The Discipline Crisis That's Breaking Teachers (and
What Schools Can Do This Summer)
72% of educators reported this year
that student behavior is WORSE than before the Pandemic. Teachers are quitting
mid-year. Office Discipline Referrals have tripled. Classroom instruction stops
daily for disruptions. Some students are not even showing up for school.
The brutal truth? The discipline strategies
schools are relying on are failing spectacularly. . . including the PBIS and
SEL frameworks. . . and suspending MORE kids this Fall is NOT the solution.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
This Blog article (and accompanying
Podcast) provides a proven lifeline by describing:
📊The 5 Pillars of Safe & Effective Schools -
The exact model used by award-winning principals nationwide.
⚡The 5-Component Solution for Classroom Management and Student
Self-Management -
Dr. Howie Knoff's evidence-based framework that's transformed 1000s of schools
nationwide over the past 40 years.
🔍How Teachers and Support Staff fit in –
What teachers and related service professionals need to do - this Fall - to
turn things around.
📋Your Summer Action Plan - Exact
steps to implement before August (includes Needs Assessment Questions to ask
NOW).
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
FACT: This isn't another education Blog
or Podcast with feel-good theories. This is a survival guide, backed by hard
data and proven results.
Don't let another school year slip
away while your teachers burn out and students fall behind. The research is
clear. The solution exists.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The question is: Will you act?
Every day you wait, you lose another
great teacher.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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Classroom Management Lessons for Teachers from the
Detroit Lions’ Shocking Playoff Loss
[The Improving Education Today: The Deep Dive podcast,
hosted by popular AI Educators Angela Jones and Davey Johnson, provides an
engaging and enlightening synopsis and analysis of this Blog on Spotify... CLICK HERE]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[CLICK HERE to read this Blog
on the Project ACHIEVE Webpage]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Dear Colleagues,
Introduction
I am not from Detroit, nor do I
live there.
Heck. . . I’m not even from
Michigan, much less the Mid-West.
But. . . I am a Dan
Campbell fan. . . the four-season Head Coach of the National Football League’s
(NFL) Detroit Lions!
And. . . even if you are not a
football fan, every educator in the country should know about Dan Campbell, his
success, and—most importantly—why he has been successful.
_ _ _ _ _
This year, Dan led the Lions to a
15 Win – 2 Loss record. . . which made his Team the Number 1 playoff seed in
one of the NFL’s two Conferences.
Critically, as the Lions’ Coach,
Campbell’s record over the past four years has progressively improved from 3
wins in 2021, to 9 wins in 2022, to 12 wins in 2023, to 15 wins this year (all
out of 17 regular season games played each season).
Can you spell: I-M-P-R-O-V-E-M-E-N-T?!
_ _ _ _ _
In the Playoffs this year, given
their talent and regular season play, the Lions were favored to go to the
Superbowl.
But in their first playoff game,
they lost 45-31 to the Washington Commanders in a game that was not really even
that close.
But I respect and admire Dan
Campbell because of how he stood up and publicly handled the loss.
Just moments after walking off
the field, he faced the “harsh glare of the lights” and the “unforgiving
scrutiny of the Media” in a televised press conference geared to dissecting the
minutiae of a game that will trigger a deluge of nightmares-to-come.
And under these lights, Campbell
taught us a lesson in candor, humility, perspective, strength, realism, and
vulnerability.
But the Lions’ remarkable
improvement over the past four years, their loss in the Playoffs, and Coach
Campbell’s contribution to both provides many other extraordinary lessons for
all educators, and especially classroom teachers, relative to their leadership,
their students’ success, and how to handle the times when things “don’t go as
planned.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Students’ Classroom Behavior is Not Improving
Critically, now three years after
our “full return” (Fall, 2021) from the pandemic, students’ classroom behavior
is not getting better.
Indeed, a January 8, 2025 Education
Week article reported on a mid-December 2024 survey of 990 educators
(134 district leaders, 97 school leaders, and 759 teachers)—chosen as a
nationally-representative sample by the EdWeek Research Center.
The results of
this survey indicated:
·72% of educators said that the students in their
classroom, school, or district have been misbehaving either “a little” (24%) or
“a lot” (48%) more than in the fall of 2019, the last semester before the
COVID-19 pandemic began.
In contrast:
·A year ago (early 2023), 70% of educators said that their students
were misbehaving either “a little” (36%) or “a lot” (33%) more than in the fall
of 2019; and
·In 2021, 66% of educators said that their
students were misbehaving a little or a lot more than in the fall of 2019.
_ _ _ _ _
The Education
Week article went on:
Student misbehavior has routinely topped teachers’
lists of concerns and most pressing challenges in recent years. There’s been a
pronounced spike in behavior problems, ranging from minor classroom disruptions
to more serious student fights broadcast on social media, since students
returned to school buildings. Teachers have also reported a drop in
students’ motivation in that time period.
