Abstract
Decades-long reliance on exclusionary practices in response to unwanted behaviors in high schools has resulted in a discipline gap, or a trend in which students of color, particularly black students, are sent out of class, suspended, or expelled at much higher rates than other students. The purpose of this study is to investigate the interaction of classroom environment, student engagement, and behavior as a proactive measure to address student behavior. This phenomenological study includes classroom observations and high school student interviews to collect data on classroom environment elements, engagement components, and cultural responsiveness. Observations and interviews were analyzed through open coding for themes which include teacher disposition and response to behavior, relationship building, relevance and youth culture, mutual respect, and meeting individual needs. Findings show that classroom environment and student engagement are highly influential on each other as well as the presence or absence of student-teacher conflict in the classroom. The students’ emotional experience in the classroom is crucial to their engagement and behavior. Students need to develop positive relationships with their teachers and feel that their identities are valued and individual needs are met in order to participate in constructive and cooperative ways. To effectively address behavior, teachers must get to the root cause of the action rather than assign a formulaic punishment. Recommendations are made to support proactive measures regarding student behavior and positive classroom experiences.