Preservice general educators’ behavior management needs and training: A mixed methods study

Preservice and newly graduated elementary general education teachers are often underprepared to support students who engage in challenging behaviors. The purposes of this mixed methods study were to (a) explore preservice teachers’ knowledge of, experiences with, and needs for using behavior management strategies to address students’ challenging behavior; (b) identify if newly graduated elementary education teachers who complete an online behavior management training showed greater understandings of, ability to analyze the use of, and confidence in applying behavior management strategies compared to participants in a waitlist-control group; and (c) what newly graduated elementary education teachers’ perceptions were of the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of online training. The mixed methods study included focus group interviews and a randomized-controlled trial. Findings indicated participants in the focus groups reported being underprepared to support students who engaged in challenging behavior and requested additional training in the area of behavior management. Findings from the randomized-controlled trial indicated participants in the intervention group showed statistically significant increases in the areas of knowledge and confidence while they showed an insignificant increase in analyzing the use of behavior management skills compared to the waitlist-control group. Findings indicated that preservice and newly graduated teachers should have access to more training related to behavior management strategies in their college coursework, and stand-alone courses. Additionally, online behavior management trainings can be effective in increasing knowledge related to such strategies for newly graduated elementary education teachers.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Special Education

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• McGuire, Stacy N.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Meadan, Hedda
• Ostrosky, Michaelene
• Xia, Yan
• Zimmerman, Kathleen

• elementary education
• behavior management
• challenging behavior
• focus groups
• randomized-controlled trial

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Stacy N. McGuire

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115392

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F115392