Practice Briefs

This practice brief provides practical, research-based strategies educators can use to de-escalate challenging student behavior in the classroom. Despite the development of supportive, safe, and predictable school environments, students may, at times, become agitated, and their behavior may escalate to unsafe levels. With some advance planning, educators can reduce reliance on reactive strategies, such as punitive or exclusionary practices (e.g., restraint, seclusion, suspension, expulsion) in favor of safer, more instructive, and inclusive approaches.