Difficult Students and Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom: Teacher Responses That Work

Attachment-based strategies for reaching and teaching disruptive, difficult, and emotionally challenged students.

Difficult Students and Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom provides skills-based interventions for educators to address the most common problem behaviors encountered in the classroom. Offering not just problem-specific “best practices” but an attachment-based foundation of sound pedagogical principles and strategies for reaching and teaching disruptive, difficult, and emotionally challenged students, it empowers educators to act wisely when problem behaviors occur, improve their relationships with students, and teach with greater success and confidence.

About the Authors:

Daniel Sciarra, PhD, LCMHC, NCC, is a psychologist, former school counselor, and Professor of Counselor Education and Director of Counseling programs at Hofstra University. Fluently bilingual in Spanish, he maintains a clinical practice with Latino children, adolescents, and families through the Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut. His research interests include multicultural counseling, racial identity development, and the role of the school counselor in the promotion of academic achievement and educational attainment among students of color. He lives in Hempstead, NY. 

Vance Austin, PhD, is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Special Education at Manhattanville College and also teachers part-time in a special high school for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. He has formerly worked full time as a special education teacher in both public and private schools where he accumulated over 25 years of teaching experience and has also taught at several colleges and universities. He has authored many articles and book chapters, and presented at numerous national and international conferences on the topics of effective teaching and behavior management. He lives in Port Chester, NY.