Organization and Management
of the Learning Environment
(AQTS Indicators 2.1, 2.2, 2.3)
H e l p i n g B e g i n n i n g Te a c h e r s D e s i g n a S a f e , O r d e r l y,
and Engaging Learning Environment (2.3) Using
Research -Based Cl assroom Management Practi ces
(2.1) and Create a Classroom Climate that
Promotes Respect and Responsi bi l i ty (2.2)
Module For Indicators 2.1 And 2.3
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
RESOURCES FOR MENTOR TEACHERS
Questions to Explore
 What is the relationship between effective
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classroom management and student
achievement?
What are some basic research findings about the
establishment of rules and procedures to create a
safe and orderly classroom?
What are additional resources for learning about
effective classroom management?
How can the Continuum be used to guide
discussions with beginning teachers?
What are some data collection tools that can be
used to better understand current classroom
management practices?
Understanding this Resource
Conversation Starter icon
Reflection icon
Decision Point icon
Alabama Quality Teaching Standards
Standard 2: Teaching and Learning
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Organization and Management of Learning Environment
Using Instructional Strategies to Engage Learners
Assessment of Learning
Standard 2: Teaching and Learning
 Organization and Management of Learning
Indicator 2.1 Designs a classroom organization
and management system built upon sound,
age-appropriate expectations and researchbased strategies for promoting positive
behavior
Indicator 2.2 Creates a positive climate that
promotes respect and responsibility
Indicator 2.3 Creates a safe, orderly, and
stimulating learning environment that nurtures
responsibility, motivation and engagement of
learners
Spheres of Activity
Classroom
School
Personal
Self-Assessment of Classroom
Organization and Management
Read through the five levels
on the AQTS Continuum for
Indicators 2.1 and 2.3.
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Where do you rate yourself on the
continuum?
What is the evidence for your selfassessment?
Where do you want to be on the
continuum?
Standard 2: Teaching and Learning
 Organization and Management of Learning
Focus on the first three levels of Indicators 2.1 and
2.3.
Pre-Service and Beginning
 Emerging
 Applying
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What distinguishes Applying from
Pre-Service and Emerging?
Reflecting
 Think back to your first year
of teaching. What challenges
did you face with regard to
student behavior and
discipline?
 Record some of the challenges
that you remember.

didtse
kidsact?
Watdid
teyd?
Reflecting
 To what extent do you see some of
these same problems today—in
classrooms of first year teachers?
 What additional problems are faced
by today’s first-year teachers?
 What do you think might have
helped you during those first years
of teaching, as you faced those
difficulties?
From Research We Know…
 Of the in-school factors that affect learning,
the quality of teaching is the most
important by far.
Marzano, Robert J. What Works in Schools: Translating
Research into Action. 2003.
Three Major Roles of Effective Teachers
Marzano
1. Selecting
effective
instructional
strategies
2. Designing
curriculum
with appropriate pacing
and
sequence
3. Managing the classroom to
promote
efficient and effective learning
Classroom Management
 As you watch the first few minutes
of Video 2, think about how this
teacher’s effective use of engaging
and diverse instructional
strategies is dependent upon
the establishment of procedures
and rules.
 What are some specific examples,
in this video, of behaviors that
relate to Indicator 2.1?
 “At all…grade levels, effective classroom
management has been recognized as a
crucial element in effective teaching. If a
teacher cannot obtain students’ cooperation
and involve them in instructional activities,
it is unlikely that effective teaching will take
place.”
--Emmer, Sanford, Clements, and Martin, p. 13
New Teachers…
 …rate classroom management
as one of their primary
concerns. One fourth of
teachers who leave the
teaching profession cite
student misbehavior as a
reason.
Coaching Classroom Management, p. 201
Research on Classroom Management
In 1970, the first major study of classroom
management was conducted by J. Kounin, who
analyzed videotapes of 1st and 2nd grade teachers.
He identified 4 dimensions of effective management:
1.
2.
3.
4.
“With-it-ness”
Smoothness during presentations
Clear behavioral expectations for students
Variety and challenge in assignments
Research on Classroom Management

In 1976, Brophy and Evertson
compared 30 effective
elementary teachers to average
teachers to see in what ways
they differed. Skill in
classroom management
surfaced as an important
variable related to the effective
teachers.
p. 5, reported in Marzano
Research on Classroom Management

Milestone studies were reported in 1980-1982 by
the Center for Teacher Education, Austin, TX. One
of the important findings was “that early attention
to classroom management at the beginning of the
school year is a critical ingredient of a well-run
classroom.”
p. 5, reported in Marzano
Four Components of Classroom Management
 Rules and procedures
 Disciplinary interventions
 Teacher-student relationships
 Mental set
Marzano, R. Classroom Management
that Works: Research-Based
Strategies for Every Teacher. 2003.
The Good News
Effective classroom techniques
can be learned.
Classroom management skills can
be learned rather quickly.
