Abstract
Purpose. This qualitative case study explored how effective classroom practitioners manage behavioral problems for Tier 2 and Tier 3 general education or special education students in Transitional Kindergarten (TK)–6th-grade public elementary schools in Southern California.Methodology. A case study design, using semistructured interviews, was used to answer the following central research question: "What strategies are effective classroom practitioners employing to manage behavioral problems for Tier 2 and Tier 3, general education or special education elementary students in a general education classroom?" The researcher used a purposeful sampling approach to interview 5 elementary teachers in Southern California. Due to the type of sampling, only 3rd- to 5th-grade teachers were identified. Participants responded to 8 open-ended questions and a scenario.Findings. Effective classroom practitioners shared how they manage behavioral problems with Tier 2 and Tier 3 students. Nine behavior intervention strategies were cited by 3 or more of the participants as highly effective. From these 9 strategies, 3 major themes emerged as highly effective practices. The 3 themes were (a) effective behavior managers explicitly teach and model the behavior expectations, (b) effective behavior managers establish relationships with their students, and (c) effective behavior managers determine the root cause of the behavior.Conclusions. The findings support the need to explicitly teach behavior expectations as well as reteach and reinforce them throughout the school year. In addition, to be a highly effective behavior manager, teachers must first establish and maintain positive relationships with their students. Furthermore, when identifying strategies to use with each individual, teachers must determine the function of behavior to align interventions to student need.Recommendations. This research study adds to the field of elementary education by providing behavior intervention strategies to support Tier 2 and Tier 3 students. Future research should be conducted that includes preschool- to 2nd-grade teachers and includes a larger sample size in order for the results to be more generalizable. In addition, this study could be replicated, analyzing only strategies for Tier 3 students to help define strategies for the most severe group of students.