The aims of this study were to explore the extent to which rates of various types of student rule violations (i.e., violations of respect for others, follow instructions, work quietly, use materials appropriately, and remain on task) and teacher practices (i.e., use of praise, effective instructions about behavior, effective response to rule violations, opportunities-to-respond OTR, and corrective feedback) vary by grade and class activity (i.e., during whole class instruction, seat work, small group work, and transitions). Understanding the patterns of student behaviors and teacher practices in each of these contexts could lead to improved decision-making in a multi-tiered system of support and ultimately, improved student outcomes. Participants were 186 elementary school teachers and their students who were observed for two 30 minute periods. Using one-way and repeated measures ANOVA, we examined rates (per hour) of student behaviors and teacher practices by grade and class activity. Results indicate rule violations for Respect of Others and Follow Instructions happened significantly less often than Work Quietly and Off-Task violations, and that rates of rule violations differ by grade and class activity. With regard to teacher practices, rates differed by grade and class activity for some practices (i.e., praise and OTRS) but not others. For example, teachers in all grades used effective instructions consistently across all activities (over 70% of instructions were effective). More concerning is that teachers in all grades and across all class activities were commonly responding effectively to less than 50% of student rule violations. These findings indicate that if observers are not attending to the nuances of rule violation type, grade level, and class activity when observing student behavior, they may make misguided interpretations. The findings also have implications for the science and practice of observing teacher practices.
Iwai et al. (Mon,) studied this question.