Teacher as caregiver: Making meaning with students with emotional/behavioral disabilities

Students with emotional/behavioral disabilities often come to the classroom with an array of problems. What is it that helps these students become successful in the school environment? In interviewing five Mexican-American adolescents enrolled in public school special education classes and their four teachers, their voices illustrated that special education teachers who exhibit care-giving qualities create positive student–teacher relationships with their students identified as having emotional/behavioral disabilities.