Implement Today! Behavior Management Strategies to Increase Engagement and Reduce Challenging Behaviors in the Classroom

Abstract

An increasing number of students with emotional and behavioral disorders are being served in general education environments. This article provides general and special education teachers with step-by-step instructions in three classroom management strategies that, when implemented well, can increase academic engagement and reduce challenging behavior for all students in inclusive classrooms, including those with emotional and behavioral disorders. The strategies involve providing behavior-specific praise, directing play of the Good Behavior Game, and providing students with frequent opportunities to respond to academic requests.

Keywords

classroom management inclusion emotional and behavioral disorders challenging behavior

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alberto

P. A.

Troutman

A. C.

(2013). Applied behavior analysis for teachers (9th ed.). Pearson.

Allday

R. A.

Hinkson-Lee

Hudson

Neilsen-Gatti

Kleinke

Russel

C. S.

(2012). Training general educators to increase behavior-specific praise: Effects on students with EBD. Behavioral Disorders, 37(2), 87–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874291203700203

Allday

R. A.

Neilsen-Gatti

Hudson

T. M.

(2013). Preparation for inclusion in teacher education pre-service curricula. Teacher Education and Special Education, 36(4), 298–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406413497485

Allen

K. P.

(2010). Classroom management, bullying, and teacher practices. Professional Educator, 34(1), n1.

Andrews

D. A.

Dowden

(2006). Risk principle of case classification in correctional treatment: A meta-analytic investigation. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 50(1), 88–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X05282556

Brouwers

Tomic

(2000). A longitudinal study of teacher burnout and perceived self-efficacy in classroom management. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16(2), 239–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(99)00057-8

Cohen

(1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

Duchaine

E. L.

Jolivette

Fredrick

L. D.

(2011). The effect of teacher coaching with performance feedback on behavior-specific praise in inclusion classrooms. Education and Treatment of Children, 34, 209–227. https://doi.org/10.1353/etc.2011.0009

Englert

C. A.

(1983). Measuring special education teacher effectiveness. Exceptional Children, 50, 247–254.

10.

Ennis

R. P.

Royer

D. J.

Lane

K. L.

Menzies

H. M.

Oakes

W. P.

Schellman

L. E.

(2018). Behavior-specific praise: An effective, efficient, low-intensity strategy to support student success. Beyond Behavior, 27(3), 134–139. https://doi.org/10.1177/1074295618798587

11.

Flower

McKenna

J. W.

Bunuan

R. L.

Muething

C. S.

Vega

Jr. (2014). Effects of the Good Behavior Game on challenging behaviors in school settings. Review of Educational Research, 84(4), 546–571. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654314536781

12.

Friedman

I. A.

(2013). Classroom management and teacher stress and burnout. In Everston

C. M.

Weinstein

C. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of classroom management (pp. 935–954). Routledge.

13.

Gage

N. A.

Scott

Hirn

MacSuga-Gage

A. S.

(2018). The relationship between teachers’ implementation of classroom management practices and student behavior in elementary school. Behavioral Disorders, 43(2), 302–315. https://doi.org/10.1177/0198742917714809

14.

Groves

E. A.

Austin

J. L.

(2019). Does the Good Behavior Game evoke negative peer pressure? Analyses in primary and secondary classrooms. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 52(1), 3–16.

15.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. (2004). Pub. L. No.108-446, 118 Stat. 2647.

16.

Ingram

Elliott

(2016). A critical analysis of the role of wait time in classroom interactions and the effects on student and teacher interactional behaviours. Cambridge Journal of Education, 46(1), 37–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2015.1009365

17.

Joslyn

P. R.

Donaldson

J. M.

Austin

J. L.

Vollmer

T. R.

(2019). The Good Behavior Game: A brief review. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 52(1), 811–815. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.572

18.

Kalis

T. M.

Vannest

K. J.

Parker

(2007). Praise counts: Using self-monitoring to increase effective teaching practices. Preventing School Failure, 51, 20–27. https://doi.org/10.3200/PSFL.51.3.20-27

19.

Lambie

Randell

(2013). The impact of incarceration on juvenile offenders. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(3), 448–459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2013.01.007

20.

Lannie

A. L.

McCurdy

B. L.

(2007). Preventing disruptive behavior in the urban classroom: Effects of the Good Behavior Game on student and teacher behavior. Education and Treatment of Children, 30(1), 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1353/etc.2007.0002

21.

Maag

J. W.

Katsiyannis

(2008). The medical model to block eligibility for students with EBD: A response-to-intervention alternative. Behavioral Disorders, 33(3), 184–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874290803300305

22.

MacSuga-Gage

A. S.

Simonsen

(2015). Examining the effects of teacher-directed opportunities to respond on student outcomes: A systematic review of the literature. Education and Treatment of Children, 38(2), 211–239. https://doi.org/10.1353/etc.2015.0009

23.

Martin

Sargent

Van Camp

Wright

(2018). Practice guide: Increasing opportunities to respond as an intensive intervention. Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education.

24.

McLeskey

Barringer

M.-D.

Billingsley

Brownell

Jackson

Kennedy

. . . Ziegler

(2017). High-leverage practices in special education. Council for Exceptional Children & CEEDAR Center.

25.

Pennington

McComas

J. J.

(2017). Effects of the Good Behavior Game across classroom contexts. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 50(1), 176–180. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.357

26.

Reinke

W. M.

Lewis-Palmer

Merrell

(2008). The classroom check-up: A classwide teacher consultation model for increasing praise and decreasing disruptive behavior. School Psychology Review, 37, 315–332.

27.

Reinke

W. M.

Stormont

Herman

K. C.

Wang

Newcomer

King

(2014). Use of coaching and behavior support planning for students with disruptive behavior within a universal classroom management program. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 22(2), 74–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1063426613519820

28.

Royer

D. J.

Lane

K. L.

Dunlap

K. D.

Ennis

R. P.

(2018). A systematic review of teacher-delivered behavior-specific praise on K–12 student performance. Remedial and Special Education, 40(2), 112–128. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932517751054

29.

Rubow

C. C.

Vollmer

T. R.

Joslyn

P. R.

(2018). Effects of the Good Behavior Game on student and teacher behavior in an alternative school. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 51(2), 382–392. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.455

30.

Sanders

Ennis

R. P.

Losinski

(2018). Academic and behavioral strategies to enhance the understanding of expository text for secondary students with EBD. Beyond Behavior, 27(2), 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/1074295618780975

31.

Stichter

J. P.

Lewis

T. J.

Whittaker

T. A.

Richter

Johnson

N. W.

Trussell

R. P.

(2009). Assessing teacher use of opportunities to respond and effective classroom management strategies: Comparisons among high- and low-risk elementary schools. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 11(2), 68–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098300708326597

32.

Trussell

R. P.

(2008). Classroom universals to prevent problem behaviors. Intervention in School and Clinic, 43(3), 179–185. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451207311678

33.

U.S. Department of Education. (2007). 29th annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/2007/parts-b-c/29th-vol-1.pdf

34.

U.S. Department of Education. (2018). 40th annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/2018/parts-b-c/40th-arc-for-idea.pdf