Standardized Observation of How Teachers Effectively Manage Behavior in Pre-K Classrooms Hello my name is Ameena Sweeting and this summer I conducted research at the University of Virginia in the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning under the shared mentorship of Dr. Jason Downer and Dr. Bridget Hamre. Today I will be discussing the standardized observation of how teachers effectively manage behavior in pre-k classrooms. Ameena Sweeting Mentors: Dr. Jason Downer and Dr. Bridget Hamre University of Virginia July 2008

NCRECE Professional Development Study National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (NCRECE) Research focus: Improve teacher quality Improve students’ social and academic development Professional development study Select program partners for the study Random assignment – 400 teachers At the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, I worked on a professional development study being conducted by the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education, or NCRECE In this lab, research is being conducted on ways to improve teacher quality and students’ social and academic development. Currently two forms of professional development are being evaluated for their effectiveness: a course which includes training on classroom quality and effective teaching defined by an assessment known as CLASS, and the consultant, which provides individualized consultation using My Teaching Partner. MTP has been effective in improving teacher-student interactions A total of 400 teachers are randomly assigned to one of these 4 conditions As part of the study, Designated teachers are required to submit video tapes of their classroom sessions to CASTL Conditions Course & Consultant Course Only No Consultant No Course Only Consultant No Course or Consultant 12/7/2018

CLASS Teachers submit tapes to be coded using Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) Purpose: Establish a common scale and terminology to describe classroom quality Provide a general guideline for effective teaching practices After the tapes are submitted to CASTL, the videos are coded using CLASS CLASS stands for classroom assessment scoring system and is used to measure teacher quality. Observers must be trained in the CLASS with 80% reliability. After becoming reliable, coders, including myself, use CLASS to assign scores to the video segments. A 7-point Likert scale with 1-2 being low, 3-5 being mid, and 6-7 being high, is used to assess classroom videos in 15 minute segments. The scores are assigned based on the CLASS components 12/7/2018

CLASS Domains P ILF QF CD LM PC NC TS SP CLASS can be broken down into 3 major domains: emotional support, classroom organization and instructional support and can be further broken down into 10 dimensions: positive and negative climate, teacher sensitivity, and regard for student perspective under emotional support: behavior management, productivity, and instructional learning formats under classroom organization: quality of feedback, concept development, language modeling under instructional support. All of these domains are used to assess classroom quality My area of focus involves the behavior management dimension. P ILF QF CD LM PC NC TS SP 12/7/2018

Significance of Behavior Management Appropriate classroom behavior is essential in the student’s academic success (Sentelle, 2007) Children who are in classrooms which implement effective behavior management receive significantly higher achievement gains on standardized tests (Martin & Norwich, 1991) I chose to concentrate on behavior management because of past research highlighting its significance According to research by Sentelle, appropriate classroom behavior is essential in the student’s academic achievement (2007). In another study, significantly higher achievement gains on standardized tests have been identified for students who received effective behavior management in the classroom (Martin & Norwich, 1991) With the significance of behavior management being known, a closer look at the components of effective behavior management according to CLASS should be examined. 12/7/2018

Behavior Management (BM) Teacher’s ability to establish and implement clear behavioral expectations and prevent and redirect misbehavior (Pianta, La Paro, Hamre, 2008) Scores from 1-7 were given based on the following indicators: Clear behavior expectations Proactive Redirection of misbehavior Student behavior Behavior management is defined by Pianta, La Paro, and Hamre, as a teacher’s ability to provide clear behavioral expectations and use effective methods to prevent and redirect misbehavior. To adequately assign scores this dimension is identified by 4 indicators: Clear behavior expectations Clear expectations Consistency Clarity of rules Proactive Anticipates problem behavior or escalation Low reactivity Monitors Redirection of misbehavior Effective reduction of misbehavior Attention to the positive Uses subtle cues to redirect Efficient redirection Student behavior Frequent compliance Little aggression and defiance In my experience coding the videos, I found the differences in proactive and reactive behavior management to be striking. 12/7/2018

Marked Differences in Behavior Management Effective BM Proactive -Prevent misbehaviors from occurring Attention to the positive -redirecting misbehaviors by highlighting what the child should do Ineffective BM Reactive -acting as a result of a misbehavior Attention to the negative -attempting to redirect misbehaviors by highlighting what NOT to do In coding tapes for behavior management, teachers who were proactive and redirected bad behaviors by attending to the positive, were more successful in reducing and preventing behaviors than teachers who were reactive and told their students “stop” “don’t” and other words attending to the negative. 12/7/2018

Proactive & Attention to the Positive Teacher places small number of books on each table to prevent students from fighting over materials “I notice the way Mark is sitting quietly on the carpet. Thank you Mark” Specific examples of proactive behavior management include a teacher I observed who stated specific instructions for how to handle books before she distributed them. In doing so, the teacher prevented the children from misusing the materials and disrupting the progress of the lesson. In the 2nd example, a teacher redirected children who are calling out at once by praising one student who is practicing good behavior. The disruptive students quickly quieted down and waited for the approval from the teacher. 12/7/2018

Reactivity & Attention to the Negative “I did not give you these instruments to hit each other with. Go sit on time-out.” “Stop fiddling with your crayons and worksheet.” On the contrary, in another video I coded, the teacher ended up reacting negatively to students, who misused the materials due to a lack of instruction on what the children were going to be doing with the instruments. Similarly, another teacher I observed repeatedly told students to stop messing around instead of instructing them on what to do. The children continued being unproductive without the proper redirection of their actions. Based on the observations I made while coding the tapes I became interested in pursuing the effects of behavior management. 12/7/2018

Future Research What are the long term effects of behavior management on a student’s behavior problems in the future? Differences in proactive and reactive teaching styles Influence of reactivity on the development of a child’s self-regulation ability Based on past research and my personal observations, it would be interesting to conduct research on the long term effects of behavior management on a student’s development. More specifically, I would like to examine the possible differences in the development of self regulation in children who were products of a reactive BM classroom environment vs, children who were products of proactive BM classroom environments. 12/7/2018

Acknowledgements Thank you! Mentors Dr. Jason Downer and Dr. Bridget Hamre Co-mentors Anne Henry, Terri Walters, Tess Krovetz CASTL UVA Curry School of Education RPES – SURP RPES – SURP students Leadership Alliance I would like to thank everyone who made this experience possible. Thank you for your time and attention. Thank you! 12/7/2018