A Commentary on the Misalignment of Teacher Education and the Need for Classroom Behavior Management Skills

Teachers’ skill in fostering students’ engagement and limiting disruptive behavior is important for maintaining a safe, productive, and effective learning environment. Yet, teachers lacking specific training in classroom and behavior management continue to report high levels of stress and are more likely to leave the profession (Ingersoll, Merrill, et al., Seven trends: The transformation of the teaching force, 2018; Zabel & Zabel, Journal of Special Education Leadership, 15(2), 67–73, 2002). Despite wide agreement from experts about the importance of developing classroom and behavior management skills, many teacher training programs do not require specified coursework or experiences to develop this skill set for teacher licensure or degree completion. In this article, we describe what we observe to be a disconnect between current requirements of teacher preparation programs, and the nature of adequate teacher training to appropriately manage and support student behavior. We argue that this disconnect currently contributes to a host of problematic outcomes observable in schools, including teacher attrition, racial disproportionality in discipline actions, and an overreliance on punitive and ineffective behavior support practices. We end our discussion with additional recommendations for improving teacher training and ensuring systems alignment.