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Additional key findings highlighted teachers' belief in positive approaches that emphasize social and emotional learning over punitive discipline:

Most teachers feel that educators can address even major threats to safety, such as gangs, fights, and student conflict, only by building positive relationships within the school.

Less than 45 percent of teachers said that suspensions are effective, while 80 percent said that classroom-management training, conflict resolution, guidance counseling, and mediation are effective for improving discipline.

But how do busy and often undersupported teachers go about building strong relationships with students and developing positive methods of conflict resolution? In the interest of igniting a dialog about what works in classroom management, we've gathered the following discipline tips from educators.

As with any series of principles for a complex topic, though, this is only a starting point. The end point, to the degree it can be reached at all, lies in your classrooms. We know that even strategies that work don't work all the time, and sometimes it feels like nothing works at all.

So now we want to hear from you. Let us know what you've tried that's worked, and when and how; what you've learned; and what you're still learning. Together, we can build a vision for a peaceful and effective 21st-century classroom.

Here are some tips for starters:

Agree on Classroom Rules at the Beginning of the Year

Taking time out for this simple step can prevent a lot of misery in the long term. Experienced educators suggest engaging students actively in the process of determining a set of class rules. Taking this preventative measure creates a positive climate from the start.

Check in with Students at the Start of Class

Even three minutes can make a difference. You can do this by asking questions, such as, "What do you want to get out of class today?" Teachers can weigh in with their goals for class, too.

"This is a chance for the teacher, while still maintaining control of a classroom, to share with students at their level," says Liz Sullivan, coauthor of the "Teachers Talk" report and education program director at the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative. "Have each kid give a short answer. It's a way to communicate with them. Making them feel like a part of the process sets a positive tone."

Be Consistent About Expectations

This can be the biggest challenge for individuals to address, but it's important to keep in mind that school staff should work together as much as possible to foster consistency in expectations, and discipline methods, throughout the school.

"Sometimes, staff inadvertently set up gaps," explains Nancy Franklin, a veteran educator with more than a decade of classroom experience who now provides training and support for the Los Angeles Unified School District's Positive Behavior Support policy. "Students may think, 'If I go to this teacher, I get this answer, but if I go to the principal, I get another answer.' It's like a kid who gets different answers from Mom and Dad."

Reinforce Appropriate Behavior

"When you are in a classroom with a teacher who reinforces positive behavior, kids calm down," says Franklin. "Think four positives to any corrective feedback."

Franklin argues that correcting students is the weakest way of teaching rules. "It's not about 'Gotcha -- you did it the wrong way; here's the right way,'" she says. "Students need to be able to trust you and feel safe. That enables them to experience emotional health and flourish."

Maintain Student Dignity

When corrections are necessary, experts suggest handling situations quietly and calmly. Don't make a big deal in front of the whole class.

"An approach to discipline that is respectful of human rights and maintains student dignity leads to a school that is inherently safe," says former teacher Sally Lee, coauthor of "Teachers Talk" and executive director of the New York City organization Teachers Unite. "A school in which students and teachers don't feel safe creates a fearful environment. And where there is a fearful environment, there are low expectations for discipline."

Be Neutral, Not Accusatory

When problems arise, don't ask, for example, ""Why did you take Sally's pencil?" This apporach often provokes defensive comebacks such as, "She was mean to me." Instead, ask what happened, opening the way for students to tell their story. Follow up with questions such as "How do you think that made Sally feel?"

Look for the Cause

It's a good idea to notice when students act out, educators advise. Does it happen only when the child is doing math or reading? Identifying when problems occur may help you recognize the reason.

Similarly, it's helpful to figure out what the underlying problem is. "If it's a skill deficit, a kid doesn't know how to behave," says Joseph Ryan, a special education researcher at Clemson University who has worked in schools for disabled children. "If it's a performance deficit, the kid knows what to do but needs motivation."

Establish a Fairness Committee

"Often, a person who is acting out wants to make amends for what they've done," says Josh Heisler, a teacher at New York City's Vanguard High School. "They won't feel right until they fix the problem."

Heisler's school set up a fairness committee of teachers and students that promotes a restorative approach, rather than a punitive one, to righting wrongs: Instead of directing offenders to the principal's office or threatening suspensions, teachers let them tell their side of the story to the committee and, hopefully, make amends. When the committee convenes, it asks students questions ranging from "What happened?" and "Who else has been affected?" to "What do you need to do now to repair the harm?"

Share Your Experience

What would you add to this list? Do you have specific examples of how you've achieved these goals -- or others? We want to know.

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How to Develop Positive Classroom Management | Edutopia

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A recent report found that educators believe that the secret to effective discipline is proactively building relationships, not reacting punitively to student misbehavior. But how do busy and often undersupported teachers go about building strong relationships with students and developing positive methods of conflict resolution?

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This article is adapted from Larry's new book, Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies for Student Motivation.

Photo credit: iStockPhoto

In the previous excerpt from this book, I shared some specific strategies for positive classroom management. Here are a few more.

Reminder of Moral Values

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely found in one experiment that if people are reminded of their moral values, they are far less likely to cheat. In his study, they were reminded of the Ten Commandments.

