20 classroom management strategies, grouped by the evidence behind them
The What Works Clearinghouse practice guide Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom (2008) makes five recommendations and rates the evidence for each: strong for changing the classroom environment and for teaching and reinforcing new skills, moderate for the other three. The twenty strategies below are our own practical examples of how to act on each recommendation tomorrow. They are not a list taken from the guide; read the guide itself for its full advice.
1. Find out what drives the behavior (moderate evidence)
1. Before, during, after notes
For one week, each time the behavior happens, jot down what came just before it, exactly what the student did, and what happened right after. Patterns show up within a few days.
Grades K–8You need A notebook or a sheet with three columns
2. When and where tally
Put a tally mark on the schedule each time the behavior happens. If most marks land in one subject, one time of day or one transition, start your changes there.
Grades K–8You need A copy of your daily schedule
3. Describe it so anyone could see it
Replace words like "disruptive" with what a visitor would actually see: "calls out answers during whole-class math, about five times a lesson." A precise description makes it possible to tell whether things improve.
Grades K–8You need Nothing
4. Ask what the behavior gets the student
Look at what happens right after the behavior: does the student get attention, avoid a hard task, or get time away? Plan a better way for the student to get the same thing.
Grades K–8You need Your before, during, after notes
2. Change the room so problems are less likely (strong evidence)
5. A few rules, taught and posted
Agree on three to five rules stated as what to do ("Walk in the room") rather than what not to do, post them, and teach each one with examples and practice in the first weeks.
Grades K–8You need A class rules posterUse Class rules poster
6. Predictable routines and a visible schedule
Post the day's schedule and go through it each morning. Students who know what comes next spend less energy wondering and are easier to settle at each change.
Grades K–5You need Daily schedule cardsUse Daily schedule cards
7. Seat for success
Move a student who struggles closer to where you teach, away from the door and from the classmates they set off. Keep the move quiet and matter-of-fact, not a punishment.
Grades K–8You need A seating chartUse Seating chart maker
8. Directions in words and on the board
Give instructions one step at a time, write the steps on the board, and ask one student to repeat them before anyone starts. Fewer students drift because they didn't know what to do.
Grades K–8You need The board
9. Planned transitions
Plan the moves between activities: a signal to stop, a short visible countdown, and one clear instruction for what to do with materials. Unplanned transitions are where many problems start.
Grades K–5You need A signal and the timerUse Countdown timer
10. Make the work doable
If problems start when a task begins, check whether the task is too hard, too long or unclear. Break it into shorter parts, give a worked example, or let the student start with the first two items.
Grades K–8You need The lesson materials
3. Teach and reinforce the behavior you want (strong evidence)
11. Teach behavior like a lesson
Teach a routine such as lining up the way you teach a skill: show it, have a few students model it, let the class practice, and give feedback. Reteach it after a long break.
Grades K–5You need Nothing
12. Specific praise
Say exactly what the student did well: "You started right away and kept going when it got hard." Specific praise tells the student what to repeat, and others hear it too.
Grades K–8You need Nothing
13. Team points
Give table teams points for the behavior you are teaching, such as quick clean-up or helpful talk, and agree on a small shared reward when a team reaches its goal.
Grades K–5You need A team points chartUse Team points chart
14. A personal goal chart
With one student, pick one behavior to work on, agree on a small reward and track it on a private chart. Start with a goal the student can reach in a day or two.
Grades K–5You need A reward goal trackerUse Reward goal tracker
15. Calm, private correction
When a student breaks a rule, move close, say the expectation quietly ("Hands on your own desk, thanks"), and walk away. A private reminder avoids an audience and an argument.
Grades K–8You need Nothing
4. Work with colleagues and families (moderate evidence)
16. A good news note home first
Send a short, specific positive note home in the first weeks, before any problem. When you later need to talk about a concern, the family already knows you see the good.
Grades K–8You need Note cards or your school's messaging tool
17. Ask a colleague to observe
Ask a colleague you trust to watch twenty minutes of the lesson where things go wrong and note what they see. A second pair of eyes catches what you can't see while teaching.
Grades K–8You need A trusted colleague and twenty minutes
18. Plan together with the team
Share your before, during, after notes with the family and the school counselor or student support team, and agree on one goal and one plan that home and school both use.
Grades K–8You need Your notes from recommendation 1
5. Look at the whole school (moderate evidence)
19. Same expectations in shared spaces
Agree with your grade team on the same expectations and signals for hallways, lunch and recess, and teach them in the same words in every class.
Grades K–8You need A meeting with your grade-level team
20. Look for schoolwide patterns
If many classes see the same problem in the same place or time, raise it with your school's leadership or behavior team. A problem shared across the school may need a schoolwide approach rather than a fix in one room.
Grades K–8You need Your school's behavior records, if it keeps them
Making it work
- Change one thing at a time and give it two weeks, so you know what worked.
- Keep your before, during, after notes factual and private. They are for planning, not for the student's permanent record unless your school asks for them.
- Pair every correction with far more specific praise. Hearing what to do teaches students more than hearing what not to do.
- Follow your school's behavior policy and ask for help early. Recommendation 4 is about not handling a hard situation alone.
- Read the guide itself on the What Works Clearinghouse site for its full recommendations and how it rated the evidence.
Questions teachers ask
- Which classroom management strategies have the strongest evidence?
- In the What Works Clearinghouse guide Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom (2008), two of the five recommendations are rated as having strong evidence: modifying the classroom learning environment to decrease problem behavior, and teaching and reinforcing new skills to increase appropriate behavior and preserve a positive classroom climate.
- Are the twenty strategies on this page from the guide?
- No. The five headings and their evidence ratings are the guide's. The strategies under each heading are our practical examples of how a teacher might act on that recommendation, written for this page. Read the guide for its own detailed advice.
- Does this work for middle school?
- The guide was written about elementary classrooms. Many of the strategies here, such as clear routines, specific praise, private correction and working with families, are common in middle school too, but the guide's evidence ratings refer to elementary settings.
- What if nothing is working?
- Ask for help from your school's counselor, behavior specialist or student support team, and involve the family. A student whose behavior doesn't change with good classroom strategies may need more support than one teacher can give alone.
Sources
- Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom, What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences (2008).
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