Public-school classroom management training was reported by 83.8% of schools in the NCES School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) 2015–16. The same survey period shows that training varied by school level and location, especially for crisis prevention, behavior recognition, bullying, and student mental-health support.
Contents
- The national training picture
- Primary, middle, and high school comparisons
- Discipline, bullying, and digital behavior
- Safety and crisis preparation
- Behavior and mental-health support
- What city-school figures show
The national training picture
The NCES SSOCS 2015–16 figures describe the share of public schools providing particular training to teachers or staff. They are school-level percentages, not the share of individual teachers who completed a course. The broadest classroom-management measure was 83.8%.
Several related forms of preparation were also common:
- Safety-procedures training was provided by 93.4% of public schools.
- Training on schoolwide discipline policies and practices related to bullying was provided by 78.7%.
- Positive behavioral intervention strategies training was provided by 75.5%.
- Training on signs of students using or abusing alcohol and/or drugs was provided by 71.2%.
- Training on schoolwide discipline policies and practices related to alcohol and/or drug use was provided by 68.8%.
- Training on schoolwide discipline policies and practices related to violence was provided by 67.5%.
- Cyberbullying training was provided by 53.4%.
- Training to recognize physical, social, and verbal bullying behaviors was provided by 47.8%.
- Training to recognize early warning signs of student violent behavior was provided by 41.6%.
- Crisis prevention and intervention training was provided by 29.7%.
Student-support preparation was comparatively widespread. Intervention and referral strategies for signs of student mental-health disorders were provided by 82.1% of public schools. This figure sits close to the classroom-management rate, while crisis prevention and intervention training was reported by fewer than one-third of schools.
These measures cover different purposes. Classroom management concerns the organization and conduct of learning environments. Discipline-policy training addresses schoolwide rules and responses. Positive behavioral intervention strategies focus on behavior support, while mental-health intervention and referral strategies concern recognizing signs and connecting students with help. The percentages should therefore be read as a profile of preparation, not as interchangeable measures.
Primary, middle, and high school comparisons
Classroom-management training was reported by 84.5% of primary schools, 85.4% of middle schools, and 85.0% of high schools in the NCES SSOCS 2015–16 data. The difference between the lowest and highest of these three percentages is less than one percentage point.
| Training measure | Primary | Middle | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classroom management | 84.5% | 85.4% | 85.0% |
| Safety procedures | 92.6% | 95.7% | 93.5% |
| Positive behavioral intervention strategies | 75.3% | 80.1% | 73.6% |
| Crisis prevention and intervention | 21.9% | 37.7% | 49.8% |
| Cyberbullying | 51.9% | 55.7% | 57.8% |
| Mental-health intervention and referral strategies | 87.4% | 85.0% | 68.7% |
Middle schools had the highest reported rate for classroom-management training at 85.4%. They also had the highest rates for safety-procedures training, positive behavioral intervention strategies, and several discipline and bullying measures. High schools stood out for crisis prevention and intervention training at 49.8%, compared with 37.7% in middle schools and 21.9% in primary schools.
Primary schools reported the highest rate for intervention and referral strategies related to student signs of mental-health disorders: 87.4%. The corresponding middle-school figure was 85.0%, while the high-school figure was 68.7%.
Other school-level figures show where preparation differed most:
- Safety-procedures training was reported by 92.6% of primary schools, 95.7% of middle schools, and 93.5% of high schools.
- Positive behavioral intervention strategies training was reported by 75.3% of primary schools, 80.1% of middle schools, and 73.6% of high schools.
- Training on signs of alcohol or drug use was reported by 71.5% of primary schools, 73.8% of middle schools, and 71.8% of high schools.
- Training to recognize early warning signs of student violent behavior was reported by 34.1% of primary schools, 49.7% of middle schools, and 58.6% of high schools.
- Training to recognize physical, social, and verbal bullying behaviors was reported by 46.2% of primary schools, 48.9% of middle schools, and 52.6% of high schools.
Discipline, bullying, and digital behavior
The NCES SSOCS 2015–16 data show that schoolwide discipline training related to bullying was more common than training focused on recognizing specific bullying behaviors. Across all public schools, the two figures were 78.7% and 47.8%, respectively.
By school level, schoolwide discipline-policy training related to bullying was reported by 77.6% of primary schools, 86.1% of middle schools, and 78.3% of high schools. Middle schools therefore had the highest reported rate in this category. Training to recognize physical, social, and verbal bullying behaviors was reported by 46.2% of primary schools, 48.9% of middle schools, and 52.6% of high schools.