A variation of this study can be applied if a teacher knows that a substitute will be coming the next day. In less than a minute, a teacher can remind students of the expected behavior, say that he or she would like to be able to trust them, and ask students to raise their hands if they'll commit to the expected behavior. Similar exercises could be used before going to a school assembly or a computer lab.

In my experience, I have always found a clear difference in student behavior between when I do this kind of reminder and when I do not.

Light Touches

Studies have shown that a supportive touch on the shoulder can result in a student being twice as likely to volunteer in class than if he or she did not receive that touch. Library users who are touched rate the library more favorably, and people dining at restaurants who are casually touched by waiters or waitresses feel more positively about their experience and leave higher tips. And numerous other studies suggest that touch can have additional positive cognitive effects.

Further studies have shown that a light touch on the upper arm can increase compliance substantially, and two light touches can increase it even more.

Of course, teachers have to be careful using this tactic, but a quick shoulder touch should be doable for many.

Choice and Ownership

People are more motivated when they have more control over their environment. In an experiment documented by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, which has since been repeated many times, half the participants in a lottery were given random numbers. The other half were given pieces of paper and could write whatever numbers they wished. Researchers then offered to purchase the tickets. They found that they had to pay those who wrote their own numbers five times what they had to pay those who were given numbers. In other words, experiments have found that having the ability to choose for ourselves makes us five times more committed to -- and invested in -- the outcome than if someone else chooses for us.

A different and very recent study reemphasizes the importance of choice in the classroom for most students. Researchers found that power and choice were interchangeable, since both deal with the issue of control; having more of one could compensate for having less of the other.

There are many things we can do in the classroom to help our students feel like they have power -- for example, involving them in decisions on issues like seating or even room arrangement. But those efforts can appear tiny in situations where students are immigrants whose parents moved them to a new country or come from low-income families and feel they have little power to confront multiple economic and social challenges.

However, in addition to our possibly feeble efforts to help engage students in feeling powerful, we can certainly emphasize offering choices -- the kinds of homework they have to do, the types of presentations they can organize, the essay topics they can respond to, and so on.

The payoff can be students who are happier and more open to learning and to accepting challenges -- not to mention an easier classroom-management situation for the teacher.

Another recent study seconded this endorsement of choice. Students in Texas were given the choice of two homework assignments covering the same material. The researcher wrote: "When students were given choices, they reported feeling more interested in their homework, felt more confident about their homework and they scored higher on their unit tests."

You can never have too many positive classroom management strategies in your "back pocket." Feel free to share your own in the comments section below.

This article was adapted and excerpted with permission from Larry Ferlazzo's Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies for Student Motivation, © 2013 Eye On Education, Inc. Larchmont, NY. All rights reserved. www.eyeoneducation.com. More information about this title is available here.

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More Positive, Not Punitive, Classroom-Management Tips | Edutopia

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This article is adapted from Larry's new book, Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies for Student Motivation. Photo credit: iStockPhoto In the previous excerpt from this book, I shared some specific strategies for positive classroom management. Here are a few more.

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Teacher Behavioral Strategies: A Menu | Intervention Central

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For example, if classmates encourage the target student to make inappropriate comments by giving positive social attention (e.g., laughing), the teacher may start a group response-cost program and deduct points from the class total whenever a peer laughs at inappropriate comments.

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Positive Action is an educational program that is proven to increase academic achievement and reduce violent behaviors.

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The study in this article was designed to examine the outcomes of positive behavior support approaches at a Southeastern suburban elementary school that had been experiencing increased discipline referrals. School-wide initiatives were implemented as well as a support group for targeted students. Post-intervention data indicated that behavioral referrals decreased. Additionally, the positive behavior ratings reported by teachers increased for most of the children who participated in the support group. After participating in the intervention, 60% of those students participating in the support group reduced their discipline referrals to zero.

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As administrators seek ways to address the behavior problems in their schools, the norm seems to be a reactionary approach rather than a proactive one (Tidwell, Flannery, & Lewis-Palmer, 2003). The methods used are often general responses such as a "get tough" approach to problem behaviors rather than efforts grounded in empirical research (Muscott, Mann, Benjamin, & Gately, 2004; Sugai & Homer, 2006). Researchers have found that general approaches to problem behaviors are often unsuccessful and may actually exacerbate these behaviors (Tidwell et al.). Additionally, common solutions to chronic discipline problems such as the use of suspending and expelling students from school do not solve the problem (Muscott et al.). Schools are meant to be places that provide students with a safe climate that encourages learning (Hirsch, Lewis-Palmer, Sugai, & Schnacker, 2004). However, school professionals have recently seen an increase in violent behaviors that have taken place in a setting that was once considered safe (Metzler, Biglan, & Rusby, 2001). Although behavior issues in the school setting are not a new problem, there has been an outcry for more effective discipline procedures especially in the face of recent school shootings and violence (Muscott et al., 2004). Moreover, school accountability and reform have added new demands for the restructuring of discipline systems as well as restructuring the school day (Frey, Lingo, & Nelson, 2008).

