Misbehavior still rising
Teachers report student misbehavior is up post‑pandemic and many point to a need for stronger parent partnership and consistent school routines—surveys show discipline has deteriorated and policy debates about child neglect are intensifying. Restorative responses and predictable classroom procedures are being pushed as alternatives to punitive measures. ( )
The EdWeek Research Center’s State of Teaching 2026 survey of 5,802 U.S. teachers found 35% said student behavior was “a lot worse” than the prior year and 64% said behavior had worsened overall. (edweek.org ) (t.co) A Delaware State Education Association poll reported the average Delaware teacher now spends seven hours per month managing student outbursts (and middle school teachers closer to 10 hours), while an Education Week summary showed 58% of surveyed teachers said parents need instruction on teaching children to behave at school. (dsea.org ) (dsea.org) California’s AB 1566, which recasts the definition of “severe neglect” for mandated reporters, was advanced out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee in mid‑March and the tracking record shows a committee vote of 5 yeas, 2 nays and 2 present/not voting. (assembly.ca.gov ) (trackbill.com) Classroom-flow research points to predictable, taught routines and brisk transitions as highest‑leverage fixes: Responsive Classroom recommends explicit advance warnings (example: “five minutes before cleanup”) and modeled practice, while studies estimate up to 15% of class time can be lost in inefficient transitions. (responsiveclassroom.org ) (responsiveclassroom.org) Randomized and quasi‑experimental studies link restorative practices to fewer suspensions and arrests (Pittsburgh RCT and Chicago Education Lab analyses), and practitioner guides (IIRP, Edutopia) offer immediately deployable tools—5‑minute restorative circles, affective statements (e.g., “I felt worried when…”) and three restorative questions (“What happened? Who was harmed? What will repair the harm?”). (rand.org ) (rand.org) Evidence for active engagement inside STEAM lessons includes peer‑to‑peer praise interventions that reduced disruptions (tootling class‑wide trials) and multiple reviews showing short movement/active breaks improve classroom behavior; chunking instruction into ~10‑minute active segments is recommended to sustain attention in elementary students. (frontiersin.org ) (frontiersin.org)
