.  \nTo identify the appropriate instructional level f","cbCaidbAgdbu7yic","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidbAgdbu7yic","pdf",669363,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Behavioral problems and academic impact\n## Difficulty level and problem behavior\n# Instructional level in reading\n## Operational definitions\n## Prior research on task engagement and comprehension\n# Curriculum-based assessments (CBAs)\n# Study rationale and research gap\n# Corresponding author information","[{\"question\":\"What instructional materials were compared in the study?\",\"answer\":\"Reading materials were presented at three difficulty levels: instructional (93%–97% known words), frustration (less than 93% known words), and independent (greater than 97% known words).\"},{\"question\":\"How did the difficulty level affect on-task behavior?\",\"answer\":\"All four students showed the highest percentage of on-task behavior when reading materials were at their instructional level.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the difficulty level affect comprehension scores?\",\"answer\":\"Comprehension scores were highest for all four students at the independent level and lowest at the frustration level.\"}]","Instructional Level and Engagement in Students With Behavioral Disorders | PDF",1792080475,23]