Student misbehavior is hurting staff morale, some
survey respondents said.
Indeed, past surveys have documented this overall dip
in teacher morale. An annual report released in August by the EdWeek Research
Center showed that just 18 percent of public school teachers said they are
very satisfied with their jobs, a much lower percentage than decades ago, and a
slight drop from the year prior when 20 percent of teachers said the same.
In that same report, many elementary and middle school
teachers said they need more support in dealing with student discipline, and
that the additional help would improve their mental health. Eighty percent of
teachers reported they have to address students’ behavioral problems “at least
a few times a week,” with 58 percent saying this happens every day, according
to a Pew Research Center report from April 2024.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Students are Not Going to “Fix” Themselves: School
Staff Need to Function as a Team
While it is easier
to “just blame the students, the parents, residual pandemic trauma, and social
media” for students’ persistent behavioral challenges, this externalization is
not going to solve the problem.
The students are
not going to fix themselves.
Moreover, there are
no quick fixes (otherwise, this problem would have been solved long ago).
Instead, let’s look
at schools. . . and solutions. . . from a “team” perspective.
And while the
students are certainly part of “the team roster,” school teams consist of
administrators, related service professionals, teachers and instructional
specialists, and support staff—like secretaries, custodians, cafeteria workers,
bus drivers, and paraprofessionals.
All of them should
be contributing members of “the team.”
Comparatively, an
NFL football team typically has 12 coaches, 53 men on its “game-day” roster,
and another 16 players on the practice (or taxi) squad... in addition to
staff who, for example, include advanced scouts, athletic trainers, game
videographers, data analysts, and others.
The essential team questions—whether
we are talking about a school or the Detroit Lions—are:
Does your Team
have:
·The interdependent talent with the skills,
experience, motivation, and commitment to succeed?
For schools, this ultimately involves
the Teachers in the classrooms.
For an NFL Team, this ultimately involves
the Players on the field.
_ _ _ _ _
·The evidence-based blueprints to facilitate
success?
For schools, this involves the
academic curricula with their scope and sequences, as well as the social,
emotional, and behavioral components that focus on student self-management.
For an NFL Team, this involves the
playbooks for the offense, defense, and special teams, respectively, and how
they are applied to specific opponents.
_ _ _ _ _
·The leadership to guide player development?
For schools, this involves the Administrators,
Supervisors, Instructional Coaches, and Related Service Consultants.
For an NFL Team, this involves the
Head Coach and the different Position Coaches.
_ _ _ _ _
·The culture, belief, dedication, persistence,
and resilience to consistently act as a Team for “the greater good”?
For schools and NFL teams, this
involves everyone. . . but for schools, it also necessarily involves the
students, their voices and needs, and their active commitment and involvement.
_ _ _ _ _
Significantly,
success for an NFL team is measured in wins and championships.
Success for a school
is measured in students’ academic and social, emotional, and behavioral
learning, progress, proficiency, and graduation with the skills needed for
post-graduation success.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Classroom Behavior and Teachers
As noted above,
everyone on a successful team needs to have (a) the skills, experience,
motivation, and commitment to succeed (b) in an organizational culture that (c)
nurtures and reinforces everyone’s “team-first” beliefs, dedication,
persistence, and resilience to consistently act for “the greater good.”
Thus, to truly
address the student behavior and classroom management challenges also noted
above, schools need to strategically apply their organization’s culture and
team talent to (a) analyzing and understanding their present social, emotional,
and behavioral challenges in order to (b) address, diminish, or resolve them.
In most cases, this
necessarily starts in every classroom, and involves every teacher—individually,
within their grade-level team and/or academic department, and as a member of
the entire school community.
Individually,
teachers must recognize that—as an extension of their grade-level, department,
and school teams—they are responsible for:
·Creating and sustaining positive, safe, and
productive classroom learning environments;
·Identifying, teaching, prompting, and
reinforcing students’ expected social, emotional, and behavioral skills; and
·Analyzing and strategically addressing—once
again, individually, within their grade-level teams or departments, or through their
administrative and/or related service supports—the students who are not
conforming or responding to classroom norms.
While even veteran
teachers periodically struggle with classroom management (needing coaching and
other supports), it is important that schools with the student, peer,
classroom, and schoolwide challenges especially analyze the classroom
management skills and student interactions of teachers who are (a) new to the
profession, and/or (b) new to the school.
There are at least three reasons for this
recommendation:
·Teacher Training. Decades of published
studies analyzing colleges of education across the country have consistently
found that the instruction and supervision of graduates’ classroom management
knowledge and skill is sorely lacking.
These knowledge and skill gaps are
even more pronounced for many teachers certified through alternative education
programs.
