Classroom management inservice for beginning teachers

The purpose of this study was to expand and clarify the understanding of how an inservice training program which incorporated research-based classroom management principles and practices combined with coaching techniques would enable new teachers to reduce class rates of off task behavior and feel more self-efficacious about their classroom management skills. Data on the occurrence of three categories of off task behavior for students in 6 classrooms in a single school district in central California were collected during pre-treatment and post-treatment conditions and during a maintenance condition for experimental group classes only. During the interval between the two conditions, the 3 experimental group teachers participated in an inservice training program developed by the investigator. The classrooms were paired, 1 experimental and 1 control, within schools for grade level and the teachers\u27 years of experience. Information from pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires/interviews was used to assess the teachers\u27 feelings of self-efficacy related to classroom management and the effects of participation in the inservice training experiences on those feelings of self-efficacy. A descriptive analysis of the observation data did not indicate a positive effect from the inservice training experiences from either baseline to post-treatment or post-treatment to maintenance observations. However, information from the post-questionnaires/interviews indicated that the 3 experimental group teachers strongly felt that the inservice training experiences had positively affected their feelings of competence and control in the classroom. A possible reason for the conflicting findings may have been that the inservice experiences helped the teachers to reconceptualize their beliefs and expectations about classroom management. This study supports the hypothesis that inservice training which incorporates research-based practices of effective classroom management and coaching techniques embedded in a collegial approach result in the improvement of teachers\u27 feelings of self-efficacy. This study recommends that beginning teachers, especially in inner-city schools, desperately need psychological support as well as personalized inservice training in effective teaching and classroom management methodology during their early years in teaching