The Rise in Student Behaviors: Why It’s Happening—and How We Can Better Support Staff

There’s no denying it: behaviors in schools are on the rise.

Educators and school-based staff are navigating more frequent escalations, greater intensity, and increasingly complex student needs. Walk into almost any classroom today, and you’ll see teachers and support staff doing everything they can to manage it all—but with limited training, resources, and support.

As a former special education teacher and now a school-based BCBA, I’ve seen this shift firsthand. And I’ve seen how quickly things can fall apart when paraprofessionals aren’t set up for success from the start.

Let’s talk about what’s really going on—and what we can do about it.

What’s Behind the Rise in Challenging Behavior?

The increase in student behavior challenges isn’t just a perception—it’s a pattern. Many schools report:

• Higher rates of aggression, elopement, and noncompliance

• More students requiring intensive behavioral support

• Less consistency in how adults respond across settings

So what’s fueling the change? A few key factors:

• Post-pandemic social-emotional skill gaps
  Many students missed foundational opportunities to build social, behavioral, and emotional regulation skills—and it’s showing up in the classroom.

• Increased trauma and mental health needs
  Students are coming to school carrying more than just backpacks. We’re seeing heightened anxiety, sensory needs, and difficulty with peer interaction.

• Staffing shortages and limited onboarding
  Paras and support staff are being placed into high-needs classrooms with little (or no) formal training in behavior strategies—and left to figure it out as they go.

• Inconsistent systems
  When behavior expectations and adult responses vary, it creates confusion, power struggles, and more escalated behavior.

The Ripple Effect: Why This Impacts Everyone

When staff don’t feel confident responding to behavior, the entire classroom feels it:

• Students receive inconsistent messaging

• Escalations are more likely (and more intense)

• Staff burnout increases

• Instructional time is lost

• And the school climate suffers

I’ve worked with schools where this cycle repeats every year—and I know firsthand how frustrating it is to try and train paraprofessionals on the fly in the middle of a crisis.

What If Training Wasn’t an Afterthought?

That’s the question that led me to create the Essential Behavior Strategies Training Guide.

This guide is a ready-to-use, school-based training tool designed specifically for paraprofessionals, support staff, and behavior teams working in real classrooms—not clinics.

It’s practical. It’s behavior analytic. And it’s made to be used immediately—whether you're onboarding a new para, leading a team training, or just trying to build more consistent adult responses.

What’s Included in the Guide:

✔️ Three core chapters:
‣ Behavior Basics
‣ Proactive Strategies
‣ De-escalation Techniques

✔️ Real-world examples that reflect what actually happens in classrooms

✔️ Built-in learning supports like note pages, staff reflection prompts, and comprehension checks

✔️ Licensing options for single classrooms or teams of up to 5 (great for department leads and district BCBAs)

Want a Sneak Peek?

To give you a real sense of the guide’s value, I’m offering snippets from Chapter 2: Proactive Strategies as a free preview. It’s one of the most powerful sections, because it shifts staff from reacting to behaviors to preventing them before they even start.

Inside, you’ll find:

• Simple behavior strategies that actually work in schools

• Clear visuals and examples your staff can understand

• Techniques that help reduce power struggles and build stronger classroom relationships

Final Thoughts

Here’s what I know for sure: most paraprofessionals want to do a good job. They want to support students well. But when we don’t give them the tools to do that, behavior escalates—and so does frustration.

The Essential Behavior Strategies Training Guide is one way we can flip the script.

Let’s stop handing staff a behavior plan and expecting magic. Let’s give them the training, the tools, and the support they need to feel confident walking into any classroom.

👉 Ready to grab the full guide? Click here to download instantly.

You don’t have to do this all on your own—and your paras shouldn’t have to either.

—
Meghan Edwards, M.Ed, BCBA
@school_based_bcba