_ _ _ _ _
·Teacher Research. As but one example, a
methodologically well-done study in Educational Researcher
(“Troublemakers? The Role of Frequent Teacher Referrers in Expanding Racial
Disciplinary Disproportionalities;” June 14, 2023) analyzed the characteristics
of the referring teachers and the “misbehaving” students from over 75,000
office discipline referrals (ODRs) in a large, racially-diverse urban school
district in California during the 2016-2017 through 2019-2020 school years.
Analyzing the teachers responsible for
the top 5% of the district’s ODRs, the study determined that (a) this involved
only 1.7% of all teachers; (b) Black and Hispanic students were overrepresented
among the students referred by these “top referrers”; (c) teachers who were
White, early career, and serving in middle schools did the most referring; and
(d) after 3 years of classroom experience, the likelihood of being a top
referrer quickly dropped—except in Middle schools where the top referrers’ ODRs
did not decrease until they had at least 11 years of experience.
_ _ _ _ _
·Teacher Supervision and Evaluation. As
but one example here, another well-done study in Education Evaluation and
Policy Analysis (“’Refining’ Our Understanding of Early Career Teacher
Skill Development: Evidence from Classroom Observations;” January 10, 2025) analyzed
the instructional progress of 25,000 novice teachers in Tennessee, based on their
principals’ observational data from Tennessee’s teacher-evaluation system.
In this system, principals’
classroom observations had to identify one focus area for improvement from
among 19 instructional skills—including, for example, teacher questioning,
presenting content, behavior management, and problem-solving.
Critically, the researchers found,
among the 25% of new teachers who received the lowest overall evaluation
scores, administrators were most likely to identify weak behavior management skills.
By contrast, the highest-performing
new teachers looked more like veteran teachers when it came to these skills.
_ _ _ _ _
Taken altogether,
once again, schools whose staff report continuing student behavior and
classroom management challenges should first analyze where these challenges are
occurring and with whom.
Without blaming
these teachers, these analyses should especially look at new or novice (less
than three years of experience) teachers.
Critically: Why
should anyone be surprised that new teachers sometimes have the most classroom
management problems?
While most schools.
. . and NFL teams. . . have teachers and players, respectively, who are emerging
or seasoned veterans with five or more years of successful team experience, they
also have new teachers or new players (“rookies”), respectively.
To be successful,
new teachers and rookie NFL players, respectively, need to embrace the organization’s
positive, “team-first” culture while learning (a) the “plays” and how to
execute them; (b) how to be good teammates; and (c) how to contribute—in the
classroom or on the field—to student (for schools) or championship (for NFL
teams) outcomes.
For teachers, part
of this contribution is classroom management.
Moreover: Just as
NFL rookies get more instruction, coaching, evaluation, and feedback before
they participate in actual games, new and novice teachers need the same
opportunities.
The problem is:
Many times, they don’t.
In fact, new and
novice teachers are almost always immediately put “into the game.”
That is, these
teachers are independently placed in charge of their classrooms on the first
day of school. . . with little “pre-season” training, coaching, evaluation, and
feedback.
Kind of scary. . .
isn’t it?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Classroom Behavior and the Evidence-based Blueprint
that Facilitates Success
Successful NFL teams
have well-designed and proven offensive, defensive, and special teams’
playbooks.
Relative to student
behavior and classroom management, many schools. . . not so much.
The ultimate goal
of a “student behavior and classroom management playbook” is to motivate, teach,
prompt, and reinforce or correct students’ social, emotional, and behavioral
self-management skills.
Just as an NFL
team’s best defense is a good offense, a school’s Tier 1 prevention system
helps minimize students’ behavioral challenges and the need for more intensive Tier
2 and 3 services, supports, and interventions.
Across ten years of
Blogs (and many publications), we have discussed the five proven, evidence-based,
and interdependent components that schools need in their playbook.
Let’s listen to AI
Educators Angela Jones and Davey Johnson on their Improving Education Today:
The Deep Dive podcast of this Blog as they integrate our discussion thus
far and expand on the school blueprint more specifically.
When you “FOLLOW”
this podcast, you are automatically notified when each bi-monthly podcast is
posted.
Briefly, the
evidence-based blueprint for school discipline success has the following five
interdependent components:
·Positive School and Classroom Climate, and Staff
and Peer Relationships;
·Explicit Prosocial Behavioral Expectations in
classrooms and common school areas, and Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skill
Instruction;
·Student Motivation and Accountability;
·Consistency and Fidelity—relative to the
implementation of all the above components; and
·Special Situations—the application of the components
above to all school settings, all peer interactions, and those students who
need more strategic or intensive services and supports.
Critically, these
same components are present in a sound and successful NFL football team. They
are introduced and taught especially during the preseason and reinforced and
extended during every practice before a regular season or playoff game.
