You are not alone if you ever wondered if student tardiness was a chronic problem in high schools. According to (Spaulding, 2010), this is one of the leading discipline problems in high schools. So what are some solutions?
From Flickr Creative Common
Active supervisor may be one. This approach includes scanning the setting, acknowledging students, providing feedback, etc. Rather than waiting for a problem and then running to the hallway when shouts are heard, adults diligently encourage students who are coming and going to class.
For example, Johnson-Gros, Lyons, and Griffin (2008) found at least three factors regulated to decreasing in hallway related problem behavior:
- Teachers were at their post (e.g., the door of their classroom)
- Students were escorted to the right location if needed
- Teachers had brief interactions with students during passing periods
In their study, these three factors accounted for the majority of the decreases in hallway related problem behavior. Interestingly, brief encounters during passing periods also may lead to increased student engagement (See previous blog post for more on student engagement). Are you ready to encourage this type of simple approach in your school?
If so, I have a thought about implementing hallway policies consistently. I have seen administrators make a fundamental error in this area. When you need to provide feedback to faculty members about the consistency of policy implementation, it should be done in private. According to data from one of our recent research studies, correcting faculty in front of students and other staff is not effective. We encourage staff to use approaches such as privacy when correcting students to prevent power struggles (See Allen Mendler’s short work on this called Power Struggles). As it turns out, staff are not raving fans about receiving feedback publicly either. For more on how to give feedback when adult expectations are violated, see the resource I have mentioned before Crucial Conversations (find the link on this previous blog post). Remember positive behavior supports apply to everyone, not just those on the schools’ roster.
Johnson-Gros, K. N., Lyons, E. A., & Griffin, J. R. (2008). Active Supervision: An Intervention to Reduce High School Tardiness. Education & Treatment of Children, 31(1), 39-53. (See http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ789770)
Spaulding, S. A. (2010). Schoolwide Social-Behavioral Climate, Student Problem Behavior, and Related Administrative Decisions: Empirical Patterns from 1,510 Schools Nationwide. Journal of positive behavior interventions, 12(2), 17. doi: 10.1177/1098300708329011 (See http://1.usa.gov/1DFatFj)