How can professional development improve teachers use of classroom management practices?

The effects of targeted professional development on teachers’ use of empirically supported classroom management practices. Research suggests teachers receive limited training and support in classroom management, making it essential that school leaders provide efficient and effective professional development opportunities. This paper looks at the effects of a targeted professional development (TPD) approach (brief training, email prompts, and self-management of trained skills) on teachers’ use of three empirically supported classroom management skills (prompts, opportunities to respond [OTR], and specific praise). The results find that teachers increased their prompt and specific praise rates while they actively engaged in TPD. However, training effects did not maintain when TPD shifted to a new skill, and teachers’ increased use of OTRs during TPD was neither statistically significant nor sustained. Teachers found TPD to be acceptable, usable, and feasible.

Citation: Simonsen, B., Freeman, J., Myers, D., Dooley, K., Maddock, E., Kern, L., & Byun, S. (2020). The effects of targeted professional development on teachers’ use of empirically supported classroom management practices. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 22(1), 3-14.

Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1098300719859615