Effective Professional Development on Teachers Classroom Management

Practices

Lola Gordon, Janet VanLone, & Sarah Wilkinson

with Jennifer Freeman & Brandi Simonsen

University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

Introductions

•Who are we?• Brandi Simonsen: Opening/purpose

• Janet VanLone: Method

• Sarah Wilkinson: Results

• Lola Gordon: Implications

• Jen Freeman: Conclusion/resources

•Who are you?

Session Overview

• Purpose of Review

• Definitions and Research Questions

• Literature Review Methods and Components

• Discussion of Effective Professional Development

• Implications and Guidance

• Conclusions, Resources, Questions

Session Objectives

• Identify the need for effective professional development in classroom management

• Describe the characteristics and common elements of the most effective types of professional development in classroom management

• Develop strategies for implementing meaningful and effective professional development activities for teachers in the area of classroom management that supports positive changes in teacher and student behavior

Teacher Training in Classroom Management

• The ability of teachers to organize classrooms and manage the behavior of students is critical to achieving positive educational outcomes for students (Oliver, 2007)

• Five critical features (Simonsen et al., 2008): • maximizing structure,

• establishing and teaching positively-stated expectations,

• engaging students in instruction,

• establishing a continuum of strategies to increase appropriate behavior, and

• establishing a continuum of strategies to decrease inappropriate behavior

Teacher Training in Classroom Management

• Many teachers do not receive appropriate training in classroom management prior to beginning teaching (Bergeny & Martens, 2006; Freeman et al., 2014)

• Nationwide, roughly 12% of beginning teachers leave the field within the first 2 years, climbing to 50% within the first 5 years (Smith & Ingersoll, 2004; Freeman et al., 2014)

• A lack of adequate pre-service training in classroom management is frequently reported by in-service teachers, and is frequently reported as one of the biggest challenges for teachers (Bergeny & Martens, 2006; Freeman et al., 2014)

Definitions of Professional Development

• Opportunities for educators to learn and improve their practice

• Components include:• Outside Expert Coaching• Performance Feedback• Didactic Training• General In-service• Inside Expert Coaching• Modeling by Trainer• Self-Management• Video Modeling• Peer Coaching

Systematic Review of Effective Professional Development on Teachers’

Classroom Management Practices

(Freeman, Gordon, Simonsen, Byun, Wilkinson, VanLone, Kowitt, Wei, MacSuga-Gage, Briere, & Sugai, under review)

Purpose of the Review

• To describe the characteristics of the empirical research base for professional development in classroom management

• To identify the common elements of effective professional development in classroom management

• Here’s why we care: • School outcomes (positive school climate)

• Teacher outcomes (reduced attrition, burnout, stress)

• Student outcomes (increased academic and social performance)

Research Questions

• The purpose of this literature review is to answer the following research questions:

• What are the characteristics of the empirical literature examining professional development for in-service teachers in the area of classroom management?

• What are the effects of professional development in classroom management on teacher behavior?

• What are the effects of professional development in classroom management on student behavior?

• What are the common components of effective in-service professional development for classroom management?

MethodSearch performed in 6 databases and limited to peer reviewed articles

Types of Studies

• Group Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Design• Differences in outcomes between groups

• Experimental Single Case Design• Establishes experimental control in one case (e.g., across participants,

settings, behaviors)

Participant Population

• K-12 Teacher, then specified:

• Time in Profession

• Setting of Instruction/Certification

• Primary Focus of Instruction/Certification

Independent Variable

• Classroom management interventions (general or specific) delivered to teachers through professional development

• Techniques• Generic PD/in-service• Didactic training• Modeling

• By trainer or video• Coaching/consultation/mentoring

• Inside expert, Outside expert, Peer• Performance feedback• Self-management

Dependent Variable(s)

• Change in teacher behavior as a result of participation in the professional development practice(s)

• Change in student behavior as a result of teacher participation in the professional development practice(s)

Results – RQ 2:What are the effects of professional development in classroom

management on teacher behavior?

• Measured teacher behaviors included: • Antecedent strategies for social behavior (e.g. prompts)• Instructional strategies (e.g. OTR’s)• Positive feedback or reinforcement (e.g. specific praise, behavior contracts, group

contingencies, token economies, other consequence strategies intended to increase students’ desired behaviors)

• Corrective feedback or punishment (e.g. error corrections, ignoring, time-outs, response cost, other consequence strategies intended to decrease students’ undesired behaviors)

• Teacher behaviors were measured by • Direct observation (e.g. frequency count, momentary time-sampling,

duration/latency recording)• Checklist or rating scales• Combination of methods

Results – RQ 3:What are the effects of professional development in classroom

management on student behavior?

• Measured Student Behaviors• Desired student behaviors (e.g. raising hand before speaking)

• Undesired behaviors (e.g. off-task)

• Student behaviors were measured by • Direct observation (e.g. frequency count, momentary time-sampling,

duration/latency recording, other methods of recording)

• Checklists or rating scales

• Combination of methods

Results – RQ 4:What are the common components of effective in-service professional

development for classroom management?

