WOONSOCKET — Maureen B. Macera knew when she became superintendent of Woonsocket schools a year ago that restructuring special education was at the top of her critical list.

A new director of special education, Carole Lerner, came on board six months ago, and the two have been working with administrators and teachers to tackle one of the biggest problems: the high number of special-education students in separate classrooms.

As of last month, 42 percent of special-education students at the elementary level spent most of their day in separate classrooms, as did 44 percent of special-education students at the middle school and 46 percent at the high school.

“We looked at our program and saw we had too many kids in self-contained classrooms with teachers who might be highly qualified in one area but not all of them,” said Lerner. “It became abundantly clear that we had to rethink how we teach students with IEPs [Individual Education Plans, required for all students in special education].”

The district is reviewing the education plans for all its roughly 1,800 special-education students and has hired two consultants who will recommend staffing changes and help to integrate more special-education students into regular classrooms.

The middle school reduced the number of its self-contained classrooms from 19 to 17 this year, and plans to make further reductions next year.

Macera and Lerner have found that many students have been placed in separate classrooms for one reason: behavioral problems. “We have serious mental-health issues in this community, and our children’s circumstances are not equal. This is a challenged system,” Macera said.

Woonsocket claims the state’s highest incidence of reported child abuse and neglect, the third-highest percentage of children living in poverty, and the third-highest rate of lead poisoning. Many children come to school depressed and anxious, and those feelings are often manifested in violence, including bullying, fighting and self-injury, Macera said.

Macera said some troubled students were put in small classes with the best of intentions. But she said, “Those children do not belong in self-contained classrooms. They need behavioral interventions.”

“I think it has been convenient in the past to say, ‘Get that child in a self-contained classroom. They are disrupting my class,’ ” Macera said.

Schools are becoming more sophisticated in their approaches. Woonsocket Middle School, for example, offers separate behavior programs for about 40 troubled students. The Sherlock Center for Disabilities at Rhode Island College is working with 43 Rhode Island schools to create a more positive and respectful environment. At least 80 percent of the schools’ faculty and staff — from cafeteria workers to principals — must agree to participate in training sessions.

“If you teach kids how to behave and create an environment that increases the likelihood that positive behavior will occur, the national data shows that it decreases the number of kids who require intensive interventions,” said Anthony Antosh, director of the Sherlock Center.

After some initial resistance, Woonsocket teachers have been receptive to the changes, Macera said.

“We will get them whatever resources are necessary in this new model,” she said. “This is the law. We have to find a way to make it work.”

jjordan@projo.com