Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Douglas Eury
Committee Member
David Shellman
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
assertive discipline, classroom disruption, classroom management, defiance, discipline, discipline referrals, effective teachers, implementation, middle schools, professional development, schoolwide discipline plans, seventh-grade teachers, teacher training, West Jackson Middle School, Wong and Wong
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to determine if a modified version of Canter and Canter’s (1976) Assertive Discipline and Wong and Wong’s (1995) How to Be an Effective Teacher was appropriate for schoolwide implementation at West Jackson Middle School. The school had three principals and 32 new teachers in the last 3 years, creating inconsistencies regarding the school’s discipline plan. The school had a dramatic increase in discipline referrals, indicating a problem.
Two teams of seventh-grade teachers were selected to participate in the study. Team A received training to implement a modified version of Canter and Canter’s (1976) Assertive Discipline and Wong and Wong’s (1995) How to Be an Effective Teacher, and Team B served as the control group. After Team A received training, they incorporated the new model with their classroom management beginning the 2004 school year.
The study compared August-December discipline referral data and survey data. The data indicated that the teachers implementing the modified versions of Canter and Canter’s (1976) Assertive Discipline and Wong and Wong’s (1995) How to Be an Effective Teacher reduced the targeted behaviors of disrespect, defiance, and classroom disruption.