Cyberbullying training was reported by 51.9% of primary schools, 55.7% of middle schools, and 57.8% of high schools. The overall public-school figure was 53.4%. In this dataset, cyberbullying training was more common than training to recognize early warning signs of student violent behavior, which stood at 34.1% in primary schools, 49.7% in middle schools, 58.6% in high schools, and 41.6% overall.
Training related to schoolwide discipline policies and practices concerning violence was reported by 62.5% of primary schools, 77.2% of middle schools, and 72.9% of high schools. Training related to alcohol and/or drug use was reported by 67.1%, 72.6%, and 73.5%, respectively. The overall public-school rates were 67.5% for violence and 68.8% for alcohol and/or drug use.
Safety and crisis preparation
Safety-procedures training was the most frequently reported measure among the listed categories for public schools overall, at 93.4%. By level, the rate was 92.6% in primary schools, 95.7% in middle schools, and 93.5% in high schools.
Crisis prevention and intervention training had a different pattern. It was reported by 21.9% of primary schools, 37.7% of middle schools, and 49.8% of high schools. The overall public-school figure was 29.7%. Thus, the reported rate was lowest in primary schools and highest in high schools.
The contrast between these two measures is notable in the survey results: safety-procedures training was reported by more than nine in ten public schools, while crisis prevention and intervention training was reported by less than half of high schools and less than one-quarter of primary schools. The figures describe whether schools provided the training; they do not identify the length, format, recency, or required status of that training.
Training related to violent behavior also varied by level. The rate for recognizing early warning signs was 34.1% in primary schools, 49.7% in middle schools, and 58.6% in high schools. The corresponding overall public-school rate was 41.6%.
Behavior and mental-health support
Positive behavioral intervention strategies training was reported by 75.5% of public schools. The rate was 75.3% in primary schools, 80.1% in middle schools, and 73.6% in high schools. Middle schools had the highest percentage among the three levels, while high schools had the lowest.
The survey also reported training on intervention and referral strategies for student signs of mental-health disorders. The overall rate was 82.1%. Primary schools reported 87.4%, middle schools 85.0%, and high schools 68.7%.
The school-level pattern for mental-health intervention and referral strategies differs from the pattern for crisis prevention. High schools had the highest crisis-prevention rate, at 49.8%, but the lowest mental-health intervention and referral rate, at 68.7%. Primary schools had the lowest crisis-prevention rate, at 21.9%, but the highest mental-health intervention and referral rate, at 87.4%.
Training on signs of students using or abusing alcohol and/or drugs was reported by 71.2% of public schools overall. The level-specific rates were 71.5% in primary schools, 73.8% in middle schools, and 71.8% in high schools. Training on schoolwide discipline policies and practices related to alcohol and/or drug use was reported by 67.1% of primary schools, 72.6% of middle schools, and 73.5% of high schools.
What city-school figures show
The NCES SSOCS 2015–16 data also provide a city-school profile. City schools reported classroom-management training at 88.0%, compared with 83.8% for public schools overall in the supplied figures. City schools reported safety-procedures training at 96.4% and positive behavioral intervention strategies training at 82.4%.
Other city-school rates were:
- Schoolwide discipline-policy training related to bullying: 82.6%.
- Schoolwide discipline-policy training related to violence: 71.0%.
- Schoolwide discipline-policy training related to alcohol and/or drug use: 73.2%.
- Training to recognize physical, social, and verbal bullying behaviors: 52.4%.
- Cyberbullying training: 60.4%.
- Training to recognize early warning signs of student violent behavior: 41.3%.
- Crisis prevention and intervention training: 29.5%.
- Intervention and referral strategies for student signs of mental-health disorders: 89.6%.
- Training on signs of students using or abusing alcohol and/or drugs: 74.5%.
Within this city-school profile, mental-health intervention and referral strategies had the highest rate among the listed classroom-management-related measures after safety procedures: 89.6% versus 96.4% for safety-procedures training. Crisis prevention and intervention training remained much less common at 29.5%, despite the higher rates reported for classroom management, behavioral intervention, bullying, and mental-health referral preparation.
All figures in this article are percentages of public schools reported for the NCES School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) 2015–16 measurement period. They should not be interpreted as current estimates, forecasts, or percentages of individual teachers.