Decades of educational research have demonstrated that students are most likely to be successful when instruction is explicit and engaging and provides students with multiple opportunities to practice with teacher feedback. To be explicit means more than simply telling students what to do. It is the teacher's responsibility to help the student…

The current body of research on classroom environments identifies key proactive instructional strategies that when implemented effectively can reduce the likelihood of problematic behavioral incidents by students. One strategy known as active supervision has demonstrated positive outcomes across school settings, including classrooms, hallways,…

Academics and behavior are inextricably linked, and as such, management of behavior should be considered not as an addition to the teacher's repertoire of skills but as an integral foundational component of effective instruction. Paradoxically, teachers report that students with challenging behavior are both their greatest challenge and that…

There is a long and persistent gap between the academic achievement of White and Black students in America's schools. Further, Black students are suspended from school at a rate that is more than three times greater than White students. While there has been some suggestion that perhaps teacher-student racial matching may be part of a solution, the…

When dealing with children who exhibit challenging behaviors there are no known interventions that work for all students or at all times. Thus, intervention for these students is often implemented in a trial and error manner. This article provides a logic for considering probability as a factor in selecting strategies. Understanding that some…

Acting-out behavior by students manifests in ways that make classroom management and academic success very challenging. In this time- and field-tested resource, Colvin and Scott present a system for understanding acting-out behavior in terms of seven phases and correcting it before it gets in the way of student engagement and learning. The newly…

Effective behavior management is necessary to ensure students are engaged with instruction. Students cannot learn if they are not engaged. Although the relationship between effective behavior management and positive student behavior is well established, the relationship between behavior management and increased academic achievement, including…

The use of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is an effective tool to address a wide range of severe behavior problems of students at risk for or with emotional disabilities (ED). However, the transformation of a procedure proven effective under highly-controlled clinical conditions to a practical and effective strategy for use in applied…

This article aimed to review the literature and examine and compare the effects of choral and individual responding. Six studies met inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Participants in the study comprise students with various disabilities, male and female, and between pre-K and 12th grade. Results indicate a generally positive…

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine teacher and student behavior in high school classrooms that included at least one student identified with challenging behavior. Across two school years and within the content areas of math, reading/English, social studies, and science, student/ teacher dyads were directly observed in the typical…

Across the modern history of the field of special education and emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD), direct observation of student and educator behavior has been an essential component of the diagnostic process, student progress monitoring, and establishing functional and statistical relationships within research. This article provides an…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how issues of effectiveness and efficiency are considered most logically in the field of education. More specifically, the focus is on the importance of these issues as they pertain to teaching, instruction, and management strategies for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD). The driving…

Effective instruction is a critical predictor of student achievement. As students with exceptionalities such as emotional and behavioral disorders and learning disabilities, who typically struggle with academic achievement, spend increasing amounts of general education settings, the need for precise instructional behaviors becomes more imperative.…

Students in alternative, residential, and correctional settings present challenges in the classroom and facility due to the complexity and intensity of their behaviors. In addition, the factors typically associated with these settings including crowding, inconsistency, and conflicting staff perspectives on education and discipline present…

Classrooms are complex social systems in which teachers and students interact in a variety of ways across contexts. Of issue is both the nature and frequency of teachers' use of what typically are considered effective instructional practice and the typical manner in which students respond to different teacher behaviors. This study expands upon…