Instructional Classroom Management: A Proactive Approach to Behavior Management

Craig B. Darch and Edward J. Kame'enui, Instructional Classroom Management: A Proactive Approach to Behavior Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004 (second Edition). Paperback, 257 pages, $33.33.

In the context of academic accountability required in public education, Instructional Classroom Management: A Proactive Approach to Behavior Management (2nd ed.) could serve as a valuable resource for practicing educators and teacher preparation programs. The premise of this book is that management of classroom and student behavior is best facilitated through highly structured instructional practice. The authors promote proactive strategies that are both academic and behavioral.

The authors state that the second edition of this book was developed for classroom teachers, school administrators, school counselors, and psychologists. Additionally, they offer web-based resources to college and university faculty and students (www.prenthall.com/ darch). These resources clearly facilitate the use of this book in preservice teacher preparation programs and inservice teacher development.

The book is structured across ten chapters written by Darch and Kame'enui with two chapters (7 and 10) contributed by George Sugai and his colleagues. The chapters in the text cover a range of topics from understanding student behavior to school-wide management systems. The chapter formats vary, but generally each chapter contains (a) information on the given topic arranged in subsections, (b) a summary of the chapter, (c) activities that allow the reader opportunities to apply the information from the chapter, and (d) references to the literature cited within the chapter. Each chapter is briefly described in the following section.

Chapter 1 discusses the philosophy of managing through instruction. This chapter orients the reader to the text and provides the reader with a framework for thinking about behavior management in the context of "can't versus won't" problems exhibited by students. The authors offer three...