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Culture / Ethnicity / Race

Elementary School Teachers’ Self-Assessment of Use of Classroom Management Strategies with Goal Setting Related to Equity-Focused Practices

(PS5-B27) Elementary School Teachers’ Self-assessment of Use of Classroom Management Strategies with Goal Setting Related to Equity-focused Practices

Friday, November 17, 2023
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM PST
Location: Regency Ballroom, Level 7

For years, researchers have worked to identify and evaluate classroom management strategies that help students with ADHD and disruptive behavior problems succeed in schools (e.g., Pelham et al., 1998; Evans et al., 2018). However, like most work in psychology, this research has primarily been conducted from a white, Eurocentric lens, also utilizing predominantly white, middle-income samples. As a result, many students from marginalized backgrounds have not reaped the benefits of these strategies (Sabnis & Proctor, 2022). For example, Black and Brown male students are almost four times more likely than their White and Asian peers to be expelled from school (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2016). One reason for these inequitable outcomes may be that while teachers have training in general classroom management practices, far less emphasis is put toward training on equity-focused practices. With funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, we are working with educators to collaboratively develop the Maximize platform, which is an interactive technology-based tool designed to help teachers assess their own use of 10 evidence-based classroom management strategies, learn about equity-focused applications of these strategies, and set goals for improving their practices. The goal of this study is to examine elementary school teachers’ self-reported use of 10 classroom management strategies and their perceptions on equity-focused features they can improve.

Participants were 55 general education teachers (90.9% women, 95.5% White) from three elementary schools in a Midwestern state. Teachers completed an online self-assessment of their use of 10 classroom management strategies on the Maximize platform. Teachers reported on (a) their use of each strategy on a 5-point scale from rarely to very often, (b) whether the strategy was a strength or an area to improve, and (c) whether they were interested in improving their equity-focused use of that strategy. Then, teachers had the opportunity to choose a strategy, set a goal to improve an equity-focused feature of the strategy, and rate the importance of the equity-focused feature and their confidence in achieving their goal.

For half of the strategies (greetings, community circles, classroom expectations, acknowledging positive behavior, routines), 75% of teachers reported using them often or very often. For the other five (student check-ins, corrective feedback, teaching prosocial skills, effective questioning, student choice), there was more variability; 5-21% of participants indicated they rarely or never use the strategy. About 67% of teachers went on to set at least one goal for equity-focused practices; most of these teachers set goals related to student choice and corrective feedback. Our findings highlight which strategies teachers use frequently or rarely, and which strategies and features they are interested in improving for equity. Results provide insight into what training and implementation supports might be needed to move the needle on teachers’ use of equity-focused practices. Future work informed by these findings will support teachers in ensuring that all students, regardless of identity, experience success and joy in their classroom.