Twenty Years of Research: A Person-Centered Instructional and Discipline Management Program

• In Event: Classroom Management Research Presentations

Abstract

Historically, educators have focused on changing the curriculum to improve student learning and achievement without examining other alterable variables such as classroom and instructional management, learning climate, student behavior, and teacher development. Growing concerns over children and adolescent antisocial behaviors (e.g., aggression, delinquency, violence), and the lack of development of positive character traits (e.g., caring, responsibility) among children, make behaviorist-model “Zero Tolerance” policies a focus for current policies. Evidence suggests that classroom context may influence both student behavior and academic achievement more significantly than other factors. This paper will explore internal and external research findings over a 20-year period for a person-centered instructional and discipline management program implemented in high poverty inner-city schools in mostly large urban areas.

Author

• Jerome Freiberg, University of Houston