Blog Post [ELM#1139] Five Practices That Steady Student Behavior

Why are so many classrooms still struggling with behavior years after COVID and schools reopened? I hear this question in district offices, at leadership retreats, and in parking lots after evening meetings. Principals describe students who shut down, lash out, or walk out of class. Teachers describe patience that runs thin by second period. Families describe children who handle frustration as if they were years younger.

The data matches what educators feel. In May 2024, 80 percent of public school leaders agreed that the pandemic’s lingering effects still harm students’ behavioral development (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2024). Thirty-six percent reported weekly acts of disrespect toward teachers or staff. So what actually works when needs are higher, tolerance is lower, and the adults are running on empty?

When behavior spikes, the pressure to act fast is intense. Many systems respond by tightening the code of conduct and adding new categories for removal. That looks decisive in a public meeting. Yet sending a student home rarely teaches that student what to do differently when they return to school.

A second misstep is buying a program instead of building a practice. A binder arrives in August, a single training day follows, and by October nobody can find either one. The Center on PBIS (n.d.) calls a tiered behavior framework an ongoing commitment to systems change. No purchase order or training day can deliver that on its own.

The third misstep is quieter. Leaders treat behavior as a student problem and overlook the adults’ capacity to respond. In 2024, 61 percent of schools said they needed more classroom management training, up from 50 percent in 2022 (NCES, 2024). Our teachers keep asking for skills, and we keep handing them stricter rules.

What the Best Answer Requires of Us

The change starts with what we believe about why children struggle. Dr. Ross Greene, founder of Lives in the Balance, puts it in five words: “Kids do well if they can” (Lives in the Balance, n.d.). His work points to lagging skills such as flexibility, frustration tolerance, and problem-solving. Skills can be taught, practiced, and measured.

I learned how powerful that belief is early in my career, long before I worked in a district office. I assigned an important task to a team member, and the deadline passed. The delay put our project far behind schedule and drove up costs. When my supervisor called me in, I was sure I was about to lose my job.

My supervisor laid out the damage first. Then came one question: “What lessons did you learn from this?” I was told to go home and think about it overnight. I came back the next morning with two pages of notes on every step I took and what I would change.

My supervisor read the notes and asked a second question. “When will you sit down with your team and ask them the same thing?” I didn’t want to have that meeting, but I held it anyway. Within a couple of months, my team stopped pointing fingers and started owning their missteps.

That supervisor could have punished me, and I would have learned to hide problems. Instead, I learned to examine them and teach others what I found. Our students are no different. A suspension answers the question, “What happens to you now?” A teaching response asks a better one: “What will you do next time, and who will help you practice?”

Five Practices That Steady a Stretched System

Here is how district teams can turn that belief into daily work. None of these steps requires a new vendor. Each one requires consistency from the central office to the classroom.

1. Teach expectations the way we teach reading. Define three to five schoolwide expectations, then model and practice them in every setting. Reteach them after long breaks, when routines tend to slip. Students cannot meet a standard nobody showed them.
2. Build a tiered response before the crisis arrives. Most students thrive with strong universal supports. Some need targeted help, such as a daily check-in with a trusted adult (Center on PBIS, n.d.). A few need individual plans built with families and mental health staff.
3. Invest in the adults first. Fund coaching on routines, de-escalation, and relationship building. Protect time for teachers to practice those skills together. Schools named mental health support for students and staff as their top need in both 2022 and 2024 (NCES, 2024).
4. Replace “Who did it?” with “What happened, and what’s next?” After an incident, ask students the kind of reflective questions my supervisor asked me. Pair accountability with a plan to repair harm and rehearse a better choice. Save removal for real safety concerns.
5. Review behavior data the way you review academic data. Look at referrals each month by time, location, and student group. Patterns point to fixable problems, such as an unsupervised hallway or a chaotic lunch transition. Share what you learn with every school, including the ones that are doing well.

Your Next Move

A tougher handbook won’t bring behavior back. Leaders who believe students can grow, and who build systems that help them grow, will. Before your next leadership meeting, ask your team three honest questions.

1. Do our discipline policies teach, or do they only remove?
2. Are our teachers getting the coaching they keep asking for?
3. Are we reviewing behavior data as seriously as test scores?

Your answers will show you where to start. Our students are still recovering, and so are many of the adults who serve them. Leading both groups well is the work in front of us.

Within the next 30 days, schedule a behavior data review with your leadership team and open it with the question that changed my career: “What are we learning?”

#EducationalLeader,
Kim

When schools are well led, students learn well.

References

• Center on PBIS. (n.d.). What is PBIS?
• Lives in the Balance. (n.d.). Lives in the Balance: Compassionate support for kids.
• National Center for Education Statistics. (2024, July 18). About one-quarter of public schools reported that lack of focus or inattention from students had a severe negative impact on learning in 2023–24.

The views shared herein are solely those of Dr. Kim D. Moore and do not necessarily reflect the positions of her employer, the school district, or any local, state, or federal government entity.