More specifically, sound
and successful NFL teams ensure that their offensive, defensive, and special
team units:
·Develop positive relationships in the midst of a
supportive, but competitive climate;
·Learn and master their playbooks to automaticity;
·Are motivated and self-accountable;
·Demonstrate consistent play during each game, as
well as those across the entire season; and
·Apply their skills in different weather
conditions, at both home and away games, when different players are injured and
are unable to play, and after disappointing losses.
_ _ _ _ _
To expand the
school blueprint more specifically:
·Positive
School and Classroom Climates, and Staff and Peer Relationships
This component focuses on building strong, positive
relationships across same-grade and cross-grade students, across teachers and
other staff and administrators in the school, across students and staff, and
across students and staff and parents and others in the community. It also
includes activities and expectations that build and sustain support for
students from different backgrounds (relative, for example, to gender, race,
culture, religion, sexual orientation).
_ _ _ _ _
·Explicit
Prosocial Behavioral Expectations in the Classrooms and Common School areas,
and Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skill Instruction
This component is anchored by an evidence-based social
skills program that is taught by classroom teachers at every grade level, and
that focuses on teaching, modeling, practicing, and applying social and
behavioral skills (e.g., Listening, Following Direction, Asking for Help,
Ignoring Distractions, Dealing with Teasing, Accepting Consequences). It also
includes student training in emotional awareness, control, communication, and
coping so that students can demonstrate or perform their social skills even under
conditions of emotionality.
_ _ _ _ _
·Student
Motivation and Accountability
This component focuses on the
developmentally-appropriate incentives and consequences, respectfully, that
motivate appropriate, prosocial student behavior, and the differential
responses needed to hold students accountable for inappropriate, anti-social
behavior. This area includes the development (if needed) of a progressive,
tiered school Behavioral Code of Conduct, and how to implement it in equitable
ways, eliminating disproportionality—especially for students of color and with
disabilities.
_ _ _ _ _
·Consistency
and Fidelity
This component focuses on how to train and reinforce
staff and students in the consistent implementation of the activities and
processes in the three component areas above. . . so that they are used and
applied as empirically designed and with fidelity. Clearly, if evidence-based
processes are not implemented with the consistency (across, for example, time,
people, settings, and situations), integrity, and intensity needed to
facilitate or change behavior, then they will not work or will take longer to
work. This can create a resistance or distrust of the change process that
potentially undermines current and future change efforts.
_ _ _ _ _
·Special
Situations
This component addresses the more complex,
multi-dimensional behaviors related to (a) the school’s Common Areas; (b)
peer-driven psychosocial interactions (including teasing, taunting, bullying,
harassment, hazing, and physical aggression); and (c) the multi-tiered services,
supports, and interventions needed by students who are not responding to
effective school discipline and classroom management approaches.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Classroom Behavior and Administrators
Finally, leadership
skills are essential whether you are the Head Coach of an NFL football team or
a School Principal. Critically, neither leader simply “talked” their way into
the position.
Many head coaches
played in the NFL themselves. And they spent many years coaching different
parts of a football team. . . often under the tutelage of a Head Coach who saw
their potential and mentored them.
Many school
principals were classroom teachers. And they spent many years in
different school leadership positions. . . again, under the tutelage of
Principals and others who saw their leadership potential.
But as reinforced
above, both Head Coaches and School Principals need to have a great support
staff, a sound playbook, and players or teachers, respectively, who are skilled,
experienced, motivated, and committed.
One leader does not
a team make.
_ _ _ _ _
Relative to the
continuing student discipline and classroom management challenges noted by many
schools across the country, school principals need to actively and consistently
do the following:
·Be Present—at staff problem analysis and intervention
planning meetings, at professional development and coaching and feedback
sessions, interacting in the classrooms and the common areas of the school, and
working side-by-side with staff who are working with students to make things
better.
·Be Knowledgeable—about the school’s
discipline and classroom model, and the components and activities being
implemented by staff with or on behalf of students. Here, principals need to
have the knowledge and skills such that they could walk into a classroom or
situation and implement the model fluidly and with integrity.
·Be Respectful and Empathetic—when
interacting with classroom teachers, students, other instructional and support
staff, and other administrative colleagues. High levels of emotionality or
disregard only increase the chances of the same reactions in others.
·Be Humble—by knowing when to take the
lead and when to delegate, when to make a decision and when to defer to others,
when to give encouragement and when to express disappointment, and when to
press ahead and when to back off and regroup.
·Be Aware of and Comfortable with—the
difference between a student’s discipline problem, and the problem that reflects
a social, emotional, or behavioral student challenge. Discipline problems
usually change when strategically-chosen disciplinary actions are implemented.