Component 1: Rules and Procedures
 “Rules and procedures relate to stated expectations
regarding behavior.” --Evertson and Emmer, p. 22
 Rules are general statements guiding behavior, for
example, Respect others; listen while others are
speaking.
 Procedures usually relate to a specific type of
activity and are in place to facilitate the
accomplishment of something specific (e.g.
procedures for handing in assignments, using the
restroom, completing work after an absence,
selecting a facilitator in a cooperative group
activity, etc.)
Finding:
 Across all studies, “the average number of
disruptions in classes where rules and procedures
were effectively implemented was 28 percentile
points lower than the average number of
disruptions in classes where that was not the case.”
--Marzano, CMTW, p. 14
Sample Rules
 Be ready to start on time: bring your supplies and
your full attention
 Listen while others talk; no side-bar conversations
 Respect others and their belongings
 Turn off all electronics (cell phones and MP-3
players)
It’s not enough to create good classroom rules…
 Post them visibly in the classroom
 Teach them to all students so the class has a shared
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understanding
Share classroom rules with parents
Monitor the rules constantly; be consistent in
enforcing them
Help students monitor and accept responsibility for
the class rules
Make sure classroom rules are in line with school
rules
Create Structures to Maximize
Learning
 Physical lay-out of the room
 Analyze daily schedule
 Signal for attention
 Establish routines for beginning and ending class
(or the day)
 Clarify expectations for student behavior during
seatwork and teacher-led activities
 Assignment of, assistance for, and collection of
student work
Adapted from Coaching Classroom Management, pp.120-125
Keys to Physical Layout of
Classroom
 Keep high-traffic areas clear
 Keep frequently used materials easily
accessible
 Leave adequate space for teacher
monitoring (walking around)
 Make certain all students are able to
easily see the presentation area (e.g.
whiteboard and displays)
 Be sure all students can be easily seen
by the teacher—for continual monitoring
Daily Schedule
Tool for Management Problems
 If students seem not to be responsible or on-
task, ask the beginning teacher to reflect on a
typical day—or class period.
 Together, reconstruct a class period and record
the amount of time spent on each type of
activity:
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Teacher-led review
Teacher presentation of new information
Whole class question and answer
Independent work
Small group (or pair) work
Teacher-led (whole class) correction of assignments
Other learning activity (e.g. video, computer, etc.)
--Adapted from Coaching Classroom Management, pp. 120-121
Daily Schedule
Tool for Management Problems
Read through the sample completed form,
“Assessing Student Learning Time.”
Assume you gathered these data in a
conference with your beginning teacher.
What questions would you pose in order to
encourage reflection on the results—and
their relationship to classroom
management issues?
--Adapted from Coaching Classroom Management, pp.
120-121
Praise, Question, Polish (PQP)
 PQP is a tool to help structure a
conversation. It was designed for
use following an observation;
however, it can be used to process
any set of data. Two components
contribute to its effectiveness:
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Inclusion of affirmations
Provision of non-directive feedback
through questions, which give
teachers opportunities to reflect on
practice
Adapted from Gloria Neubert, Improving Teaching Through Coaching, PDK Fastback 277.
Effective Feedback
…is non-directive
Tell them
what to do
differently
Praise
 What are some positives you
can identify from the sample
data? How would you phrase
them?
 Ask the beginning teacher,
“When you look at this
summary of data, what are
you most pleased with?”
“Which of these activities
seemed to really engage all
of the students?”
Questions
 Clarifying Questions are
used to
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Gather additional
information
Help understand something
you see in the data
Express reservations in a
non-directive way
Questions
 Eliciting Questions
 Help
teacher hypothesize or
speculate
 Extend teacher thinking
Polish
 Remember, your main job is
to LISTEN.
 Ask questions that will help
the observed teacher reflect
and make decisions for
POLISHing a lesson.
What Do You Believe?
 It is a myth to believe that “effective teachers can
prevent all discipline problems by keeping students
interested in learning through the use of exciting
classroom materials and activities.”
--Long and Fry in Marzano, p. 4
 However, there is an undeniable relationship
between (1) engaging instructional strategies and
content and (2) improved student behavior.
 Reflect on the extent to which you believe these
statements.
Signal for Attention
 Effective teachers have a
signal that alerts students to
be quiet and pay attention to
instructions.
 Do you use such a signal?
How well does it work?
 What do other teachers use?
Beginning and Ending Class
 Students don’t get started working
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immediately
Students come to class unprepared—
without books, materials, pencils
Interruption as tardy students enter
class
Students return after absence and need
teacher attention for missed
assignments
Students “pack up” before the end of
class
Seatwork and Teacher-Led Activities
 Communicate teacher expectations:
 Student attention during presentations
 Student participation
 Talking among students
 Obtaining help
 Out-of-seat behavior
 Behavior when work has been completed
Case Study…Examples of Structures
 Read the case study.
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How does this teacher’s strategy provide a
structure for beginning class as well as establish
expectations for seatwork?
What feedback would you give this teacher?
What potential problems should a teacher be
aware of when using this strategy?
