Discipline in the Secondary Classroom: Encouraging Responsible Behavior and Enhancing Motivation

By Randall S. Sprick, Jessica Sprick, Cristy Coughlin and Jacob Edwards

 Improve student behavior and motivation with this comprehensive resource

Discipline in the Secondary Classroom: A Positive Approach to Behavior Management, 4th Edition is an insightful treatment of the always-challenging topic of discipline in the high school classroom. The newly revised edition of the book incorporates a renewed focus on classroom management plans, handling the use and misuse of electronic devices in the classroom, and adapting instruction for a virtual classroom setting. Discipline in the Secondary Classroom discusses other issues crucial to the successful management of secondary classrooms and include:

 • How behavior is learned

 • Managing student work

 • Managing the use of technology and electronic devices in the classroom

 • Active engagement strategies for teacher-directed instruction (both the physical classroom and the virtual classroom)

 • Corrective strategies for misbehavior and inattention

• Maintaining a Cycle of Continuous Improvement to be a better teacher each year

Perfect for grade 9 to 12 classroom teachers and educational administrators—including principals, assistant principals, staff development professionals, and consultants— Discipline in the Secondary Classroom constitutes an indispensable resource for anyone aiming to achieve a civil, safe, and fair classroom environment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Aug 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781119651833

Book preview

FOURTH EDITION

DISCIPLINE IN THE SECONDARY CLASSROOM

Encouraging Responsible Behavior and Enhancing Motivation

Randall Sprick

Jessica Sprick

Cristy Coughlin

Jacob Edwards

Logo: Wiley

Copyright © 2021 John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

Jossey‐Bass

A Wiley Imprint

111 River St, Hoboken, NJ 07030

www.josseybass.com

Except as expressly noted below, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per‐copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, phone [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, phone + 1 201 748 6011, fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Certain pages from this book (except those for which reprint permission must be obtained from the primary sources) are designed for educational/training purposes and may be reproduced. These pages are designated by the appearance of copyright notices at the foot of the page. This free permission is restricted to limited customization of downloadable materials for your organization and the paper reproduction of the materials for educational/training events. It does not allow for systematic or large‐scale reproduction, distribution (more than 100 copies per page, per year), transmission, electronic reproduction or inclusion in any publications offered for sale or used for commercial purposes—none of which may be done without prior written permission of the Publisher.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: Although the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Jossey‐Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey‐Bass directly, call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800‐956‐7739, outside the U.S. at [phone], or fax [phone].

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print‐on‐demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e‐books or in print‐on‐demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data

Names: Sprick, Randall S., author. | Sprick, Jessica, author. | Coughlin, Cristy, author. | Edwards, Jacob (Educator), author.

Title: Discipline in the secondary classroom : encouraging responsible behavior and enhancing motivation / Randall Sprick, Jessica Sprick, Cristy Coughlin, Jacob Edwards.

Description: Fourth edition. | [San Francisco] : Jossey‐Bass, [2021] | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021023720 (print) | LCCN 2021023721 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119651819 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119651826 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119651833 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Classroom management. | High school students—Discipline. | Problem children—Discipline.

Classification: LCC LB3013 .S64 2021 (print) | LCC LB3013 (ebook) | DDC 371.102/4—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023720

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023721

Cover Design and Image: Wiley

FOURTH EDITION

This fourth edition is dedicated to the tens of thousands of teachers who have used previous editions to make their classrooms more academically effective, welcoming, and joyful for all students. Based on their feedback and on progress with the research community, this new edition strengthens the degree to which this resource can guide veteran and beginning teachers to design and implement a best‐practice behavior support plan in their classroom.

The Authors

Photograph of Randy Sprick.

Randy Sprick, PhD, has worked as a paraprofessional, teacher, and teacher trainer at the elementary and secondary levels. Author of several widely read books on behavior and classroom management, Randy is former director of Safe & Civil Schools, a consulting company that provides in‐service programs throughout the country. Although Randy is largely retired, his Safe & Civil Schools colleagues continue the work of helping large and small school districts improve student behavior and motivation. The efficacy of that work is documented in peer‐reviewed research, and Safe & Civil Schools materials are listed on the National Registry of Evidence‐Based Programs and Practices (NREPP). Randy was the recipient of the 2007 Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Wallin Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the Direct Instruction Hall of Fame, along with numerous other awards and honors.

Photograph of Jessica Sprick.

Jessica Sprick has an MS in Special Education. She is a consultant and presenter for Safe & Civil Schools and a writer for Ancora Publishing and ASCD. Jessica has been a special education teacher for students with behavioral needs and a dean of students. It is these practical experiences that guide her passion for working with educators to create systems of support that allow all students to thrive. She is the author of numerous educational resources, including School Leader's Guide to Tackling Attendance Challenges, Bullying Solutions: Universal and Individual Strategies, and CHAMPS: A Proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management. Each year, Jessica works with thousands of educators, providing training and support in how to implement multi‐tiered and function‐based approaches to improve classroom and school safety and climate and to boost student attendance, motivation, and academic engagement.

Photograph of Cristy Coughlin.

Cristy Coughlin holds a PhD in school psychology from the University of Oregon and an undergraduate degree in psychology from Western Michigan University. Cristy has worked as a school‐based behavior consultant and program evaluator for educational projects in the United States, Australia, and Africa. Her areas of expertise are oriented around educational assessment, applied behavior analysis, and translating educational research to practice.

Photograph of Jacob Edwards.

Jacob Edwards began his career in education teaching chemistry and biology in the inner city of Los Angeles. Fueled by the belief that all students deserve an equitable, quality education, Jacob became a school leader, where he honed his ability to lead diverse teams of staff and students, improve instructional practices, and establish systems to build positive school culture. Jacob went on to become the founding principal at a middle school in Watts, California, and later led transformation efforts at a middle school in Memphis, Tennessee. Most recently, Jacob joined the Safe & Civil Schools team to continue to improve educational outcomes for all students by working with educators across a variety of school settings.

