Improving classroom management skills in secondary school classrooms through the use of limit-setting, an incentive system, and structured teaching

Abstract

Discipline in the classroom has been a concern of educators and the general public for years. Numerous programs have been developed to help the classroom teacher with his/her classroom Management. These programs present skills that when properly applied could help to reduce the problems of classroom discipline. One program in particular, the Classroom Management Training Program (CMTP), has stated that the skills of positive instruction and positive discipline will help the teacher to reduce student disruptions, decrease the number of student off-task behaviors, increase the number of students helped by the teacher, and reduce the amount of stress felt by the teacher. Since these claims have not been substantiated at the senior high school level, it was the purpose of this study to determine if the application of the Classroom Management Training Program skills by teachers at the senior high school level could bring about the aforementioned benefits.

This study was conducted employing 24 senior high school teachers who were presented with a questionnaire and asked to provide information on how the skills of the Classroom Management Training Program affected them and their students. Two of the 24 teachers had an outside observer monitor their first three class periods of the day, for three days per week, for a period of three weeks prior to and after they received training in CMTP. In addition, 113 students were presented with a questionnaire and 24 students of the 113 students were interviewed to determine their opinion of how they saw the program affecting them.

The findings indicated that class disruptions and student off-task behaviors were reduced, and a majority of teachers felt less stress, tension, and exhaustion after applying the skills of CMTP.