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 opportunities to display responsible behavior; (6) Intervene early in the sequence; (7) Understand how such behavioral incidents ended in the past; (8) Know the function of problem behaviors; (9) Use good judgment about which behaviors to punish; (10) Use extinction procedures wisely; (11) Teach students socially appropriate behavior to replace problem behavior; and (12) Teach academic survival skills and set students up for success. These strategies apply to general and special education classroom settings and can be useful across various school and non-school environments and with various age groups of children and adolescents.