CHAPTER 11: Effective Learning Environment © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice Edition 11 Robert E. Slavin

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11-2 Organizing Questions What Is an Effective Learning Environment? What Is the Impact of Time on Learning? What Practices Contribute to Effective Classroom Management? What Are Some Strategies for Managing Routine Misbehavior? How Is Applied Behavior Analysis Used to Manage More Serious Behavior Problems? How Can Serious Behavior Problems Be Prevented?

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11-3 What Is an Effective Learning Environment? Creating effective learning environments involves strategies that teachers use to maintain appropriate behavior and respond to misbehavior in the classroom. Keeping students interested and engaged and showing enthusiasm are important in preventing misbehavior. Creating an effective learning environment is a matter of knowing a set of techniques that teachers can learn and apply.

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11-4 What is the Impact of Time on Learning? Allocated time is the time available for instruction. Methods of maximizing allocated time include: preventing late starts and early finishes preventing interruptions handling routine procedures smoothly and quickly minimizing time spent on discipline

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11-5

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11-6 Using Engaged Time Effectively Engaged time, or time on task, is the time individual students spend actually doing assigned work. Teachers can maximize engaged time by: teaching engaging lessons sustaining momentum establishing smoothness of instruction managing transitions maintaining group focus overlapping

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11-7 Overdoing Time on Task Several studies have found that increasing time on task in classrooms where students were already reasonably well behaved did not increase student achievement. An overemphasis on time on task can be detrimental to learning in several ways. Complex tasks involving creativity and uncertainty tend to produce lower levels of time on task than do simple cut-and-dried tasks. Yet it would clearly be a poor instructional strategy to avoid complex tasks to keep time on task high.

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11-8 Classroom Management in the Student- Centered Classroom In a student-centered classroom: classroom management is more participatory students are involved in setting standards of behavior rules are still needed and must be consistently communicated and enforced

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11-9 What Practices Contribute to Effective Classroom Management? Practices that contribute to effective classroom management include: starting the year properly developing rules and procedures: class rules and procedures should be explicitly presented to students class rules should be applied promptly and fairly

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Setting Class Rules One of the first management-related tasks at the start of the year is the setting of class rules. Three principles govern the process: 1. Class rules should be few in number. 2. Class rules should make sense and be seen as fair by students. 3. Class rules should be clearly explained and deliberately taught to students.

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Common Core and 21 st Century Learning Effective Use of Time New techniques are making it easier for teachers to create productive learning environments: Brief videos Interactive devices Electronic response devices

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved What are Some Strategies for Managing Routine Misbehavior? As a teacher, you can prevent most minor behavior problems by: present interesting lessons efficient use of class time careful structuring of instructional activities

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved The Principle of Least Intervention The principle of least intervention means using the simplest methods that will work. Your main goal in dealing with routine misbehavior is to do so in a way that is both effect and avoids unnecessarily disrupting the lesson. If at all possible the lesson must go on while any behavior problems are dealt with. A continuum of strategies for dealing with minor misbehaviors, from least disruptive to most, is listed in Table 11.1 on the following slide.

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11-14

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Prevention of Misbehavior The easiest behavior problems to deal with are those that never occur in the first place. Teachers can prevent behavior problems by: presenting interesting and lively lessons. making class rules and procedures clear. keeping students busy on meaningful tasks. using other effective techniques of basic classroom management.

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Nonverbal Cues You can eliminate much routine classroom misbehavior without breaking the momentum of the lesson by using simple nonverbal cues: making eye contact moving close to a student who is misbehaving light hand on the student’s shoulder (use caution with this strategy)

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Preventing Misbehavior continued Additional strategies for preventing misbehavior include: praising other students verbal reminders repeated reminders applying consequences

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved How Is Applied Behavior Analysis Used to Manage More Serious Behavior Problems? Some student behaviors are not appropriate anywhere including: fighting, stealing, destruction of property, and gross disrespect for teachers or other school staff. These are far less common than routine classroom misbehavior but far more serious. Applied behavior analysis is an analysis of classroom behavior in terms of behavioral concepts.

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved How Student Misbehavior is Maintained A basic principle of behavior learning theories is that if any behavior persists over time, it is being maintained by some reinforcer. To reduce misbehavior in the classroom, we must understand which reinforcers maintain misbehavior in the first place. The most common reinforcer for classroom misbehavior is attention-from the teacher, the peer group or both. Student may also be seeking release from unpleasant states or activities: frustration, boredom, fatigue.

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis Behavior modification is a systemic application of antecedents and consequences to change behavior. The steps to applied behavior analysis program are: 1. Identify target behavior(s) and reinforce(s). 2. Establish a baseline for the target behavior. 3. Choose a reinforcer and criteria for reinforcement. 4. If necessary, choose a punisher and criteria for punishment. 5. Observe behavior during program implementation, and compare it to baseline. 6. When the behavior management program is working, reduce the frequency of reinforcement.

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Applied Behavior Analysis Programs Home Based Reinforcement: teachers give students a daily or weekly report card to take home and parents are instructed to provide special privileges or rewards based on the report. Daily report cards: see Figure 11.3 on following slide Group Contigency Programs: a group reinforcement system in which an entire group is rewarded on the basis of the behavior of the group members.

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11-22

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Ethics of Behavioral Methods The behavior analysis strategies described in this chapter can be powerful. Properly applied they will usually bring the behavior of even the most disruptive students to manageable levels. However this is a danger that teachers might use such techniques to over-control students.

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved How Can Serious Behavior Problems Be Prevented? Some students’ misbehavior is far more frequent or serious than others’ and students in this category cause their teachers and school administrators a disproportionate amount of trouble and concern. The school has an important role to play in preventing or managing serious behavior and delinquency: Preventative programs: approaches that have promise for preventing serious behavior problems. Identifying causes of misbehavior. Enforcing rules and practices. Enforcing school attendance.

Slavin, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2009) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved How Can Serious Behavior Problems Be Prevented? continued Practicing intervention: classroom management strategies used to reduce inappropriate behavior. Requesting family involvement: coordinate home-school communication. Using peer mediation: students trained to resolve conflicts between fellow students. Confronting bullying. Judiciously applying consequences: punishment should be appropriate and brief. Avoid suspension for all but the most serious misbehavior.