The present study describes what one school and school counseling program did to address the increase in discipline referrals. The school counselor implemented a year-long program that included practical schoolwide discipline approaches along with the use of targeted approaches in an effort to reduce the number of discipline referrals. Combining the schoolwide approaches with the use of targeted approaches was found to be the most effective in creating a positive change (i.e., decreased discipline referrals) in students who displayed a wide variety of problem behaviors at school.

LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Metzler et al. (2001), the search for procedures and plans to impact increasing behavior problems is not just an issue of safety but is also associated with other issues including school failure, delinquent behavior, substance abuse, and risky sexual behavior. Due in part to the growing need to increase student achievement, many educators, including administrators and school counselors, are spending much of their time and effort addressing negative or problem behaviors displayed by students (George, Harrower, & Knoster, 2003). School counselors are uniquely trained and situated in the school setting to help address the increasing numbers of behavior problems. School counselors can assist in reducing the number of behavior referrals by implementing proven systemic interventions supported by research in the field of professional school counseling.

Given the complexity of the problems created by students engaged in disruptive behaviors, a variety of approaches and models have been used in an attempt to decrease discipline referrals. Effective models have included a variety of strategies structured in multilevel processes (Muscott et al., 2004). One proactive strategy that addresses behavior problems across multiple settings is positive behavior support (PBS). ...

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The Impact of Positive Behavior Support to Decrease Discipline Referrals with Elementary Students

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The study in this article was designed to examine the outcomes of positive behavior support approaches at a Southeastern suburban elementary school that had been experiencing increased discipline referrals. School-wide initiatives were implemented as well as a support group for targeted students. Post-intervention data indicated that behavioral referrals decreased.

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The home of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). FInd more information on PBIS, how to implement PBIS, get resources and materials, and how to get support. Funded by the U.S.

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Lately, I've been receiving emails from teachers wondering why they have so many students in time-out every day, so I think it's a good time to revisit a few core principles of Smart Classroom Management.

When you implement a classroom management plan for the first time-or strictly follow one for the first time-one of two things is likely to happen: Either behavior is going to get a lot better or it's going to get worse.

If it gets worse, and you find yourself sending multiple students to time-out, the problem isn't your plan. And it isn't who is on your roster or what neighborhood you teach in. The problem is that your students don't care enough about being in your classroom to make your plan effective.

In other words, you don't have any leverage.

If sitting in time-out doesn't remove your students from something they want to be part of, then it isn't a consequence. They must genuinely like and enjoy being a member of your classroom or your consequences will prove ineffective.

The responsibility to make this happen, of course, is with you. Any expectation of simply showing up and having a ready-made, self-motivated class isn't realistic. Nor is believing that rules and consequences alone are enough to curb misbehavior.

Certainly, there are students who enjoy school no matter who the teacher is, but this is a small percentage.

Typically, greater than half of most classrooms, and sometimes every student, need something more. They need a reason to listen and learn and care about sitting in your classroom.

Most of the strategies on this website either detail simple ways to provide that something more or show you how to respond to misbehavior in a way that preserves and enhances that something more.

Generally-but not always-they fall into one of three broad categories:
1. Relationships
The relationship you have with your students is the most important factor in gaining the leverage you need to create the well-behaved class you want. If they like you, trust you, and respect you, then your rules and consequences will have power, and you'll have strong and sure influence over their behavior choices.
2. Routines
Routines are about students knowing what you expect of them throughout every minute of the school day. They not only make your job a lot easier and maximize learning time, but they move each day along swiftly and purposefully for students, keeping them sharp, engaged, and focused on learning and enjoying school.
3. Lessons
You must be able to present your curriculum in a way that causes students to want to listen and learn, so that misbehavior is the last thing on their mind. This runs the gamut from how to speak to students to how to make the material more compelling. Much of your day is spent in this mode, and thus if your students are bored and uninterested, then misbehavior will be a constant presence.
Anyone Can Do This

Searching out rules and consequences and then abruptly applying them to an already unruly classroom will cause behavior to get worse-because unhappy, unmotivated students will resent and rebel against your efforts to control their only source of stimulation.

To make rules and consequences effective, to give them the muscle they need to dissuade misbehavior, your students must look forward to coming to your classroom every day.

There must be a distinct and ever-widening gulf between the special feeling they have being a valued member of your class, and the remorse they feel sitting alone and apart in time-out.

The wider the gulf, the fewer behavior problems you'll have.

The big-picture idea is to so overwhelm your students with that "something more" contained in the three categories above that your rules and consequences recede into the distant background-rarely needed or even referred to.

Creating a well-behaved, motivated classroom in this manner is doable for anyone -no matter who you are or where you teach-and it works 100% of the time. In fact, it is the only surefire path to becoming the calm, confident, and inspirational teacher you always wanted to be.

If you haven't done so already, please join us. It's free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

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Why Rules And Consequences Aren't Enough - Smart Classroom Management

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Lately, I've been receiving emails from teachers wondering why they have so many students in time-out every day, so I think it's a good time to revisit a few core principles of Smart Classroom Management. When you implement a classroom management plan for the first time-or strictly follow one for the first time-one of two ...