RethinkEd, a pioneering EdTech platform powering the potential of educators and students from RethinkFirst, today announced two new solutions aimed at addressing the increase in student behavior-related challenges that are negatively impacting time spent on classroom instruction and hampering efforts to retain teachers. The RethinkEd Behavior Suite and Professional Development (PD) Behavior Training Series offer a comprehensive evidence-based solution that provides school districts and teachers behavior management training tools and support designed to achieve better student outcomes and improve teacher efficacy and job satisfaction.
“Disruptive behaviors, chronic absenteeism and low student morale have become too commonplace in America’s classrooms, particularly since students returned to in-person learning after the pandemic. Juggling these new challenges have left teachers frustrated, with many leaving the profession they loved because of stress and burnout,” said Diana Frezza, general manager and executive vice president of RethinkEd. “Our Behavior Suite and PD training provides school districts and teachers a complete solution to tackle this problem head on. Data-based decision making and targeted interventions, combined with training on behavior skills that promote their success, offer a holistic approach to address the needs of students and teachers alike.”
Disruptive Behavior – A Growing Problem
More than 70% of teachers have reported an increase in disruptive classroom behavior, up from 66% prior to the pandemic, according to EdWeek Research Center. About 80% of educators said that the pandemic made students less motivated to do their best in school, with 68% indicating that student’s morale is lower than before 2020. Behavioral issues are having a significant impact with students losing nearly three weeks of instructional time in a school year, according to EAB.
Chronic absenteeism is adding to the challenges. Students missing at least 10% of the school year grew from 15% in 2018 to 28% in 2022, according to the American Enterprise Institute. The problem was more acute in districts with low achievement and higher poverty, where about one-third of students were chronically absent.
Given the seriousness of these issues, states across the country have enacted laws designed to support students’ behavioral health, encourage more teacher training in behavior management and drive use of data-driven multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) for interventions. These new requirements pose challenges for many school districts that have limited resources and are contending with teacher shortages resulting from burnout and retirements.
Evidence-Based Solutions to Address Behavior and Increase Engagement
RethinkEd is addressing the classroom challenges and legislative mandates with its comprehensive, evidence-based Behavior Suite and PD Behavior Training Series. These solutions provide the tools to enhance classroom management, decrease challenging behaviors and increase student engagement, which results in fewer interruptions in instructional time and improved teacher retention.
The RethinkEd Behavior Suite enables:
- On-demand professional development for both teachers and administrators, with a focus on understanding factors that impact both student and adult behavior, how to create a positive classroom and school environment, effective use of classroom management strategies and how to teach students behavior skills that promote their success. With this evidence-based training, educators can better understand why students may be engaging in disruptive classroom behavior, and deploy strategies that promote positive behaviors and decrease those that interfere with learning,
- Data-based decision making to examine districtwide, schoolwide and individual student trends. RethinkEd’s data collection and progress monitoring tools support ongoing evaluation to enable continuous improvement.
- Development of tiered student behavior intervention plans with step-by-step guided plan templates and evidence-based intervention strategies.
- Robust reporting for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions so adjustments can be made as needed to support student success.
- Student engagement opportunities that empower them to have a voice in their education and make positive change through self-monitoring tools.
- Inclusion of families and caregivers to provide meaningful opportunities to engage with the school community and tools to support their child’s educational progress.
RethinkEd’s behavior resources can be easily implemented across school districts to reduce disproportionate student outcomes and experiences. By creating consistency across all schools, administrators can amplify the impact systemwide by empowering teachers with the resources they need to address disruptive classroom behavior, fostering safe and caring environments that are more conducive to increased instructional time, reduce absenteeism, and improve both teacher and student morale.
For more information, visit www.rethinked.com.
About RethinkEd
RethinkEd was founded on a simple, yet powerful idea: To re-think education. To make it better and more efficient. To unburden school districts and empower educators. To improve outcomes and elevate accountability. To promote collaboration and inspire learning. And most importantly, to make a difference for the whole community – administrators, educators, students and their families. As a division of RethinkFirst, an award-winning technology developer of cloud-based tools, training and supports, RethinkEd is pioneering EdTech. We’re relentless in pursuing innovative ways to put evidence-based, data-informed, digitally delivered instruction and assessments into the hands of educators, clinicians, and parents who share our single-minded focus: To help all children succeed.
