Positive Behavioral Supports in Rural Classrooms
Anderson, Alice and Nedra Wheeler, "Creating Classrooms in Rural Settings that Prevent Discipline Problems," No Child Left Behind: The Vital Role of Rural Schools, Annual National Conference Proceedings of the American Council on Rural Special Education (2002).
This article advocates for reducing school violence through positive behavior supports on a wide basis. These plans typically include establishing specific behavioral guidelines for all students in all activities and settings, identifying strategies to teach and reward positive behaviors, monitoring students at all times, and making decisions about how rule violations are to be dealt with. When these systems are appropriately in place, 90% of students respond positively. This allows administrators to focus more attention on the small number of students who are creating a large portion of the discipline problems. Often teachers easily give up on students who are difficult to manage because they are concerned with their own best interests rather than the child’s. The rise in zero tolerance policies for antisocial behavior decreases the likelihood that students with disruptive behavior receive intervention. It is important that teachers be focused primarily on the student, their desire to stay in school, and their desire to be functional in the school environment.
Relevant Link: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/19/ea/8f.pdf