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DRAKE UNIVERSITY
MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN EDUCATION
EDL 279- FIELD BASED LEARNING EXPERIENCE 1:
STUDENT BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Jillian Duffy Schulte
ID 000759795
9/28/2016
Creating effective behavior management systems is an ongoing topic of discussion
among educators. While we can all agree that effective management systems are vital for
students to be successful, there are many different philosophies on how to achieve this. As an
experienced educator, I have seen different programs and strategies come and go, and be
successful or unsuccessful. Now, as an aspiring administrator, I have a clear vision of the
components of successful student behavior management that contribute to student achievement.
They are: positive culture and climate, teaching rather than punishing, and student voice in
behavior management systems.
While a positive culture and climate seems obvious, it is important to understand the
factors that help achieve a positive culture and climate in a school and within a classroom. Two
factors described by Smith, Fisher & Frey (2015) are relationships and high-quality instruction.
When students trust their peers and adults in the school setting paired with meaningful and
relevant instruction, they are more likely to stay engaged and less likely to misbehave. Hatties
meta-analyses of factors related to student achievement also supports this. Teacher-student
relationships have an effect size of .72 (Hattie, 2009, pg. 118). Specifically, Hattie (2009) refers
to the skills of listening, empathy, caring, and having positive regard for others (pg. 118).
When teachers utilize and model these skills during interactions with students on a daily basis,
students achieve at higher levels. Who wouldnt want to work or learn in this type of
environment?

Sometimes it is easier said than done. As leaders, we need to make sure that we are
modeling these skills in our interactions with staff and students. I believe that shame and
humiliation have no place in school setting. This type of behavior only creates a larger divide
between students and teachers and creates an uphill battle for achieving a positive culture and
climate. Our words and actions that we choose have a lasting impact on students. I believe that
all students deserve dignity and respect, every day.
Another component in my philosophy is teaching rather than punishing. Our students
come to school every day with a variety of experiences and mental models about what is or isnt
acceptable behavior. If a student is eliciting an undesirable behavior, it usually means that they
either dont know the expected behavior, or they are communicating a deeper need that they have
that has not been met either at school or in their personal life. Smith, Fisher and Frey (2015) state
We dont leave the acquisition of reading or mathematics skills to chance; we engage in explicit,
systematic, and intentional instruction to ensure learners progress academically (pg. 3). I
believe that if we have systems in place to ensure success in core academic areas, the same
should be true for classroom and school wide expectations as well as social/emotional learning.
Teaching these expectations and having clear expectations is part of the solution. Teacher
clarity has an effect size of .75 (Hattie, 2009, pg. 126). This means that when teachers are clear
in communicating expectations, give students time to practice and provide examples of what
success looks like, students achieve at higher levels. This is true across all content areas. I
believe that leaders need to be clear about the purpose of the office. There are times that teachers
relinquish their control over to administrators. There are many reasons why this happens; a
student safety concern, large scale disruption; whatever the reason, there needs to be a common
understanding of the purpose of the office. I believe that this should be a place where students

should be supported in self-regulation expectations can be retaught and practiced, and students
become re-engaged and ready to re-enter the learning environment, rather than a place to be
punished.
Finally, I believe that student voice is a component of successful behavior management.
Students are one of our most valuable, and at times, underutilized resource. In Hatties (2009)
meta-analyses, Feedback has an effect size of .73 (pg. 173). Through his studies, he found that
feedback was most powerful from the student to the teacher (Hattie, 2009, pg. 173). I believe
that eliciting feedback is important, and acting on the feedback is even more important. I would
argue that when we ask for feedback and do nothing with it, we are sending a message to
students that their voice is not valued. If we know that there is a correlation between student
engagement and relevant learning experiences, we should be asking students how they learn best
and what they are passionate about. I believe that students should also be a part of creating class
expectations. When they feel valued and have ownership in the expectations, they are more
likely to follow them. These are all examples of how student voice can have a positive impact on
behavior and achievement.
Creating effective behavior management systems will continue to be an important topic
in education. My philosophy on this topic includes three big ideas: positive culture and climate,
teaching rather than punishing, and student voice in behavior management systems. Like any
effective system, once it is in place, it will need to be improved and sustained in order to have a
positive impact on student achievement.

Sources:

Hattie, J. (2009) Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to

achievement. New York, NY: Routledge.
Smith, D., Fisher, D.B., & Frey, N.E. (2015) Better than carrots or sticks: Restorative practices
for positive classroom management. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.