Acknowledgments

The authoring team wishes to acknowledge all the members of four professional groups who have made this book so much better than we as authors could create by ourselves. In no particular order, that includes all of the Safe & Civil School trainers who have used this resource to train countless teachers to construct classroom management plans that are practical and user‐friendly and provided us feedback along the way. Second, the editorial team at Safe & Civil Schools (SCS), including Sara Farris, Natalie Conway, and Matt Sprick, were invaluable in helping to ensure that this high school resource is aligned with and extends CHAMPS and the library of SCS's multi‐tiered behavior support products. Third, this edition has benefited from the insight and expertise of several contributors and collaborators, including Jeremy Resnick, Jane Wagmeister, Jonli Tunstall, Justyn Patterson, Stephen Minix, Kris Terry‐Key, Billie Jo Rodriguez, and Heath Peine. Last but not least, we are deeply indebted to the entire team at Wiley for their flexibility, wisdom, and grace in the editing, design, and marketing processes. This includes, but is by no way limited to, Pete Gaughan, Amy Fendrie, Iswarialakshmi Ravindran, and Mackenzie Thompson.

Foreword

At one point, I was part of a project designed to improve the academic outcomes for struggling adolescent learners in some inner‐city high schools. Great planning went into the selection of the instructional programs for improving their reading and math performance. We instituted a carefully orchestrated professional development effort to make certain that each of the teachers involved was well prepared to teach the targeted interventions. As the program was launched, we were confident that things were going to go well because of our careful planning and attention to the necessary details. How wrong we were! Although some successes in student outcomes were seen, they fell far short of our expectations. Puzzled, we visited with teachers and observed what was happening in many of the classrooms. It soon became clear that many of the classes were out of control: large numbers of students were tardy for class, student behavior during classes was often inappropriate, and the amount of time spent teaching the targeted interventions was limited. In short, when instruction did take place, it didn't reach all of the students and was often compromised because of the poor work environment; teachers were frequently interrupting their lesson to regain control of their class.

In light of the problems that we were facing, I called Randy Sprick to see if he would be willing to problem‐solve with us. I knew Randy and had carefully followed his work for over two decades. Over the years, I have talked to countless teachers and administrators throughout North America who have implemented his student motivation and classroom management programs, programs grounded in proactive, positive, and instructional principles. Randy agreed to analyze what was happening in our schools. As a result of that conversation and the programs described in this book that our team subsequently implemented, we experienced a dramatic change in how business was done in those schools. We witnessed firsthand the dramatic effects these methods can have in transforming secondary schools that were once places of chaos and disengaged students to settings of order and safety, where interactions among students and teachers are respectful and students are eagerly and productively involved in the learning process. Discipline in the Secondary Classroom: Encouraging Responsible Behavior and Enhancing Motivation addresses one of the most pressing needs that secondary teachers face in today's schools: how to effectively motivate and manage adolescent learners so their classrooms can be stimulating, engaging learning environments. I am convinced that secondary teachers will find this book to be one of the most valuable resources in their teaching toolbox for the following reasons:

It is grounded in an extensive research base.

It is hands‐on, providing clear, step‐by‐step instructions for how to implement each procedure.

It supplies specific examples from actual classroom situations to illustrate each procedure.

It is principle based.

It is comprehensive in scope, including all of the necessary components (and accompanying forms and support mechanisms) to be a self‐contained management and motivation system.

It spells out clearly how to introduce and implement the program throughout the school year.

It is carefully coordinated with a companion volume designed for elementary students: CHAMPS: A Proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management, thus enabling school districts to implement a systematic approach to student motivation and classroom management across the entire K–12 grade continuum.

This book is the extraordinary resource that it is because of its author, Randy Sprick. Randy has had extensive experience as a teacher, program developer, researcher, writer, and staff developer. One of the most sought‐after teachers in the country, he has a deep understanding of the complexities of secondary schools, the needs of adolescents and teachers, and the dynamic that exists among them. The program outlined in this book has been successfully adopted by hundreds of schools throughout North America. I consider Randy Sprick to be one of the brightest and most insightful educators of our time. His mission has been to improve the quality of environments in schools and enable teachers and students alike to thrive. I believe that he has been extraordinarily successful in that quest. In the process, many lives have been greatly blessed and enriched.

Achieving successful academic outcomes for students is certainly important, but their overall growth, development, and well‐being involve much more than academic success. While teachers understand this, they often find themselves in an educational dynamic that does not encourage (and in some cases does not even permit) an emphasis on the nonacademic dimensions of schooling. This book underscores the fact that understanding and addressing factors beyond academics is not only important, it is essential.

With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015, schools have continued to focus most of their attention on increasing the academic performance of students. This book provides one of the foundational cornerstones for enabling teachers to be successful in the academic instruction that they provide. Namely, it will empower secondary teachers to create the kind of environment and culture in their classroom that will ultimately promote optimal academic outcomes.

This readable book is written with passion, vivid examples, and countless practical suggestions that can be readily implemented. In my nearly 50 years as an educator, I have relied on the insights and work of many talented educators. I am thrilled with the publication of the fourth edition of this book. As I read it, I learned many new lessons because of the cutting‐edge information that has been included. As with previous editions, this book will add greatly to my abilities as an educator in secondary schools, and it will be a resource I turn to frequently.

Donald D. Deshler

Founder and former director,

University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning

Preface

This is the fourth edition of Discipline in the Secondary Classroom. The first edition of this book was published in 1985. Since that time, research continues to confirm that the proactive, positive, and instructional approaches it advocates are far more effective in managing and motivating students than traditional, authoritarian, and punitive approaches. Teacher effectiveness literature has identified that teachers who are highly successful have classroom management plans that

Include high expectations for student success

Build positive relationships with students

Create consistent, predictable classroom routines

Teach students how to behave successfully

Provide frequent positive feedback

Correct misbehavior in a calm, consistent, logical manner

Throughout the four editions of this book, we have strived to keep content compatible with this seminal teacher effectiveness research as well as capture relevant insights and highlight promising practices from new and emerging research. We have also tried to remain mindful about the daily pressures and current realities teachers face in the classroom to recommend practices, strategies, and tools that will ultimately be feasible and contextually relevant to the classrooms of today and tomorrow. This book translates those broad ideas into specific actions you can take to improve your ability to maintain an orderly and respectful classroom in which students are focused and engaged in meaningful instructional activities.