What procedures would need to be taught so
that student use of this process would be
effective and worthwhile?
Student Work
 Post assignments in the same place every day.
Establish the routine that students record these
assignments into a planner or a notebook.
 Establish a help-seeking signal during independent
or small group work time.
 Create a graph of work completion rates to share
with students.
Feedback to Class: Assignment Completion
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Math Assignments
Completed
Component 2: Disciplinary Interventions
 Required to address detractions from
learning time.
 Planning and teaching rules and procedures
is important; however it is not sufficient to
maintain appropriate behavior.
 Inappropriate behavior develops over time.
Disturbing Finding
In a review of literature on classroom
management, “Cotton (1990) has estimated that
about half of all classroom time is used for
instruction, and disciplinary problems occupy most
of the other half.”
--Marzano, CMTW, p. 27
Other Research Findings
 “Disciplinary interventions resulted in a
decrease in disruptive behavior among
almost 80 percent of the subjects in the
studies they analyzed.”
(Marzano, CMTW, p. 28)
 There is a need for a balance between
positive reinforcement and punishment.
Findings from Marzano’s Meta-Analysis
“… disciplinary procedures have an
impact on lessening student
misbehavior at all grade
levels.…the effect of disciplinary
interventions grows consistently
larger the lower the gradelevel.”
–Marzano, CMTW, p. 30
Lower
Grade
level
Upper
Less
More
Effectiveness of Discipline
Four Common Problems
 Teacher failing to monitor behavior, engagement, or
success on assignments
 Inconsistent reactions to rule infractions
 Inappropriate behavior ignored
 Teachers attend to negative behavior rather than
reinforcing appropriate behavior
--Evertson and Emmer
Data Collection
 “Data takes you out of the role of
judge and puts you in the position
of partner.”
--Sprick et al. Coaching Classroom Management.
p. 113
Encourage Beginning Teachers to Collect Data
 Data helps ground the assessment
of student behavior in reality.
 How might a beginning teacher
collect data to prevent one or more
of the four common problems from
“creeping” into the classroom to
create behavior problems?
Data Collection
 “Teacher failing to monitor behavior, engagement,
or success on assignments”—remember this as a
common problem leading to student misbehavior?
 If teachers agree to collect data about any of these
student behaviors, they become more aware and
begin to self-monitor. The process of data
collection can sometimes be a solution to a
classroom problem.
Encourage Beginning Teachers to Collect Data
 Keep a tally of rules: a check when
each is followed; an x when not.
 Identify problem behaviors. Keep a
tally of their occurrence.
Rate of Engagement
(Student On-task Behavior)
 If a teacher believes students are not on-task or
not engaged in learning activities, simple classroom
scans can provide data as to whether or not this is
a problem.
Managing Inappropriate Behavior:
Start Small
 Together with the beginning teacher,
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identify one or two target behaviors to
address.
Start small and stay focused.
Collect data on that target behavior.
Set a goal for change—one that is
measurable, achievable, and that will
impact the classroom climate positively.
Plan and utilize “Disciplinary Interventions”
Continue to collect data. Modify as
necessary.
Four Alternatives
 Use a pre-arranged signal to alert the student;
make eye contact; move closer. Monitor until
student corrects behavior.
 Give a simple reminder of a procedure to a student
who is not following it correctly.
 Redirect a student to the task that she is not
working on with a simple reminder. Check
continuously on progress.
 Tell the student to stop inappropriate behavior.
--Evertson and Emmer, 2009
Home Contingency
Keep parents informed of the positive and
negative behaviors of their students
Establish Clear Limits
 Involve students. Rather than
teachers establishing limits in
isolation, they can engage the entire
class in discussing why the target
behavior is important and what are
fair expectations regarding the
behavior.
Select a Focus
 Read through the Continuum for
Indicators 2.1 and 2.3 with the
beginning teacher.
 Select a specific area for focus.
 Decide on a method for collecting
data.
 Use the PQP, or a similar method,
to discuss the results and plan for
improvement.
Resources for Classroom Management
 Resources are suggested on the handout,
“Resources to Help with Classroom
Management.” Some of your best resources
will be the teachers next door. Open the
doors and share with one another!
References
 Cotton, K. Schoolwide and Classroom Discipline. School Improvement
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Research Series, #9. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Lab.
Available www.nwrel.orgt/scpd/sirs/5/cu9.html
Evertson, C. M. and Emmer, E. T. Classroom Management for Elementary
Teachers. Eighth edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. 2009
Harmin, M. Inspiring Active Learning: A Handbook for Teachers. Alexandria,
VA: ASCD. 1994.
Marzano, R. J. Classroom Management that Works: Research-Based
Strategies for Every Teacher. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. 2003.
Sprick, R., Knight, J., Reinke, W., and McKale, T. Coaching Classroom
Management: Strategies and Tools for Administrators and Coaches. Eugene,
OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing. 2006.
Vitto, J. M. Relationsip-Driven Classroom Management: Strategies that
Promote student Motivation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. 2003.