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"Empowering schools to implement proactive, data-driven supports to improve student wellbeing"
Three High-Leverage Classroom Practices for Student Success
- Dr. Adam Feinberg
Students don't simply arrive ready to learn, classrooms must be intentionally designed to support success. In this episode, Dr Adam Feinberg discusses how expectations, routines, and behaviour-specific feedback help create the conditions for learning. He also shares practical strategies educators can use to build positive, predictable, and engaging classroom environments where students can thrive.
Show Notes
Why positive classroom practices matter
A central theme throughout this conversation is the idea that students do not simply arrive ready to learn. Effective classrooms are intentionally designed to create the conditions that allow students to access instruction, engage in learning, and experience success.
Adam explains that positive classroom practices are not separate from teaching and learning. Rather, they work alongside effective instruction to create environments that are predictable, supportive, and engaging. While many classroom practices contribute to student success, the discussion focuses on a small number of high-leverage strategies that educators can prioritise to maximise their impact.
The conversation also explores how schools can support teachers to strengthen classroom practice by focusing on a manageable number of strategies rather than attempting to improve everything at once.
Establishing and teaching expectations
A major focus of the episode is the role expectations play in creating consistency across classrooms and school settings.
Adam discusses the difference between broad school values and the specific behavioural expectations that bring those values to life. While values such as Respectful, Responsible, and Safe provide a shared framework, students benefit when these concepts are explicitly defined and contextualised across different routines and environments.
Importantly, the conversation emphasises that expectations cannot simply be displayed on walls. Students need opportunities to be taught, modelled, prompted, practised, and provided feedback on the behaviours that schools expect.
The discussion also explores how schools can navigate situations where expectations may differ between home, community, and school settings, while still maintaining consistency and predictability for students.
The importance of routines and procedures
Another key theme throughout the episode is the role routines play in creating efficient and predictable learning environments.
Adam explains that routines help students understand exactly what is expected of them throughout the school day, reducing uncertainty and increasing opportunities for engagement in learning. The conversation explores common classroom routines such as entering the classroom, transitioning between activities, participating in teacher-led instruction, accessing help, and working independently.
The discussion highlights the importance of teaching routines using the same explicit instructional practices that educators use when teaching academic content. This includes clearly defining expectations, modelling routines, providing opportunities to practise, and delivering ongoing feedback.
The episode also explores how educators can identify when routines require reteaching and how prompting and feedback can be gradually faded as routines become more established.
Behaviour specific feedback and positive classroom climates
Behaviour-specific feedback is identified as one of the most impactful classroom practices available to educators.
Adam explains how behaviour-specific feedback differs from general praise by clearly identifying the behaviour being acknowledged and communicating exactly what the student has done successfully. In doing so, feedback not only reinforces behaviour but also continues teaching expectations to the wider group.
The conversation explores the importance of timing, authenticity, and frequency when delivering behaviour-specific feedback. Particular attention is given to the research surrounding positive-to-correction ratios and the role positive interactions play in creating classroom environments where students feel supported, valued, and motivated to engage.
The discussion also examines how behaviour-specific feedback can be used proactively to redirect behaviour, strengthen routines, and increase the likelihood of students engaging in desired behaviours in the future.
Positive classroom practices and student wellbeing
Beyond behaviour and academic outcomes, the episode explores the connection between positive classroom practices and student wellbeing.
Adam discusses how predictable routines, clear expectations, positive relationships, and supportive feedback contribute to students feeling safe, connected, and valued within the school environment. These factors can be particularly important for students who have experienced adversity or who may struggle with emotional regulation.
The conversation highlights how positive classroom practices create predictable and supportive environments where desired behaviours are explicitly taught, reinforced, and maintained over time. Beyond improving behavioural and academic outcomes, these practices help strengthen relationships, increase students' sense of belonging and success, and contribute to the protective conditions that support positive mental health and wellbeing.
Resources and further reading
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Supporting and Responding to Students' Social, Emotional, and Behavioural Needs. National Center on Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports.
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Positive Classroom Management Strategies. Victorian Department of Education.
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Association for Positive Behaviour Support Australia (APBSA). Facebook Page.
Contact Dr. Adam Feinberg
Email: adam@sebcollective.com.au
Dr Adam Feinberg is a psychologist, educational consultant, and doctoral-level Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) who supports schools to improve student wellbeing, behaviour, and academic outcomes through Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). Formerly the Director of the Northeast PBIS Network in the United States, Adam now works with schools across Australia and serves as Co-Chair of the Association for Positive Behaviour Support Australia (APBSA). He is also the co-lead of SEB Collective, where he partners with schools to strengthen behaviour support systems and create positive learning environments for all students.
