Developing a Classroom
Management Plan Using a Tiered
Approach
Classroom Management – Why a Tiered
Approach?
 Based on Response to Intervention (RTI) educational approach
where:
 students in need of of support are identified
 their progress is monitored
 adjustments are made to the levels and/or types of
interventions.
 This same tiered approach can be applied to effective behavioral
supports in a classroom based on the needs of each individual student.
 There are 3 main Tiers of Classroom Management:
 Preventative Classroom Management
 First-line Interventions
 Intensive, Individualized Interventions
Tier 1
Preventative Classroom Management
In general, Preventative Classroom Management incorporates:
 High Teacher expectations
 Stimulating instruction with high levels of student engagement
 Clearly communicated rules and norms
 Established routines and procedures
 Positive teacher-student rapport
 Efficient use of classroom time
Tier 1
Preventative Classroom Management
(continued)
To develop a core curriculum of behavioral supports, teachers need:
 Good instructional practices where students are occupied in
the instruction (response cards, peer tutoring, graphic organizers)
 Well-designed and clearly communicated rules and
procedures that set the stage for effective student behavior
 Behavioral Pairs can be effective: Teacher first defines the
behavior of concern then identifies an incompatible desired
behavior for the student to learn as a replacement behavior
 A classroom climate with positive relationships with students
and strong teacher guidance that is:
 Calm and confident
 Reinforces rules
 Redirects misbehavior
 Uses proximity, eye contact, and calling student by name
Tier 2
First Line Interventions
When challenging behaviors appear, teachers should provide additional
supports:
Surface Management Techniques:
 Planned Ignoring – sometimes behavior stops if not recognized
 Signal Interference – nonverbal signals such as rining of chimes or flickering
lights can signal students to change behavior
 Proximity and Touch Control – presence of a nearby teacher can remind
students to refocus, refrain, and reengage
 Engaging Students’ interest
 “Hypodermic” Affection – deliberate delivery of kindness of individualized
attention
 Humor – defuse tense situations and redirect
 Hurdle Help – provide instructional support rather than a reprimand
 Regrouping – move students around
 Direct Appeal – a reminder of the rules
 Antiseptic Bouncing – non-punitive removal from the classroom
 Interpretation as Interference – help student develop a more rational view
of a situation which might help them calm down
Tier 2
First Line Interventions
Reinforcement Systems can provide consistent consequences to
specific behaviors for the purpose of increasing target behaviors:
 Token economies – students earn tokens for desired behavior
that can be used to obtain an item or preferred activity
Behavior Contracts – specify contingent relationships among
behaviors. They work best when they focus on the desired
behavior. When student adheres to contract, they are given a
reinforcer. Benefits include:
 Clear goals for both student and teacher
 Development of a tracking system
 Shift in responsibility from teacher to student in terms of
daily management
Tier 3
Intensive, Individualized Interventions
 Begins with Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)
 Why is student behaving like this?
 What socially acceptable behavior can we teach to address the
same need?
 Social Skills Instruction – appropriate, adaptive behaviors can be
taught and learned by all students
 Social skills instruction should be customized to meet
individual students’ communications and behavioral needs
Social skills instruction can’t be considered successful until the
skills is generalized to new settings
 Self-monitoring Instruction
 Identify target behavior
 Buy in from student on advantages of self-monitoring
 Define method for monitoring and collect data on behavior
 Teach student to self-monitor
 Implement system with reinforcement
 Work to fade the teacher monitoring
Conclusion
 An RTI model provides a framework for teachers to evaluate
classroom practices and make decisions about the level of
intervention or support needed.
 Effective instruction and clear expectations can go a long way in
many classrooms
Without a solid “core” of behavioral support in the classroom,
students do not have the guideposts necessary to learn, practice and
develop desirable skills.
 The tiered behavior framework allows teachers to clearly
communicate with administrators, parents and colleagues how they
are providing behavioral supports for students in their classrooms.
Checkpoint
What are the 3 tiers of a classroom management plan? Briefly
describe each tier.
 Tier 1 – Preventative Classroom Mangement – anything a
teacher does that proactively establishes positive behavioral
expectations in a classroom.
 Tier 2 - First-Line Interventions – Additional supports a
teacher provides when challenging behaviors appear.
 Tier 3 – Intensive, Individualized Interventions – a
personalized behavior plan designed to address students
specific behavioral support needs.