What's New in This Edition?

In this fourth edition, the content has been reorganized to align more closely with the third edition of CHAMPS: A Proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management, our book for elementary and middle schools. Four sections guide the reader logically and sequentially through the STOIC model (STOIC is explained in more detail in the Introduction and at the beginning of each part):

Structure and organize your classroom.

Teach behavioral expectations.

Observe and monitor students.

Interact positively.

Correct misbehavior fluently.

New content covers the following topics:

How the DSC (Discipline in the Secondary Classroom) approach aligns with and supports other school initiatives, including multi‐tiered systems of support for behavior (MTSS‐B), social‐emotional learning priorities, and trauma‐informed practice

Acknowledging and appreciating diversity and improving equity, inclusion and access by reflecting on existing regularities in discipline planning and identifying better practices that help all students thrive and achieve their full potential

Centering positive relationships at the foundation of your management approach by using strategies to consciously build and maintain relational trust with students and families

The importance of maintaining and communicating high expectations for all students and strategies for doing so

Procedures for managing partner and cooperative group work and student technology use

Considerations for developing effective and equitable grading practices

Preparing your classroom management plan for special circumstances (e.g., substitute teachers, students joining your class mid‐year)

Considerations for using assigned and flexible seating

Implementing behavior management practices in the virtual learning environment

Engaging in ongoing learning, reflection, and professionalism as part of a cycle of continuous improvement

DSC as a Part of a Behavior Support Continuum

This book fits into a continuum of behavior support products in the Safe & Civil Schools Series, a comprehensive set of resources designed to help school personnel make all school settings physically and emotionally safe for all students. In implementation projects throughout the country, we and our colleagues have learned that when expectations are clear and directly taught to students, much as you would teach writing skills, the vast majority of students will strive to be cooperative and meet those expectations. By implementing the preventive aspects of the Safe & Civil Schools Series, teachers can spend less time dealing with disruption and resistance and more time teaching.

Safe & Civil Schools uses a triangle image to illustrate the methodology behind our training. You may be familiar with the public health model triangle that has universal prevention and intervention at the bottom, selected or targeted services in the middle, and intensive services at the top. In our model, we indicate that good classroom management rests on top of effective schoolwide behavior management practices. Educational practice often results in spending a great deal of time, energy, and money on those individual students who act out most intensely—the tip of the triangle. We hope to stress the importance of placing your time, energy, and money on all students first—the widest part of the triangle. By creating a school and classroom climate that is calm, civil, and structured for student success, individual students will actually require less of your valuable intervention resources.

Schematic illustration of the triangle image showing the good classroom management rests on top of effective schoolwide behavior management practices.

For information on resources in the Safe & Civil School Series, visit ancorapublishing.com.

Introduction

This book was conceived and written to help teachers effectively manage student behavior and increase student motivation so they can focus their time and energy on instruction and student success. Discipline problems in school have always been and continue to be a leading frustration for teachers and a drain on instructional time.

Almost half of new teachers leave the profession within a few years (Ingersol et al., 2018). Two of the most common reasons given for leaving are discipline problems and a lack of administrative support for dealing with discipline. Inexperienced and unskilled teachers are often frustrated and sometimes even terrified by students who misbehave and challenge authority. Even skilled veteran teachers can find themselves pulling their hair out when they are faced with a particularly challenging group. Or teachers may find they are uncertain about how to meet the needs of students as demographics, economic situations, or other factors change within a district. Models for positive and proactive approaches to behavior management, such as the approach presented in this book, can give teachers in any of these situations the knowledge and skills to be confident and successful in working with students with behavioral and motivational challenges. Proactive behavior management models also provide a powerful framework for evaluating and strengthening classroom management plans across time.

There are many obvious and direct links between academic achievement and student behavior. One disruptive student can negatively affect the learning of all the other students in a class. If students are actively or passively resistant, a seemingly simple transition like moving to lab stations, which should take no more than two minutes, can take as long as 10 minutes, wasting large amounts of instructional time. Students who are unmotivated will be less engaged in their work and learn less than when they are excited about the content.

If examples of misbehavior or apathy like these occur every day in every class, you are losing huge amounts of instructional time. By implementing effective management techniques, you can simultaneously increase student engagement and improve academic achievement (Brophy, 1996; Brophy & Good, 1986; Christenson et al., 2008; Emmer & Evertson, 2009; Gettinger & Ball, 2008; Luiselli, et al., 2005; Scheuermann & Hall, 2008; Sprick et al., 2019).

Why Bother with a Positive Approach to Discipline?

The educational environment has changed greatly in the past 70 years. The accepted norm for disciplining students with behavior problems used to be punishment and, if the students continued to misbehave, suspension or expulsion. These measures did not necessarily change behavior, but they were easy solutions—the problem seemingly disappeared as the student disappeared from the classroom and, eventually, the school system. In 1900, high school graduation rates were only 6%, and in 1950, graduation rates were only 59% (Heckman & LaFontaine, 2010). While this may seem like an appalling dropout rate, in the past there were also plenty of jobs on farms or in factories for those without a high school education.

In the 2017–2018 school year, graduation rates were reported at 85% (Hussar et al., 2020). U.S. schools are doing better than ever before at helping students reach graduation. However, imagine looking at a kindergarten class with 20 bright‐eyed young five‐year‐olds. If current dropout rates continue, at least three of those students will not make it to graduation. Many farm, factory, and other jobs that would allow someone without a high school diploma to live a comfortable adult life are increasingly being replaced by technology or will not adequately support the individual and their family. It is more important than ever for students to exit school with a high school diploma. As educators, we must do better to help all students thrive throughout their K–12 experience and reach graduation. Moreover, we must do more to equip students to be successful outside of school, whether they plan to immediately enter the job market or continue on to higher education.