• Positive changes in both teacher and student behaviors (i.e., increases in desired behaviors and/or decreases in undesired behaviors for teachers and students) were demonstrated in 61.16% (k = 74) of the studies

• Effective professional development interventions often included multiple components

• 60% of the studies included multiple components of professional development

• 40% of the studies included only one component

Effective Professional Development

• Involves multiple components, most commonly

• Outside expert coaching

• Performance feedback

• Didactic training

Noell, G. H., Witt, J. C., Glibertson, D. N., Rainer, S. D., & Freeland, J. T. (1997). Increasing teacher intervention implementation in general education settings through consultation and performance feedback. School Psychology Quarterly, 12, 77-88.

Noell, G. H., Witt, J. C., Slider, N. J., Connell, J. E., Gatti, S. L., Williams, K. L….Duhon, G. J. (2005). Treatment implementation following behavioral consultation in schools: A comparison of three follow-up strategies. School Psychology Review, 34, 87-106.

Outside Expert Coaching

• An outside expert (e.g., researcher) meets with the teacher to plan strategies for improvement

• On-going and collaborative

• Connected to performance feedback

Performance Feedback

• Another individual observes the teacher and provides data-based feedback to the teacher about their performance, often accompanied by a graph

• Specific and immediate

• Growth over time

Didactic Training

• Presentation, workshop, or in-service event that has clear and explicit instructional structure

• Model-Lead-Test

• Large group presentation, Small group activity, Individual practice

Guidance on Effective Professional Development

• Make PD meaningful, effective, and efficient

• Avoid “train and hope” PD situations

• Provide explicit training on interventions

• Incorporate performance feedback as often as possible

• Use multi-component training

• Provide follow-up

• Consider individual teachers’ needs in development

• Use evidence-based practices for providing PD

Implications of the Review

• First:• the bulk of this research has been conducted in elementary or middle schools

• research on effective classroom management professional development needs to be conducted at the high school level

• high school teachers cite classroom behavioral challenges as an issue they feel underprepared to address (Boyd et al., 2011; Feng, 2006; Ingersol, Merrill, & May, 2012; Torres, 2012)

• Second: • school leaders, administrators, trainers, and coaches should feel comfortable

with multi-component PD

Implications, continued…

• Third:• one-shot training events seem to be preferred because of practical logistics

(e.g., time, expense, scheduling convenience)

• professional development outcomes must be considered in the context of basic learning theory (acquisition, fluency, maintenance, generalization).

• Fourth: • professional developers (e.g., consultant trainers, higher education programs,

regional service delivery providers) should ensure that the most empirically sound practices are included

• ensure that the most effective and efficient educator training formats and methods are employed

Implications, continued…

• Finally: • together, the above implications suggest that training on behavior and

classroom management practices must be developed and conducted within a systems perspective that would enhance adoption of evidence based practices

• Most importantly:• professional developers must be held accountable for their own fidelity of

implementation of systems and ensure that educator and student benefit are achieved

Take-Aways

• Many teachers do not receive appropriate classroom management training prior to beginning teacher, and do not receive appropriate support in developing classroom management skills while teaching.

• Research base in effective professional development on teachers’ classroom management skills should expand to include more studies at the high school level.

• Multi-component packages that include direct/explicit training, coaching, and performance feedback are most effective.

Resources: PBIS TECHNICAL BRIEF ON SYSTEMS TO

SUPPORT TEACHERS’ IMPLEMENTATION OF POSITIVE

CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR SUPPORT

(Freeman, Simonsen, Goodman, Mitchell, George, Swain-Bradway, Lane, Sprague, & Putnam, 2017)

Are the foundational systems in place to support PCBS practice implementation by all staff?

Do all staff know what PCBS practices to implement and if they’re doing it accurately?

Do data indicate that staff are implementing PCBS practices effectively?

Systems Action Planning Guide:

3 Key Questions

See

Syst

ems

Bri

efTable 2. Explicit professional development, Coaching and performance feedback strategies

TABLE 3. Tools for data collection

TABLE 4. Strategies to intensify supports

TABLE 1. Foundational school-wide systems

Resources

www.pbis.org

Questions?

References

Bergeny J.C., & Martens, B.K. (2006). Assessing pre-service teachers’ training in empirically validated behavioral instruction practices. School Psychology Quarterly, 21, 262-285.

Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Ing, M., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2011). The influence of school administrators on teacher retention decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 48, 303-333. doi:10.3102/0002831210380788

Feng, L. (2006). Combating teacher shortages: Who leaves, who moves, and why (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fsu%3A182602 (0940607)

Freeman, J., Simonsen, B., Briere, D., & MacSuga-Gage, A. (2014). Pre-Service teacher training in classroom management: A review of state accreditation policy and teacher preparation programs. Teacher Education and Special Education, 37, 106-120.

Ingersoll, R., Merrill, L., & May, H. (2012). Retaining teachers: How preparation matters. Educational Leadership, 69(8), 30-34. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may12/vol69/num08/Retaining-Teachers.aspx

Oliver, R., & Reschly, D. (2007). Effective classroom management: Teacher preparation and professional development. National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality

Simonsen, B., Fairbanks, S., Briesch, A., Myers, D., & Sugai, G. (2008). Evidence based practices in classroom management: Considerations for research to practice. Education and Treatment of Children, 31, 351-380.

Torres, A. S. (2012). “Hello, goodbye”: Exploring the phenomenon of leaving teaching early. Journal of Educational Change, 13, 117-154. doi:10.1007/s10833-011-9172-z

Wei, R. C., Darling-Hammond, L., & Adamson, F. (2010). Professional development in the United States: Trends and challenges, phase II of a three phase study. Dallas, TX: National Staff Development Council.