A number of evidence-based classroom management approaches, procedures, and programs have been developed and presented over the years. In this article the authors synthesize recommendations from various sources, focusing on evidence-based strategies that can be implemented in a systematic manner. They focus specifically on universal strategies, approaches that should be used for all students in a classroom and that will effectively reduce a range of behavior problems in the classroom while strengthening student academic success. The goal of universal strategies in a classroom is to ensure a consistent, proactive approach for all students. Emphasis is placed in three areas: (1) defining and teaching expected behavior (i.e., creating rules); (2) acknowledging students for exhibiting prosocial behavior; and (3) responding to discipline problems in a fair and consistent manner. Because each classroom is different, an important first step to implementing these three aspects of universal strategies is to conduct a careful assessment before developing a classroom intervention. The authors first describe how a classroom assessment might be conducted and then move to the creation of rules and expectations, followed by implementation of individual student and classroom acknowledgment systems. Responding to inappropriate behavior--the final element in their proposal for a universal intervention support--will be discussed in a followup paper to be published in the next issue of thi journal. (Contains 3 tables.)