ScholarOne - Ηow Teachers’ Instructional and Behavior Management Practices relate to Students’ Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties following teachers’ observations and performance feedback: An Initial Study of Greek Classrooms

Students with emotional and behavioral difficulties are prevalent in elementary classrooms, making classroom management one of teachers’ leading concerns. Although evidence-based instructional and behavior management practices for supporting these students are well documented, teachers have difficulties in implementing these practices in their daily praxis. The current study investigated relations between an observational assessment of instructional and behavior management practices and student emotional and behavior risk, and how brief teacher performance feedback may change this relationship. Participants included 31 Greek elementary school teachers who completed the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) Teacher Form for 115 students. Observational data and brief performance feedback were collected with The Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS). Multilevel analyses revealed that assessment of instructional and behavior management strategies were significantly associated with student risk for emotional and behavior difficulties prior to feedback, but not associated following brief performance feedback. Implications for practice and research are discussed.