A practice guide for teachers recommends a mix of strategies to combat student behavior problems in elementary school classrooms, including steps teachers can take on their own and by tapping resources from outside the classroom.
The guide, released by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, calls on teachers to identify the specifics of problem behavior and the conditions that reinforce it. Then they should modify the classroom learning environment to decrease such behavior, and teach and reinforce new skills to increase good behavior, the guide says.
The report also recommends that teachers draw on relationships with colleagues and students’ families for guidance on improving behavior.
Lastly, it asks teachers to assess whether schoolwide behavior problems warrant adopting broader strategies and programs in the school as a whole.