Social, emotional, or behavioral challenges are only responsive to strategically-chosen
services, supports, and/or interventions.
Once again—as
embodied by Lions’ Head Coach Dan Campbell—these characteristics explain how
his team went from 3 to 9 to 12 to 15 wins over the past four years. . . but
also why he reacted to his team’s 45-31 loss last week.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
A Final Lesson
There’s one more
lesson to learn from Coach Campbell.
If you watch the
video of his press conference again, you see him say:
·“We fell short;”
·“It just hurts to lose;”
·“It was just one of those odd days;”
·“Things were just off” right from the beginning
of the football game;
·“It was a ripple effect;”
·“We just didn’t play great;”
·“We couldn’t get over the hump;”
·“I wish I had a better answer;”
·“I’ve got to spend some time to look at it and
figure it out;” and
·“It’s my fault—I didn’t have them ready.”
_ _ _ _ _ _
Whether we are
talking about classroom teachers, school administrators, or any staff group in
between. . . there are times—even with the best players, playbook, past, and
potential—that things just don’t go as planned.
Sometimes, the
students are just “off”. . . it’s just an “odd day”. . . teachers can’t “get
over the hump.”
For these days,
tomorrow is another day.
But if there are
too many of “these days,” the school needs to analyze (a) the talent; (b)
evidence-based blueprints; (c) leadership; and (d) the culture, beliefs,
dedication, persistence, and resilience of the school and its teams.
Remember: Students
rarely fix their own social, emotional, or behavioral problems, and they rarely
“mature” out of these challenging patterns.
While they need to
be part of the solution, educators (and parents) need to take the lead.
A school may not
have a “winning record” right now relative to student behavior and classroom
management.
But—like the
Detroit Lions—we can turn things around. . . if we just “listen” to Dan
Campbell.
_ _ _ _ _
Summary
This Blog described
a recent nationally-representative Education Week Research Center survey of
educators across the country that found that student discipline and classroom
management continues to get worse post-pandemic.
We then asserted
that students are not going to fix themselves (and that there are no quick
fixes), and that everyone in an affected school—especially teachers and
administrators—needs to be part of the problem analysis and strategic
solutions.
The remainder of
the Blog used Dan Campbell, the Head Coach of the National Football League’s
(NFL) Detroit Lions, and how he handled his recent press conference after his team
lost a playoff game that they were overwhelming favorites to win.
We used his
reaction to the loss—even in the face of his team’s significant improvements
under his leadership the past four years—to compare the characteristics of a
successful football team specifically to what schools need to do to solve their
current student behavior and classroom management problems.
In short, we
discussed school leadership and “player development,” the talent and training
needed, the “playbook” toward effective school and classroom discipline, and the
importance of school culture and commitment.
We closed by encouraging
schools to start now on this road to improvement. . . again emphasizing that
there are no quick fixes. . . you’ve got to put in the work to earn the rewards.
_ _ _ _ _
A New Podcast
and Professional Development Resource for You
At the beginning of this month,
we announced a new partnership and resource for you.
The partnership is with popular
AI Educators, Davey Johnson and Angela Jones. . . and the resource is
their Podcast:
Improving
Education Today: The Deep Dive
For each bimonthly
Blog message that I publish, Davey and Angela will summarize and analyze the
Blog in their free-wheeling and “no-holds-barred” Podcast. . . addressing its
importance to “education today,” and discussing their recommendations on how to
apply the information so that all students, staff, and schools benefit to “the
next level of excellence.”
Davey and Angela
have already created a Podcast Archive of more than 35 additional and separate
podcasts reflecting involving all of our 2024 Blogs (Volume 2), and 14 of our
most-popular Blogs from 2023 (Volume 1).
The Podcasts are
posted on Spotify, and you can “Follow” the Podcast Series so that you will be
automatically notified whenever a new Podcast is posted.
Many districts and
schools are using the Podcasts in their Leadership Teams and/or PLCs to keep
everyone abreast of new issues and research in education, and to stimulate
important discussions and decisions regarding the best ways to enhance student,
staff, and school outcomes.
If you would like
to follow a Podcast up with a free one-hour consultation with me, just contact
me and we will get it on our schedules.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Best,
Howie
[CLICK HERE to read this Blog
on the Project ACHIEVE Webpage]
_ _ _ _ _
[To listen to a synopsis and analysis of this Blog on the “Improving
Education Today: The Deep Dive” podcast hosted by popular AI
Educators, Angela Jones and Davey Johnson on Spotify: CLICK
HERE for Angela and Davey’s Enlightening Discussion]
“We’ve Got Serious
Problems and We Need Serious People”
[CLICK HERE to read this Blog on the Project
ACHIEVE Webpage]
Dear Colleagues,
Introduction
Students do not “mature” out of inappropriate
behavior. . .
