The prevalence of students with behavioral problems who also have learning problems has been reported to be as high as 50% (Glassberg et al. "Behavioral Disorders," 25, 9-21, 1999). In the current study, we progressively evaluated the effects of positive reinforcement, instructional strategies, and, if needed, negative reinforcement on…

Positive, proactive classroom management strategies support academic and behavioral student outcomes while fostering positive teacher-student relationships. However, teachers often cite struggles with classroom management and challenging student behavior as key reasons they ultimately leave the field. Additionally, pre-service teachers often fail…

Middle school is a cornerstone for success in high school. However, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement of adolescents often decline as they transition from elementary to middle school, resulting in lower school grades and more challenging behaviors, especially for adolescents with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders…

Middle school is a cornerstone for success in high school. However, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement of adolescents often decline as they transition from elementary to middle school, resulting in lower school grades and more challenging behaviors, especially for adolescents with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders…

Although previous research suggests the use of classroom management strategies can support student engagement and learning, gaps in the literature still exist including the frequency of classroom management strategies in small-group instruction. The purpose of this descriptive study was to measure the frequency of paraprofessionals' (n = 94)…

Although previous research suggests the use of classroom management strategies can support student engagement and learning, gaps in the literature still exist including the frequency of classroom management strategies in small-group instruction. The purpose of this descriptive study was to measure the frequency of paraprofessionals' (n = 94)…

Classroom teachers are responsible for providing high-quality instruction to multiple students simultaneously. When students engage in problem behaviors, instructional quality and instructional time may be negatively impacted. A multiple schedule of reinforcement is a behavioral intervention strategy that allows teachers to signal to students…

Behavior-specific praise is a research-based classroom management strategy that promotes appropriate student behaviors. Praise specificity, however, may not be the only characteristic of praise that enhances efficacy. The current study examined teacher's natural use of specific, contingent, and varied praise to understand additional qualities of…

The Caught Being Good Game (CBGG) is an evidence-based practice used in classrooms to reduce disruptive classroom behavior. This approach to classwide intervention has been implemented and its effectiveness demonstrated across grade levels and types of disruptive behavior. Teachers report that the CBGG is an easy classroom management strategy to…

Praise, defined as public or private expression of approval for behavior, is recognized as a critical component in many classroom behavior interventions. Historically, praise has been viewed from the perspective of educators in terms of both increasing educator-preferred behaviors and in terms of educators' perspectives. Little is known about…

Educators feel overwhelmed by managing challenging behaviors which often leads to burnout and turnover (Clotfelter et al., 2006; Kokkinos, 2007; Simon & Johnson, 2015). However, professional development (PD) in evidenced-based behavior management practices (EBMPs) is sparse with current PD models yielding varied outcomes (Darling-Hammond et…

A tremendous amount of evidence supports the importance of building relationships between educators and students (Kincaide et al., 2020). Because of this, there is an emerging focus in both research and practice on how student-teacher relationships are assessed, the impact of these relationships on student outcomes, and methods for building and…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often receive low rates of teacher praise and high rates of teacher reprimands, though they may respond more positively to praise and more negatively to reprimands than their typically developing peers. Teacher praise-to-reprimand ratios (PRRs) are associated with increased student engagement,…

Teacher implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is critical for student success, yet a gap remains between research to practice. Two EBPs that specifically promote student engagement and positive behavior are specific praise (BSP) and active student responding (OTR). Unfortunately, many classroom teachers, specifically pre-service…

This study addressed teacher perspectives of behavior management in the post-virtual learning classroom. The problem that was addressed was the decline of middle school student classroom behavior compared to the pre-pandemic classroom, which is crucial for educators due to its influence on the quality of teaching and learning. The purpose of this…