Running head: CASE STUDY: PRINCIPLE 17 1

Case Study: Principle 17

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Introduction

A case study can be described as an intensive observation of a person or group which

yields data that can add to the understanding of said group or person. In this case study I will

discuss a scenario that I have experienced. Principle 17 states, “Effective classroom

management is based on (a) setting and communicating high expectations, (b) consistently

nurturing positive relationships, and (c) providing a high level of student support” (Lucariello, et

al., 2015). This happens every year on our campus. At the beginning of the year we take the

first two weeks to discuss rules, and expectations. I am going to compare two classes. One with

a veteran teacher over 10 years teaching experience in early childhood and a fresh never had a

job before teacher. They each had a class of between 18 – 21 students. Very similar in makeup

as well as ethnicity and socio-economic standing in the community. These were all students who

were 4 years old. Teacher A (veteran teacher) and Teacher B (new teacher) started their year off

doing what they believed was the right thing for the students. Teacher A began with talking

about the rules and expectations of the classroom as well as in the hallways and cafeteria. She

would sit down during carpet time and story time and tell stories about what to do and why it is

important to do these things at school. When she would walk her class down the hall, she would

instruct them to have “walking feet” with a “quiet mouth” and “hands to yourself”. She would

model and practice these skills in order to get her classroom safely from one place to the other.

Teacher B began the school year diving into lessons. She was ready to teach academics

and was ready to see her students learn. Unfortunately, her classroom became very chaotic.

Students would run around the room when she was trying to teach a lesson, when she would

walk them to the cafeteria they would run, get out of line, screaming to try to talk over each other

and be very disruptive to other classrooms that were still trying to have instruction. Teacher B
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did not take the first two weeks of the school year to teach, model and instruct her students on

the rules and expectations that we have, not just inside the classroom, but in the hallways,

cafeteria, bus loading and drop-off and the playground. It made her instruction during class

ineffectual because the student had not learned to sit and be attentive when the teacher was

speaking. It was unsafe for her to walk her students to lunch or even recess because of the

running and horse playing that went on during these transitions.

AIMS

The purpose of this case study is to discuss how effective classroom management is

based on (a) setting and communicating high expectations, (b) consistently nurturing positive

relationships, and (c) providing a high level of student support (Lucariello, et al., 2015). In

“Classroom Management That Works,” Marzano, Marzano, and Pickering conclude from their

research that, “The notion that designing and implementing rules and procedures in class and

even at home has a profound impact on student behavior and on student learning,” noting that

“the average number of disruptions in classes where rules and procedures were effectively

implemented was 28 percentile points lower” than the average number of classroom disruptions

without clear policies (Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003).

Method

The methods used in the research and data collection was observation. Teacher B was

observed during instruction time and transition times with students. Data was taken when she

was trying to teach a small group lesson. It was noted that there were issues, what the issues

were and how long they persisted. It was evident that the class was having problems in the rules

and expectations. Teacher A was also observed during transitions with her class and during
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direct instruction times during large group and small group. There a huge difference between the

structure of the classrooms and the teacher’s emphasis on rules and expectations for the students

in her class.

Results

During our observations it was noted that the students in Teacher B’s classroom appeared

to have no structure or boundaries. The students struggled to grasp the lessons that teacher was

trying to teach due to the lack of guidance to be able to have the appropriate behavior. It didn’t

matter that a few students wanted to “act” right, the other students who were not following any

rules were very distracting. It was almost like they did not have the confidence to sit and listen

to what they were supposed to be doing. My research and data show that teaching rules and

expectation during the first two weeks of the school year can make a world of difference. Take

the time to go over rules and expectations, consequences, and emphasize why we have the rules.

Discussion

Students began really struggling in Teacher B’s classroom because she did not bother to

teach the rules and expectations first. Students need guidelines and structure. It has been proven

that when offered structure and boundaries students perform better academically. There are

fewer disruptions and distractions. Teacher A has been doing this for many years. She has

figured it out the hard way. Without the rule’s students do not know how to act. They do not

know how to walk in a hallway. You must model the behavior as well as state the behavior you

are looking for. The other thing that Teacher A did was praise the positive behaviors when they

happened. It was a struggle for the students in Teacher B’s class to remain in a designated area

as well.
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Recommendations

Establishing a set or rules early on can alleviate many difficulties in the future. This is a

great time to come together as a class and make up a social contract. In a social contract the

students participate in the setting of rules. The students can create rules that will apply to

everyone in the class. Whether it is “we will have walking feet” or “we will have a quiet mouth

when teacher is talking,” everyone needs to agree to the rules and expectations before it goes on

the social contract. I have seen some classrooms (even Pre-k) that students want a rule or

expectation to be that everyone is respectful. This opens another avenue to teach them what

respectful means. When the social contract is finished (usually write it on a poster board) each

student will sign it, this establishes a type of buy-in for the students. They have something that

they created, with their name on it and they see it every day. It is amazing how well this works

when implemented appropriately.

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References

Lucariello, J., PhD, Graham, S., PhD, Nastasi, B., PhD, Dwyer, C., PhD, Skiba, R., PhD,

Plucker, J., PhD, . . . Pritzker, S., PhD. (2015). TOP 20 PRINCIPLES FROM

PSYCHOLOGY FOR PreK–12 TEACHING AND LEARNING. Retrieved July 19,

2019, from https://www.apa.org/ed/schools/teaching-learning/top-twenty-principles.pdf

Marzano, R., Marzano, J., & Pickering, D. (2003). Classroom Management that Works.

Retrieved August 11, 2019, from http://perino.pbworks.com/f/4 CLM-Basic-Text(M).pdf