Elementary teachers' perceptions regarding school behavior problems: Implications for school psychological services

The study focuses upon teachers' perceptions of school behavior problems an d preferred classroom management actions. Two hundred elementary school tea chers were evaluated with a questionnaire comprising assessment of causal a ttributions and goal-directed behavior on the part of the teachers, when de aling with classroom misbehavior problems. Internal student-related attribu tions were those most frequently adopted by the teachers, even though teach ers' explanations varied significantly across school problems. Misbehavior- related attributions were significantly associated with teachers' preferred practices. Our results support the application of psychological principles to educational practice through an understanding of teachers' discipline-r elated theories. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.