Schools are under tremendous pressure to successfully educate all students, including those who, years ago, would have left school because of academic or behavioral problems. Effective ways to motivate and encourage positive behavior are vital to serving these students. For students who struggle in school because of experiences of trauma, poverty, systemic racism, generational difficulties with the school system, or a disability, purely punitive and reactive approaches are unlikely to make a lasting difference. These approaches do not address the needs of the students. We need to do business differently.

Therefore, a proactive and positive approach to behavior management is essential. With the strategies recommended in this book, you can guide students toward a successful school career and in turn to potential success in work and in life.

The DSC Approach

In this book, we refer to this proactive, positive approach as the DSC (Discipline in the Secondary Classroom) approach. Readers who are familiar with the Safe & Civil Schools collection of staff development materials, and in particular CHAMPS: A Proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management, our book for elementary and middle schools, will recognize the overall philosophy and procedures. CHAMPS is an acronym that teachers can use to teach expectations to students—but it has come to mean much more. DSC takes the CHAMPS approach and translates it for the high school level. CHAMPS and DSC represent the proactive, positive ideals that every teacher can learn and use to help their students achieve success.

The CHAMPS/DSC approach is designed to help you, the classroom teacher, develop (or fine‐tune) an effective classroom management plan that is proactive, positive, and instructional. In the past 50 years, a large and varied body of research literature has identified consistent and reliable findings concerning how effective teachers manage student behavior and enhance student motivation. The techniques included in this approach have been derived from that literature.

Unlike programs that have set procedures, the DSC approach guides teachers in how to make effective decisions about managing behavior. For example, one of the tasks in Chapter 2, Structure for Success (Behavioral Decisions), is about the physical setting. Rather than implying that only one physical setting is correct, we specify factors that you should consider when designing the seating arrangement in your classroom. One of the most important factors is the teacher's ability to move quickly and directly from any part of the room to any other part. This is important because it allows you to supervise by physically circulating throughout the room and to reach and speak quietly with any student in the room—to praise, correct misbehavior, or answer a question.

A second factor we urge you to consider when designing your seating arrangement is the amount of desired student conversation. How much talking will be allowed and during which activities? Some physical arrangements are more conducive to conversation than others. After reviewing the factors to consider, we show different classroom arrangements and delineate the pros and cons of each. However, the teacher always makes the decisions: How can I arrange my room to meet my needs and the needs of my students?

In DSC, we provide the information you need to make an informed decision—we don't tell you what to do. If you talk about DSC with colleagues, we encourage you to talk about the DSC or CHAMPS approach, not the DSC program. We try to avoid calling it the DSC program because is it not a canned program, but rather a way of thinking about how to prevent misbehavior and encourage responsible behavior. It is a model for effective problem prevention and problem‐solving. To use a cooking analogy, DSC teaches you how to become an effective cook. Rather than a recipe, which you must follow in a step‐by‐step fashion, DSC is like a cooking resource that teaches you how to effectively use different ingredients and cooking utensils and technology so you can create any culinary masterpiece you wish.

DSC, while not a program, does have one absolute rule: Students must be treated at all times with respect, honoring their inherent dignity and rights. Belittling and ridicule has no place in the teacher's repertoire of behavioral practices. You will learn more about some of the foundational principles and practices that guide the DSC approach in Chapter 1.

Is DSC Research Based?

Yes! First, DSC is entirely compatible with more than 50 years of research on how effective teachers manage their classrooms in ways that enhance academic achievement. Second, Safe & Civil Schools has many examples of district‐based studies where CHAMPS and DSC have been implemented with remarkable results. Improvements include marked reductions in classroom disruptions, office referrals, and in‐school and out‐of‐school suspensions, along with corresponding increases in teachers’ perceptions of efficacy and student motivation and behavior.

For information on efficacy data, contact Safe & Civil Schools at safeandcivilschools.com. For more information on how DSC is compatible with classroom management research literature and for summaries of research studies on the DSC approach, see Downloadable Resources on page 7.

How Does DSC Fit with Other Initiatives?

DSC is a flexible approach that is highly compatible with many other initiatives and frameworks that may exist within your district. Rather than viewing DSC as a competing approach, consider ways to integrate and merge DSC with effective practices and systems that are already used in your own practice and across your district. The following are some examples of common initiatives and approaches and how they relate to your work with DSC.

Response to Intervention (RtI) and Multi‐tiered System of Support (MTSS). RtI and MTSS are frameworks for ensuring that a student who is experiencing behavioral or academic problems does not go unnoticed and that, once noticed, their difficulties are addressed and supported by school personnel. RtI and MTSS frameworks focus on providing high‐quality instruction and interventions matched to student need, monitoring progress frequently to make decisions about changes in instruction or goals, and applying child response data to important educational decisions (Batsche et al., 2005). Within an RtI or MTSS framework, DSC represents a major component in a school or district's efforts to work toward universal prevention and early‐stage problem‐solving. RtI and MTSS models often refer to levels of support in three tiers:

Tier 1: Universal prevention

Tier 2: Targeted support

Tier 3: Intensive support

In such a model, DSC is a primary component of a Tier 1 approach to prevention and early intervention for meeting the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of all students.

