Brief summary of evidence to support the recommendation

Research demonstrates that teachers who proactively decrease problem behaviors implement classroom management approaches that:

• Establish an orderly and positive classroom environment by teaching and reinforcing rules and routines.

• Reinforce the appropriate behavior of individuals and groups of students.
• Practice instructional principles that incorporate presentation of new materials with modeling and practice.
• Offer a variety of activities and materials at a pace and level of difficulty appropriate to the range of student abilities in the class.
• Encourage collaborative peer support (peer tutoring) as an instructional strategy.

Three randomized controlled trials and one single-subject study have demonstrated that group contingency programs—where teachers clearly specify behavioral goals and their students work in teams to maintain appropriate behavior—are effective in both preventing and then intervening with behavior problems when implemented in well-managed classrooms. Significant benefits of group contingency programs modeled after the Good Behavior Game have been shown across grade levels and settings, for different target behaviors (for example, shyness and aggression), and both immediately and 5 years after the intervention, with hundreds of students.

In addition, two randomized controlled trials evaluated the effectiveness of training teachers to use comprehensive classroom management approaches, with the goals of reducing students’ time off task (the Classroom Organization and Management Program) and disruptive behaviors in the classroom (the Incredible Years Training for Teachers Series). Participants in both programs were trained to create and maintain well-organized classrooms and to use the instructional and skill-building strategies as prescribed. Only the investigators examining the Classroom Organization and Management Program were able to demonstrate that students significantly increased their task engagement and reduced their inappropriate behavior as a result of their teachers’ participation in the training.

Studies examining direct instruction practices in a single-subject alternating treatment design suggest that lessons delivered in small steps, at the appropriate level of difficulty, and with ample opportunities for practice result in higher levels of on-task behavior and student engagement. Single-subject research data also support the practice of increasing the number of opportunities that students have to respond to academic or social prompts, thereby increasing academic engaged time and fluency with the material and reducing inappropriate behavior.

A series of four single-subject research studies also have demonstrated the effectiveness of increasing opportunities for student choice as an intervention that decreases inappropriate behaviors. Choice can be embedded in academic tasks in various ways, including by offering students a choice regarding the specific task to complete, materials to use, and the sequence of activities to tackle.

Finally, one randomized controlled trial and one single-subject study have demonstrated the effectiveness of structured class-wide peer tutoring programs, such as the Peer Assisted Learning Strategies, for improving the classroom behavior of students with behavior problems. Peer tutoring, where students work in pairs as a tutor and tutee, has been shown to improve students’ academic engagement and learning, help students develop cooperative work habits, increase positive social interactions among students, and reduce off-task behaviors.