TQB: Teacher Quality Bulletin

4 teachers down; 3,499,996 to go

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Four teachers' use of a self-monitoring checklist that successfully helped them use the Good Behavior Game is reported in a new study.* We perked up when we saw attention paid to the Good Behavior Game (GBG) because we've previously commented on this classroom management practice: unlike virtually every other classroom practice in vogue or out, the GBG's effects have been replicated in over 50 studies between 1969 and 2015. Each study has proven the GBG's effectiveness in reducing disruptive behaviors in pre-K through 12th grade and in producing longer-term positive effects on academic performance. Nonetheless, our regular readers won't be surprised to learn that we estimate that only two percent of teacher candidates are even exposed to any information about the GBG in their preparation, much less taught to use it. That's why we were heartened to see this study: four more teachers out of the nation's 3.5 million classroom teachers now know something to help their classroom management - something that they should have learned long ago.

*Four subjects is usually a pretty small "n" size for a credible study, but this research actually does meet Institute of Education Sciences' pilot design standards for single-case studies, no small feat.