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). PBIS is a popular label in the field of behavior management for approaches that use long‐term strategies to reduce inappropriate behavior, teach more appropriate behavior, and provide contextual supports necessary for successful outcomes (Carr & Sidener, 2002; Horner et al., 1990; Warger, 1999). Traditional behavioral management views the individual as the problem and seeks to fix him or her by quickly eliminating the challenging behavior through punitive approaches. Positive behavioral support and functional analysis view systems, settings, and lack of skill as parts of the problem and work to change those. According to the U.S. Department of Education, PBIS is a framework to help provide assistance to schools, districts, and states to establish a preventative, positive, multi‐tiered continuum of evidence‐based behavioral interventions that support the behavioral competence of students (A. Posny, personal communication, September 7, 2010). Therefore, rather than a specific program, PBIS is a broad, general term for procedures and techniques designed to help improve behavior through more than just reactive and punitive techniques. The Safe & Civil Schools’ approach for schoolwide implementation of PBIS is called Foundations. Schools across the nation use the Foundations approach to help improve schoolwide climate and safety. The DSC approach helps educators apply PBIS procedures in the classroom.

Trauma‐Informed/Trauma‐Sensitive Practices. When educators operate with an awareness and sensitivity to students’ experiences of trauma, they can help break cycles of trauma, prevent retraumatization, and best engage a student in learning and the school community. A wide variety of experiences can lead to childhood trauma, such as witnessing actual or threatened death; experiencing serious injury, sexual violence, or psychological abuse or neglect; witnessing domestic violence; or living with household members who are mentally ill, suicidal, abuse substances, or are sex offenders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Felitti et al., 1998). Children who experience trauma, especially when repeated, may experience difficulties in school. They may have trouble paying attention, processing new information, participating in social situations, and forming and maintaining normal relationships, as well as difficulty learning and reduced ability to regulate and appropriately express emotions (Lubit et al., 2003; Streeck‐Fischer & Van der Kolk, 2000; Van der Kolk, 2003). Trauma‐sensitive practices are consistent with the approaches advocated in this book. A trauma‐sensitive classroom teacher will anticipate when and where challenges will occur, teach children skills to manage stress and develop awareness, build supports to avoid retraumatization, and encourage healthy, positive teacher‐student relationships.

Social‐Emotional Learning (SEL). SEL involves helping students learn and develop social‐emotional knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for success in school, work, interpersonal relationships, and personal wellness. When schools engage in effective SEL approaches, students can learn to manage emotions, work toward goals, maintain positive relationships, effectively problem‐solve and make responsible decisions, show empathy, and develop a healthy and positive sense of identity (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2020). SEL interventions have been shown to increase students’ academic performance, improve classroom behavior, reduce student stress and depression, and improve student attitudes (Durlak et al., 2011). The DSC approach advocates for the teaching of SEL and provides some information on teaching these skills in Chapter 4. DSC also provides a critical foundation for SEL by establishing a safe, supportive learning environment where students can learn and develop critical social‐emotional skills. Rather than competing, these two approaches are both integral to student success (Bear et al., 2015).

Restorative Practices (RP). RP is a multi‐tiered approach with a focus on community building, increasing respect toward others of different backgrounds, increasing accountability when harm has occurred, and repairing harm to relationships (Smith et al., 2015). Students and staff learn how to peaceably resolve conflicts within the school community by creating opportunities for those involved to listen empathetically to one another's stories, take ownership for one's behavior in the conflict, and restore positive relationships. Thus, conflicts and behavioral difficulties in school are seen as opportunities for teaching and modeling nonviolent ways of problem‐solving rather than for punishing and excluding students. DSC and restorative practices are complementary approaches that can be used effectively in tandem to improve positive behavior and climate. While DSC has an increased focus on explicit structures and behavior management strategies that teachers can use to set a foundation for a positive and productive classroom, RP provides a rich array of tools that support building a strong community that uses peaceable ways to mediate and resolve conflict. The Safe & Civil Schools approach and restorative practices work well together to:

Improve positive school climate.

Encourage student and parent voices and empowerment in the problem‐solving process.

Reduce suspensions, expulsions, and problematic student behaviors.

Encourage structure, routines, and effective teaching strategies and behavior management.

Promote peaceable ways to teach empathy and mediate conflict.

Reduce incidences of violence and bullying.

How to Use This Book

This book is organized into four sections and 11 chapters. If you are able to read the book and work through the tasks before school begins, read the book sequentially. As you work through each chapter, you will complete a Classroom Management Plan (introduced in Chapter 1, Task 3). The Classroom Management Plan is a succinct document you can use to clarify many of the major decisions you will be making about your classroom approach.

If you are beginning to use DSC after the start of the school year, first read Chapter 9, Task 4: Begin CHAMPS Implementation Mid‐Year. This task will help you map out an approach for reading through priority tasks during the year. You can then tackle the remainder of the tasks as you prepare for the next school year.

If you teach in a virtual learning environment, skip directly to Section Four: Implementing DSC in a Virtual Learning Environment. While you will read many of the tasks in the first three sections, the content in Section Four will serve as your guide for applying the DSC strategies, and it will provide additional practical approaches for addressing common concerns in the virtual setting such as how to improve attendance and student engagement.

Section One: Overview of the DSC Approach. The first section is a one‐chapter introduction to the foundational concepts that guide the DSC approach. These concepts will be revisited frequently throughout subsequent chapters as we provide actionable ways to implement these essential but sometimes abstract concepts. It also introduces the Classroom Management Plan, which is a concise document that you will use to clarify and compile essential information on your vision, classroom organization, and disciplinary procedures. You will fill out each part of the Classroom Management Plan as your work through the DSC book. No matter what time of year you begin to read DSC, we recommend that you read through Chapter 1.

Section Two: Preparing Your Classroom Management Plan. The second section of this book focuses on essential elements that you should consider when you are preparing (and later refining) your Classroom Management Plan. Within each chapter, we present specific tasks that will help you address the chapter's content. We also offer detailed suggestions about how to accomplish the tasks themselves. Chapters 2–8 are organized according to the STOIC acronym, which is an easy way to remember five main categories that have been proven to be effective in changing behavior and motivation. These variables include:

S—Structure (organize) your classroom to prompt responsible student behavior. The way a setting is structured has a huge impact on the behavior and attitude of people in that setting. Two chapters cover the implementation of structural considerations in your classroom.

T—Teach your expectations regarding how to behave responsibly (i.e. be successful) within the structure that you have created. Sports coaches provide a great example of teaching behavior and reteaching as needed to help each individual achieve full potential.