They need to be taught and learn appropriate behavior.
Howie Knoff
_ _ _ _ _
Last month, I
delivered three presentations at The Model Schools Conference in
Orlando. . . sharing my perspectives with over 5,000 attendees.
Two weeks ago, my
Blog (Part I of this Summer Series) discussed one of my Conference
presentations, outlining the “Seven Sure Solutions for School Success”—an
evidence-based blueprint that I implicitly or explicitly use when helping
districts and schools solve some of their thorniest academic or behavioral
student challenges.
The Blog used the
“Glass Half-Empty or Half-Full” metaphor to emphasize that—despite incremental
accomplishments—we still have so much to do in our schools today.
From an academic
perspective, the Blog noted that too many schools publicly define their annual
success as an increase in the number of students scoring Proficient
or Above on their state standards tests in reading, math, and science. Significantly,
many high schools add the percent of students graduating in four (or five)
years to this perspective of “success.”
And yet, using
these definitions, the Blog “tipped the glass” and documented that—for example—on
the 2023 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP):
·Over 1.6 million 8th Grade students from the
five highest NAEP-scoring states in the country were Below
Proficient in Reading as they entered their first year in high school; and
·Over 2.1 million 12th Grade students from the
five highest NAEP-scoring states in the country were Below
Proficient in Math when they graduated from high school year.
Significantly,
these number were only from the five best-scoring states on the
NAEP.
These numbers did
not include the five most populous states in the country: California,
Texas, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania. And, the 3.7 million deficient
students—at just the two academic and grade levels above—exceeded the
total individual populations from 23 different states (not combined. . .
individually).
So. . . even as
some schools see the glass as half-full. . . the largest part of the glass
remains half-empty.
As Michael
Douglas—playing “President Andrew Shephard” at a Press Conference in movie The
American President (1995)—said in a memorable soliloquy:
“We’ve got serious
problems, and we need serious people.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
What about Student Behavior and School Climate?
From a school
climate and student behavior perspective, Education Week published an
article last week (July 18, 2024) reporting the results of the most-recent School
Pulse Panel survey organized by the National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES). This Panel has been used over the past few years to track the impact of
the COVID-19 pandemic on the school and schooling process.
Completed between
May 14 and May 28, 2024, this survey involved 1,714 public school K-12 leaders
from every state in the country and Washington, D.C.
Education Week
reported the following summary statements from those who completed this NCES
survey:
·83% reported that the pandemic and its lingering
effects continue to negatively
influence the socioemotional development of students;
·75% reported that students’ lack of focus or
inattention had either a “moderate” or “severe” negative impact on learning
during the 2023-24 school year;
·21% reported that students were academically
unprepared for school (e.g., not doing homework, not bringing necessary
supplies);
·19% reported students being disruptive in the
classroom (e.g., calling out, talking to others during instruction, getting out
of a seat when not allowed, leaving the classroom);
·19% reported students not doing individual work;
·18% reported students being physically
unprepared for school (e.g., lack of sleep, not eating before school); and
·16% reported students using cellphones,
computers, and other electronic devices when not permitted.
In addition:
·57% of the
schools surveyed reported confiscating some type of substance from students
during the 2023-2024 school year;
·45% reported
having confiscated a weapon from students during the year;
·36% reported that
student acts of disrespect toward teachers or staff members, other than verbal
abuse, occurred at least once a week;
·30% reported
instances of cyberbullying that happened at and outside of school at least once
a week;
·20% reported that
threats of physical attacks or fights between students occurred at least once a
week;
·18% reported
bullying occurring at least once a week; and
·17% reported
students’ verbal abuse of teachers or staff members occurring at least once per
week.
NOTE: If 20%
does not sound like a “disruptive” number, consider (a) what a classroom would
be like if 1 out of every 5 students, for example, came to school without doing
their homework or did not bring needed classroom supplies; or (b) what a school’s
climate would be like with at least a weekly threat of a physical attack
or student fight.
_ _ _ _ _
The last reported
data from the NCES survey revealed that:
·76% of the public
school leaders said they need “more support for student and/or staff mental
health;”
·71% need “more
training on supporting students’ socioemotional development;”
·61% need “more
training on classroom management strategies;” and
·52% said “more
teachers and/or staff need to be hired.”
All of this at a time when school finances
are pinched and experienced teachers are hard to find.
“We’ve got serious
problems, and we need serious people.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Serious Solutions Require Serious Science
Given the breadth
of the problems above, districts and schools need to look at
themselves—especially as the new school year is about to begin—to determine:
·Which (if any) of these problems exist in their
settings and to what degree;
·Whether the problems identified are independent
or inter-related;
·What problems can be or should be solved during
the first days or weeks of the new school year;
·How to do this in an evidence-based and
self-sustaining way; and
·Who needs to be involved.
