Social-emotional adjustment and behavior management
Strategy
Strategy: Twelve Practical Strategies
Appropriate Grade Level: K-12
Procedures/Steps: The Twelve Practical Strategies are designed to prevent
behavioral escalation in the classroom. The twelve strategies are:
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Reinforce calm and on-task behaviors.
Know the triggers.
Pay attention to anything unusual about the student's behavior.
Do not escalate along with the student
Offer students opportunities to display responsible behavior.
Intervene early in the sequence.
Understand how such behavioral incidents ended in the past.
Know the function of problem behaviors.
Use good judgment about which behaviors to punish.
Use extinction procedures wisely.
Teach students socially appropriate behavior to replace problem
behavior.
 Teach academic survival skills and set students up for success.
Comments and/or tips: The researchers define behavioral escalation as “an
event where a group of topographically (physically) different problem
behaviors occur in a sequential pattern in which successive responses are of
increasing severity or intensity.”
Source:
Shukla-Mehta, S.& Albin, R.W. (2003). Twelve practical strategies to
prevent behavioral escalation in classroom settings. Preventing School
Failure, 4, 156-61.