In 1980 I published an article in "The Clearing House" that examined a host of questions that teachers were asking about the practice of corporal punishment in the classroom. This was a method frequently used at that time to deal with discipline problems teachers encountered. In this present article I revisit those questions to see what…

This article presents guiding principles governing the design, implementation, and management of a point system to promote discipline and academic rigor in a secondary classroom. Four considerations are discussed: (1) assigning appropriate point values to integral classroom behaviors and tasks; (2) determining the relationship among consequences,…

This article examines secondary school teachers' perceptions of corporal punishment in India. Although it has been banned in Indian schools, various types of corporal punishment are still used by teachers. It has been mainly used as a mechanism for controlling disciplinary problems in schools. Based on a pilot study of 160 secondary teachers, the…

Over the years, researchers have written many books and articles about the lack of discipline or lack of respect students have toward their teachers. This image is enhanced by the daily accounts in movies, newspapers, television, and radio or in speaking to students, their teachers, or parents. In this article, the author provides working…

Working with difficult students inspired Mellie Cope and Sally Hundley to initiate a new program at their middle school in fall 2002. Based on their previous success with students who were difficult to teach, the teachers titled their new program the Saoi ("see") program. In this article, Mellie Cope and Sally Hundley, along with Vicky Faircloth…

The subject of discipline is often confused with classroom management. Although related, classroom management and discipline are distinctly different topics. Classroom management deals with how things are done. It entails structure, procedures, and routines, to the point of becoming rituals. When procedures are explained to and practiced by…

Difficulty managing behavior in the classroom is frequently cited as a source of frustration for teachers and a common reason why new teachers leave the profession (Ingersoll 2001, 2003). Concerted attention to issues of classroom management is important to the health of education; attention to these issues at the middle and secondary education…

This article discusses the rules science teachers need and how to implement these rules in the class. What should my science classroom rules be? Ideally, this question is asked prior to the teacher's entry to the classroom during their teacher training and revisited throughout their coursework preparation and student teaching. A science teacher…

In this article, the authors describe 12 practical strategies identified as empirically effective in preventing behavioral escalation in students: (1) Reinforce calm and on-task behaviors; (2) Know the triggers; (3) Pay attention to anything unusual about the student's behavior; (4) Do not escalate along with the student; (5) Offer students…

There are a number of factors that can undermine a teacher's ability to respond successfully to behavior problems in schools. They include: (1) difficulty relating to an increasingly more diverse group of students; (2) lack of skills to adequately assess student behavior and to identify major factors associated with problem behavior; and (3) the…