The purpose of this article is to provide middle level educators with an orientation to the theoretical constructs and tenets of Choice Theory (Glasser, 1998) as both a preventive and remedial framework for supporting the development of students exhibiting school disciplinary behavioral problems. The following three topics are addressed: (1)…

Trilhos Alternativos (Alternative Paths) is a community-based program that aims to integrate African-Portuguese urban youth from low-income families into Portuguese society. This article describes the first year of the program and presents formative data about effectiveness of the program. The motivation system seems to be an indirect variable…

Students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are disproportionately identified for special education in the most restrictive placements. These students tend to have the least access to the general education curriculum and experience the greatest levels of school failure. Educators see an obvious need to change this pattern.…

Research conducted with non-Hispanic Whites indicates that parents of preschoolers with behavioral problems are more likely to have an external locus of control regarding parenting than parents whose preschoolers are free of such problems. However, it is unclear whether such research can be generalized to Mexican American families, especially…

Student defiance, or resisting the authority of the teacher, is commonplace. In fact, some researchers have reported that the vast majority of discipline referrals are due to defiance. Due to the prevalence of childhood defiance and its potential for bringing instruction to a grinding halt, it is essential for educators to be prepared to…

This is a paper by an educator for other educators. This article is informed by psychoanalytic theory, although it is not about psychoanalysis. The hope for this paper is that it will inform teachers about shaming in the context of child and adolescent development--the child's as well as the teacher's own development. Shaming is not a solo. It's a…

A review is provided of recent research literature on the topic of troublesome classroom behaviour, published over the past decade or so with particular reference to research carried out in Australian schools. Nine Australian studies are reviewed, as well as a further seven from the USA, Hong Kong, Jordan, Greece and Malta. Seven of the studies…

The "Behavior Education Program" (BEP; Crone et al., 2004) is a modified check-in, check-out intervention implemented with students who are at risk for more severe problem behaviors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the BEP on problem behavior with 12 elementary school students. Results indicated that the BEP was…

Best practice in preventing severe problem behavior in schools involves implementing a continuum of effective behavior support. This continuum includes primary prevention strategies implemented with all students, secondary prevention strategies for students at-risk, and tertiary interventions for students who engage in the most severe problem…

School counselors responded to an Internet survey containing vignettes describing physical, verbal, and relational bullying. Respondents rated relational bullying the least serious of the three types, they had the least empathy for victims of relational bullying, and they were least likely to intervene in relational bullying incidents. Counselors…

This paper presents an oberview of the etiology and treatment of anxiety in children. Cites two case histories as examples of two approaches to treatment. (HMV)

In contrast to Gerard C. Penta's notion, this article maintains that the teacher must have the discretion to punish the misbehaving student and denies that this is necessarily authoritarian. (DS)

Before behavioral engineering can be used as an approach to solving classroom problems, it is incumbent upon all teachers to challenge its use, to determine its appropriateness in a learning setting, and to assess its potential effects on human dignity and human freedom. (Author/RK)

A survey of 198 British elementary teachers revealed that 51 percent believe they were spending too much time on behavior problems. Three-quarters of the teachers identifed boys as their most troublesome students. Asked to identify the most troublesome classroom behaviors, the teachers selected "talking out of turn" and "hindering…

Presents a personal anecdote illustrating how a teacher learned to control an attention-seeking student who was disruptive in the classroom. (MD)