O—Observe whether students are meeting expectations (monitor!). In the short run, this means circulate and visually scan the classroom. In the long run, this means collect and analyze meaningful data on student progress.

I—Interact positively with students. Provide frequent noncontingent attention to build positive relationships. Provide frequent, positive feedback to acknowledge students’ efforts to be successful. Improve student motivation through positive relationships, feedback, and specific motivational strategies and systems. There are two chapters on how to interact positively and motivate your students.

C—Correct misbehavior fluently. This means correcting briefly, calmly, consistently, immediately, and (as much as possible) privately.

Section Three: Implementing, Sustaining, and Refining Your Classroom Management Plan. The third section contains two chapters on how to implement, sustain, and refine your classroom management plan. Where Section Two provides practical skills and strategies to help you and your students meet your vision for success, Section Three gives you information about how to put these skills and strategies into action. Chapter 9, Launch, provides information about how to establish a positive and productive classroom from Day 1 (or how to launch your DSC approach if you are starting mid‐year). Chapter 10, Maintain a Cycle of Continuous Improvement, is about how to use the DSC approach and specific tools to further your professional development and implementation across time. This information in this section will help to ensure that DSC does not become a dusty book on your shelf. Rather, when used within a continuous improvement model, the DSC approach can become a deeply meaningful way to help achieve success with any group of students you work with.

Section Four: Implementing DSC in Virtual Learning Environments. This section includes one chapter that describes how to apply the approaches in the first three sections if you teach students in a virtual learning environment. It provides information about which tasks in DSC can be applied as is, which tasks may need some adaptation, and which tasks are not needed in the virtual classroom. Throughout this chapter, you will see many samples of specific tools and strategies teachers can use to create a positive and productive virtual classroom experience. This section also provides an increased focus on how to use strategies to increase student attendance and engagement, which many teachers report are their greatest management and motivational challenges with virtual learning.

Downloadable materials. DSC provides many reproducible forms that are available for your use as the owner of this book. Downloadable materials also include three versions of icons that you can use to visually display and teach your behavioral expectations, a summary of research on the DSC approach, and other materials to help implement DSC in your classroom. To access these resources, visit www.wiley.com/go/disciplinesecondaryclassroom4e.

Permission is given to administrators and educators who purchase the book to reproduce any form labeled Reproducible Form and any DSC icon solely for the purpose of classroom management and teaching DSC expectations. As the owner of this book, you have the right to reproduce as many copies of these icons as you need each year for your own classroom. Further reproduction of the icons and forms is strictly prohibited.

Reproducible forms are provided in PDF format. They can be printed and filled out by hand. See the document Using the Files.pdf provided in the download for more detailed instructions on how to fill out forms using Adobe Reader.

To download the reproducible materials that accompany this book, go to https://www.wiley.com/go/disciplinesecondaryclassroom4e

Section One

Overview of the DSC Approach

To effectively manage and motivate a class (or classes) of students, you need a clear vision of your ideal classroom—what it should look like, what it should sound like, and what it should feel like to participants in the classroom and to anyone who comes in to observe. Consider the vision and the goals for what students learn academically, socially, and behaviorally as a result of their membership in your classroom. Once you have a clear idea of what you want for your classroom, you can design procedures that will ensure that you achieve those goals. These tasks will also serve as the basis for enticing students and families to join you as their guide for how to succeed in your classroom.

Imagine any complex system that you want to be successful within—for our purposes here, think about embarking on earning an advanced degree. You have narrowed your choice down to two schools. As you explore the first you are somewhat disappointed to learn that it is very difficult to determine the nature of program, whether the program will really meet your professional goals, and whether you have the requisite skills to succeed. In addition, as you try to explore these questions, anyone you speak or correspond with acts annoyed and makes you feel like an idiot because of your questions and concerns. By contrast, with the second school you easily find information about what you will learn in the program, the mission and purpose of the program, and great clarity about all the requirements for you to enter and successfully complete the degree. The icing on the cake is that everyone you speak with is helpful and welcoming. Even though the first school might be excellent (although it is also possible that it is not, given its inability to clarify these details), given a choice most of us would embark on the journey in which the destination is important, obvious, and attainable, and the road to get there is clearly mapped out in achievable chunks, with every indication that there will be help along the way if you feel lost. This section and the single chapter in it are designed to help you create a vision, process, and plan to help all your students succeed in your classroom.

Chapter 1

Develop a Clear Vision for Your Class and Your Classroom Management Approach

Numerous tasks throughout this book will help you define your vision, high positive expectations, and long‐term goals. You will continually think about what the ideal learning environment looks and sounds like as you define expectations, plan for your interactions (both positive and corrective) with students, and implement other tasks throughout this book. In this chapter, we present some of the key ideas that guide the DSC approach. These are foundational principles, critical concepts, or pillars for implementation that are essential as you embark on the ongoing journey to implement a positive and proactive approach to behavior management and student support. The concepts in this chapter are critical for developing a clear vision of how to manage student behavior and motivate students in effective ways.

There are three tasks in this chapter:

Task 1: Understand foundational principles and practices that guide the DSC approach

Task 2: Understand how to shape behavior

Task 3: Prepare your Classroom Management Plan

The first two tasks will help you understand some of these fundamental principles of behavior management, motivation, and the DSC approach. These tasks can also help you position your work with DSC in the context of other major initiatives and frameworks that exist in your class, school, or district. The third task introduces you to the Classroom Management Plan, which will help you summarize your vision, classroom organization, daily expectations, and other major factors you will evaluate and possibly refine as you work through this book. In this task, you will work to identify the level of support you will need to put in place in your classroom for students to be successful. The level of support you identify in Task 3 will have significant implications in the decisions that you make throughout this book.