Many times,
districts and schools need an objective, independent perspective here, or they
do not have the resources available to fully vet these issues and solutions.
This is where an experienced outside expert can be beneficial. . . someone who
can be direct and candid, and who will work in a short-term, solution-focused
way.
To begin this
process, let me share and briefly comment on three quotes from my Model
Schools Conference presentation, while recommending that you (re)read my
Blog from last month:
“Does Your School’s SEL Program Teach Social Skill
Behaviors, or Just Talk About What Students “Should Do”? If We Taught Reading
the Way We Teach SEL, None of Our Students Would Learn How to Read”
“Students do not
“mature” out of inappropriate behavior. . .
They need to be
taught and learn appropriate behavior.”
While some student
behavior is developmental in nature, the first days and weeks of the school
year should progressively teach students the different classroom and building
routines. . . having them physically practice them during supervised “walk-throughs,”
while providing supportive or corrective feedback when needed. This should especially
be done with all preschool through (and including) new 9th grade high school students.
All students
(preschool through high school) also should learn and discuss the specific behavioral
expectations in their classroom—and across the common areas of the school. In
addition, they should also learn (or review) and discuss the different
intensities of inappropriate behavior. . . that is, what specific behaviors are
annoying, disruptive, antisocial, or dangerous or code of conduct offenses.
Here, the behaviors
need to be described in observable—not generic—terms. For example,
“disrespect,” “disruptive,” or “defiant” behaviors need to be more behaviorally
specified so that everyone is clear what these global terms actually refer to.
The discussions,
moreover, should be more peer-to-peer than adult-to-peer. Peers need to share
how inappropriate behavior affects them academically and socially, and they
need to make prosocial commitments to each other regarding the importance of
appropriate interpersonal behavior. They also need to address and practice how to
“call out” and resolve inappropriate peer behavior—even when it is unintentional.
This is especially
important for interactions that relate to gender, socio-economic status, race
or culture, sexual orientation, or skill and proficiency. These discussions also
should explicitly address individual, peer-related, in-person, or virtual
(social media) teasing and bullying, intimidation and taunting, physical or
sexual harassment, and micro- and macro-aggressions.
Separately. . . when
students continually demonstrate significant behavioral challenges, consistent
with the quote above, it is important to recognize that “Talk alone does not
change behavior.”
That is, while “the
talk” may clarify both the inappropriate behavior that should be eliminated and
the appropriate prosocial behavior that is needed instead, the only way for
students (or anyone) to learn, master, and be able to independently demonstrate
the latter, appropriate behavior is:
·To behaviorally teach and physically demonstrate
the desired behavior;
·Roleplay and practice it behaviorally with
the student;
·Continue to practice it behaviorally with
the student using relevant, applied situations in the settings where they most
often occur; and
·Encourage independent behavioral student-practice
so target behaviors become automatic and routine.
Critically, students
do not mature or age-out of significant inappropriate behavior. And, as above,
they do not demonstrate appropriate behavior automatically even when they “know
what they are supposed to do.”
Moreover, sitting
and talking in a “restorative circle”—while it may help clarify and personalize
a socially inappropriate interaction—will not, in most cases, prosocially
change the behavior the next time.
By way of analogy,
if you want proficient reading behavior, students need to learn, practice, and
become automatic readers.
If you want
students to demonstrate appropriate interpersonal, social problem-solving,
conflict prevention and resolution, and emotional awareness, control,
communication, and coping skills, they need to learn, practice, and become
automatic in these behaviors.
_ _ _ _ _
Quote 2
“Why is anyone
surprised that the science and practice of teaching students social, emotional,
and behavioral skills. . . is any less sophisticated than teaching students
literacy skills?”
During my 40+ years
in education as a school psychologist, I have seen more than enough haggling
and acrimony relative to the “Reading Wars.” And yet, without over-simplification,
the steps for teaching reading (not the teaching itself) have never been
terribly complex for me as a scientist-practitioner.
The goal of “the
War” is to ensure that our high school graduates are literate. . . that they
can truly understand the explicit and implicit meanings after they read (or
listen to) different types of text.
And to
progressively—from preschool through high school—help students attain this
goal, we need to interdependently teach them layers of phonemic awareness,
decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
Clearly, this
involves sophisticated neurolinguistic, psychoeducational processes—some that
we still do not fully understand. And while there may be a universal literacy
instruction blueprint, it needs to be adapted or modified for some learners.
But now turning to
today’s focus. . . per the quote above, why would anyone think that teaching
students social, emotional, and behavioral interactions is any less complex
than teaching them reading?
And (drum roll,
please). . . the resounding answer is. . . . it’s not!
And that’s why it
is especially frustrating when Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is so
inadequately described and operationalized in the popular press, as well as by
some “researchers,” journal or book authors, and many vendors.
