A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Classroom Management Strategies and Classroom Management Programs on Students’ Academic, Behavioral, Emotional, and Motivational Outcomes

TLDR

This meta‑analysis examined which classroom management strategies and programs enhance students’ academic, behavioral, social‑emotional, and motivational outcomes in primary education. The analysis incorporated 54 controlled intervention studies from 2003–2013 and coded programs for four strategy categories: teacher focus, student behavior, students’ social‑emotional development, and teacher–student relationships. Results showed small but significant effects (average g = 0.22) on all outcomes except motivational, with students’ social‑emotional development strategies contributing most to effectiveness—particularly on social‑emotional outcomes—and teacher‑focused programs tentatively benefiting academic outcomes.

Abstract

This meta-analysis examined which classroom management strategies and programs enhanced students’ academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and motivational outcomes in primary education. The analysis included 54 random and nonrandom controlled intervention studies published in the past decade (2003–2013). Results showed small but significant effects (average g = 0.22) on all outcomes, except for motivational outcomes. Programs were coded for the presence/absence of four categories of strategies: focusing on the teacher, on student behavior, on students’ social-emotional development, and on teacher–student relationships. Focusing on the students’ social-emotional development appeared to have the largest contribution to the interventions’ effectiveness, in particular on the social-emotional outcomes. Moreover, we found a tentative result that students’ academic outcomes benefitted from teacher-focused programs.