By attending to each of these three tasks, you can set the foundation for an effective management plan that will help achieve your vision of what your class will look, sound, and feel like, and the goals and accomplishments you and your students will achieve. As you work through these foundational tasks, challenge yourself to carefully examine your own beliefs and practices. Where do you see alignment? Where do these foundational concepts challenge your existing ideas or practices related to behavior, the teacher's role in education, or the potential of your students? Mindsets drive action; this chapter provides essential information about productive mindsets that will help you effectively manage your classroom so it becomes a productive and positive environment for learning.

Task 1: Understand Foundational Principles and Practices That Guide the DSC Approach

Learn about the DSC model and critical concepts that can help you establish a positive and proactive classroom.

Classroom management is a journey and not a destination. This simple statement is a powerful reminder that self‐reflection and a commitment to continuous improvement is an integral part of the educational process. Effective teachers reflect on their own practices to determine what is working for their students (and for themselves!), and they identify elements of their practice that they should celebrate and protect. At the same time, effective teachers continually work to identify practices that may need to be changed to address current classroom concerns. The best teachers recognize that change and adjustment are natural parts of teaching. Every student who walks through the door, and every mix of students in the classroom, is different and presents unique strengths and challenges. Thus, effective teachers demonstrate a commitment to flexibility. They accept that when something isn't working, they can embrace change without judgment and maintain forward momentum toward the vision of success.

Throughout this book, you will be challenged to reflect on your current practices—what should be celebrated and protected as well as what should be tweaked, changed, or abandoned to increase student success and help you reach your positive vision of the ideal classroom.

This task introduces some of the critical concepts and hallmark practices that serve as the foundation for effective classroom management. As you read this task, challenge yourself to carefully examine how your current practices do or do not reflect these foundational elements.

The concepts that are briefly overviewed here represent complex and interwoven concepts, and each has significant implications for every teaching practice. Thus, they will be revisited frequently and interwoven throughout this book.

Mission and Beliefs: Create an Effective Vision to Guide Your Practice

Mahatma Gandhi once said, Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny. So this journey begins with evaluating your beliefs about your students, your educational community, and yourself as a teacher. The process of defining and documenting your beliefs and then using them to inform your practice is an essential element in developing an effective Classroom Management Plan.

Begin by reflecting on your mission as an educator. Why did you enter the field of education? What do you hope to accomplish with your students? What do you believe is the purpose of your job? What is your commitment to your school community as a teacher? If your school has a written mission or vision statement, examine this statement and consider whether it reflects the culture of your school and the culture of your classroom. Some examples of good mission statements include:

The staff at South High School are committed to helping every child develop a love of learning and motivating every student to reach their full potential.

Every day, every student in every classroom learns, grows, and feels respected.

The mission is essential to create an overarching vision that creates a sense of purpose for all members of the school community. However, it is common for these statements to become empty words. In many cases, staff don't even know what their school's mission statement is! As you reflect on your school's mission, or as you create a mission statement yourself, consider how you can take daily actions that help you actively strive to reach the mission. Your mission serves as a North Star that you can use to reflect on all aspects of your classroom practice—as in, does this practice, procedure, or approach help me or does it in any way violate my efforts to reach the mission? One way to further refine this process is to define beliefs for yourself about behavior management and discipline.

Your school may already have a set of staff beliefs in the form of a written description of principles related to behavior management and discipline. If you do have these, consider how your own beliefs and actions align with the school's written staff beliefs. Staff beliefs should relate directly to your school's mission—if staff are using practices that align with their beliefs, it should help the school achieve its mission. If there are points of disagreement or disconnect, consider how you can engage in professional discourse with your administrator to better understand the purpose behind certain beliefs or to begin a conversation about how to ensure that staff beliefs match best practices for behavior management and discipline.

If your school does not have a written set of staff beliefs, consider the following samples and work to write your own set of beliefs to guide a positive and proactive approach to student behavior and motivation.

At Safe & Civil Schools, we have articulated the following:

Mission: We are committed to providing welcoming and supportive educational settings where all students can thrive. To accomplish this, we believe:

That staff behavior creates the climate of the school, and a positive, welcoming, and inviting climate should be intentionally created and continuously maintained.

All student behaviors necessary for success need to be overtly and directly articulated and taught to mastery. If you want it, teach it.

All students should have equal access to good instruction and behavior support, regardless of their current skills or background.

Clarity of expectations and consistency of application and enforcement of these expectations are essential throughout the school.

Punitive and corrective techniques are necessary but have significant limitations. Misbehavior presents teaching and learning opportunities.

Everyone, even students who make poor choices, should be treated at all times with respect and in ways that demonstrate a commitment to helping them reach their positive potential.

All students have basic human rights that must be honored and upheld by all school personnel, regardless of politics, religion, ideology, or personal beliefs.

Composite Sample of Beliefs from Several Schools

(Adapted with permission from Foundations: A Proactive and Positive Behavior Support System by Sprick, Booher, Isaacs, Sprick, & Rich, 2014.)

All staff members contribute to a school's friendly, inviting environment. We set the tone through our actions and attitudes. We demonstrate continuous support and encouragement for all students in five important ways:

We teach students the expectations for responsible behavior in all school settings. We help students strive to exhibit productive habits and attitudes for learning, including: being responsible, always trying their best, cooperating with others, and treating everyone with respect, including themselves.

We recognize that positive relationships with students are foundational to a productive learning environment, and we strive to build positive relationships with every student by learning who they are and fostering their strengths.

We provide positive feedback to students when they are meeting expectations and striving to exhibit productive habits and attitudes.

We view minor misbehavior as a teaching opportunity, and we respond calmly and consistently to misbehavior with corrections and corrective consequences.

We work collaboratively and with a solutions‐oriented mindset to solve chronic and severe behavior problems.