As I have written
in the past:
·Too much of what educators say is
“Social-Emotional Learning” is not; and
·When educators are concerned that their
“Social-Emotional Learning” activities or programs “are not working,” they need
to first look at the curriculum and instruction. . . before concluding
that this is a (continuing) “student problem.”
_ _ _ _ _
Quote 3
“Every time you do an
intervention with a student and it doesn’t work. . .
You make that student
more resistant to the next intervention.”
Too often, educators—individually,
in grade-level or instructional teams, or at a whole-school or district level—see
what they think are “student problems,” brainstorm what to do about them, and
then, choose a “solution” and proceed into implementation.
When this is done
without a root cause analysis—to truly and objectively determine why the
problem exists—we call this “Intervention Roulette.”
This is because this
approach has a high probability of failing because (a) the target of the
intervention is often a symptom, and not the “real” problem; and (b) the
intervention is not well-matched to the root cause—as the root cause analysis
step was either skipped or not completed with fidelity.
The ultimate point
here is that, “Interventions for social, emotional, and behavioral challenges
are strategic, and not random.”
·Brainstorming results in a random intervention
that has a high probability of failure.
·Root cause analyses—within the context of a
data-based problem-solving process—results in high probability of success
interventions.
And yet, some
educators still say, after brainstorming an intervention, “Let’s just try it.
How much damage could it do?”
The answer:
A lot of damage.
Not only will the
intervention likely fail, but the implementation experience and failure may
also:
·Make the student’s problem worse, compound it,
or make it more convoluted;
·Put doubt in the student’s mind that s/he can
successfully overcome the problem, and that the intervention team is
competent and has his/her best interests at heart;
·Make the intervention team think that the
student has a more serious problem than originally thought; and/or
·Put doubt in the minds of the staff, who are working
on the problem and its solution, that the student is committed to change, that
the problem can be solved with the available resources or expertise, or that
the problem can be solved at all.
All of these potential
outcomes—when a low probability of success intervention fails—result in an
overt or subliminal level of resistance when the next intervention is
tried.
That is, when an
intervention does not work, everyone may be “further behind” than when they
started.
The solution?
Educators need to
understand the potential implications of a failed intervention. They need to: (a)
stop the implementation of any intervention generated through brainstorming or unconfirmed
speculation regarding why the problem exists; and, instead, (b) make sure that
they do their “due diligence” through the data-based problem-solving process
and its root cause analysis step—linking the results of an objective and high
quality analysis to the selection of well-designed and high probability
interventions.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Summary
This Blog (Part II)
revealed the many social, emotional, and behavioral challenges identified in a
May, 2024 National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) survey of 1,714
public school K-12 leaders from every state in the country and Washington, D.C.
These challenges
included students’ (a) lack of focus and lack of preparation for their classes;
(b) classroom disruptions and the use of prohibited cellphones, computers, and
other electronic devices; (c) verbal abuse and other acts of disrespect toward
teachers; (d) (cyber)bullying and physical attacks or fights with peers; and
(e) substance abuse and bringing weapons into school.
This Blog reflected
on the “solutions” suggested by the leaders surveyed by the NCES and, instead,
recommended that individual districts and schools (a) objectively and independently
analyze their own students, staff, data, and circumstances; and (b) decide
which of the reported problems exist in their settings, why they exist, and
which ones can be addressed as the new school year begins.
To facilitate this
process, three quotes from a recent presentation at the annual Model Schools
Conference were presented along with their implications and importance to generating
high probability of success interventions. . . so that the problems above can
be effectively and expeditiously solved.
The quotes
emphasized the importance of:
·Teaching students social, emotional, and
behavioral skills;
·Recognizing that this social-emotional learning
instruction is as sophisticated as teaching students how to read; and
·Completing root cause analyses, for students
with significant or persistent behavioral challenges, to determine the
underlying reasons for their challenges, then linking the root cause results
with high probability of success interventions.
_ _ _ _ _
As we turn the “summer
corner,” and begin thinking about the impending new school year, we hope that
this Blog Series (and this current Part II) is helpful and relevant to you and
your colleagues.
While school
finances across the country are tight, we all know that districts and schools
benefit—both financially and, especially, relative to student, staff, and
school outcomes—when they understand why they are successful and, conversely,
why they are less successful.
Sometimes, this
requires on-site expertise from an outside partner.
If you would like
to explore whether I can be that partner, please drop me an e-mail (howieknoff1@projectachieve.info)
or set up a free Zoom call so that we can look at your needs and desired outcomes.
Together, I know that we can attain the short- and long-term, sustained successes
that you and your students need.
Best,
Howie
[CLICK HERE to read this Blog on the Project
ACHIEVE Webpage]
