1. 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

2. 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
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3. 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
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4. 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
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5. 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.
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6. 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.
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7. 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.
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8. 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.
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9. 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.
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10. 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.
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11. 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!
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