To use a bowling analogy, imagine that your mission statement is like the pins at the end of the bowling lane. To achieve a strike, you must successfully guide your classroom throughout the year to achieve your mission. Your written statement of beliefs for behavior management and discipline can serve like bumpers or guardrails in the gutter of the bowling lane. Novice bowlers often find their ball veering off course and landing in the gutter. Similarly, teachers can easily veer off course from their mission when they encounter students with challenging behavior. In order for the ball to reach the pins, a bumper can be placed in the gutter or guardrails can be raised so that the ball stays out of the gutter and proceeds toward the pins. Your written statement of beliefs about behavior management can help prevent you from veering off course. Without clarifying these beliefs, you may struggle to evaluate which classroom management practices you should keep, tweak, or abandon over time. However, just as a bowling ball can take many different paths down the bowling lane even with guardrails in place, your Classroom Management Plan and approach give you a lot of flexibility and many paths to help your class be successful. As you work through this book, continue to evaluate your beliefs about student behavior and classroom management, and how these beliefs relate to your overarching mission. Make efforts to periodically evaluate your Classroom Management Plan and daily actions in relation to your (or your school's) staff beliefs and mission statement.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access: Fulfilling the Promise of Education for All

Effective schools help all students thrive and achieve their full potential. Effective classrooms help all students become increasingly responsible, respectful, motivated, and highly engaged in meaningful instructional activities. Unfortunately, throughout the history of the United States and despite some improvements and the earnest efforts of many educators, school systems have not fulfilled the promise of education for all students. Large numbers of students have fallen through the cracks of the system. School systems have struggled to fulfill the promise of an effective education for broad groups such as Black and Brown students, students identified with emotional and behavioral disabilities, students who struggle from experiences of trauma, and LGBTQ+ students, among others.

Overt and ongoing efforts are needed in all schools (and by all educators within those schools) to nurture diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) so we can fulfill the promise of education for all. Nurturing DEIA means moving beyond awareness of differences and individual identities into eliminating barriers to access, providing supports that encourage active participation and engagement, and listening to and valuing all perspectives within a community. It requires a commitment from educators to build classroom and school environments that truly support all students and allow them to thrive. DEIA must be a cornerstone commitment for all educators.

DEIA is an important focus within any school community, whether the community is extremely diverse or is largely homogeneous in terms of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or other factors. Imagine that you work in a school with a mix of students from different race/ethnicities, immigrants and refugees from other countries, different socioeconomic circumstances, and different religions. The differences in student cultures and experiences can present unique challenges in meeting a wide variety of needs, but they also represent wonderful opportunities to learn with and from each other about diverse perspectives. Hopefully, educators working in a school like this have a heightened awareness of the need to consider DEIA throughout their teaching practice.

In a more homogeneous community, for example, if 90 percent of the student and staff population are of one race/ethnicity, it is equally important to commit to and continually reflect on issues of DEIA. However, it can be easy to fall into the trap of not thinking critically about DEIA because one culture or demographic group is so prominently represented. You may make assumptions about your students based on comparison with norms of the population that is most represented. You may not be as aware of the ways in which cultural differences, individual differences, and the backgrounds of your students affect your perceptions of their behavior, motivation, or needs. Regardless of whether you work in a homogeneous or a heterogeneous community, actively seek to learn about and reflect on DEIA and how you can support all learners.

An effective classroom management approach is one essential element of putting your commitment to DEIA into practice. Effective classroom managers eliminate hidden norms and ensure that classroom expectations, disciplinary practices, and everyday interactions are just and equitably applied. They encourage and provide needed supports to all students and continually work to establish a positive and safe learning environment. DEIA should be a primary consideration as you work through the tasks in this book.

In addition, many important school initiatives are designed to help educators nurture specific aspects of DEIA. Cultural competency, trauma‐informed/trauma‐sensitive care, restorative practices, identifying implicit bias, and other frameworks push educators to analyze existing practices, identify gaps, reveal hidden norms, and consider meaningful supports for students who might otherwise fall through the cracks. When used proficiently, these can be powerful tools for working toward the promise of nurturing DEIA. However, recognize that none of these approaches is a panacea. Effective educators continue to work throughout their career to expand their knowledge and implement practices that will move them closer to fulfilling the promise of education for all.

In their efforts to gain more proficiency in nurturing DEIA, educators may move through a common progression with three main phases (or mile markers) of development: becoming informed, increasing sensitivity, and changing practice. Whether working toward providing more equitable and inclusive experiences for students with disabilities or addressing concerns about cultural competence or implicit bias, educators will encounter the three phases of becoming informed, increasing sensitivity, and changing practice as they progress in their understanding and implementation. Each phase involves increased time, effort, and energy, but also represents getting closer to meeting the goals presented within DEIA.

Becoming informed. During this phase, educators become aware of potential barriers or gaps that are impacting a student's educational achievement. For example, someone who is trauma‐informed is aware of research about the negative impacts of trauma and can begin to identify students who may exhibit signs of struggle due to experiences with trauma.

Increasing sensitivity. The second phase involves self‐reflection. In this phase, educators take a deep look at themselves and how they interact with the world around them in relation to the area of knowledge. This sounds like a simple proposition, but examining biases and blind spots and reflecting on needed areas of personal growth can often be difficult. The goal is for teachers to become so well‐informed that they are now sensitive to barriers to achievement and gaps in supports for students in real time. They can also anticipate underlying issues caused by their own practices or the environment. Someone who is in the increasing sensitivity phase related to issues of implicit bias is not only aware of what biases look like in others and within the educational system but has begun to identify their own biases and how they may be impacting their classroom and students.

Changing practice. Lastly, educators adopt prevention, early intervention, and responsive support strategies to address the specific issues they were previously informed about and sensitive to. During this phase, the educator's daily actions and efforts become aligned with their knowledge and beliefs—they are living the commitment to DEIA. They demonstrate that their efforts go beyond just knowledge and beliefs. Someone who delivers culturally competent practice has moved beyond identifying their own cultural values and biases, developing a better understanding of culturally specific knowledge about their students, and having knowledge of some of the institutional barriers that may prevent some of those students from adequately accessing educational resource. The educator is now mastering skills to successfully teach students who come from cultures different from his or her own by integrating his or her knowledge and sensitivity about cultural competence into the