From Wall to Practice: Empowering Teachers to Embed the Classroom Matrix in Classroom Culture

Presenters

• Sarah Miller, Clemson UniversityFollow
• Crystal Ceresani, Clemson UniversityFollow

First Presenter's Highest Degree Earned

M.Ed

Year First Presenter's Degree Was Awarded

2018

First Presenter's Field of Study

Education

Institution Where First Presenter Received Highest Degree

Kennesaw State University

First Presenter's Institution

Clemson University

First Presenter's Brief Bio and Description of Credentials for This Presentation

Sarah Miller, M.Ed, is a Regional Behavior Coach with the Behavior Alliance of South Carolina (BASC), bringing over a decade of experience in education as a teacher, instructional coach, and professional learning facilitator. She designs and leads professional learning for school and district teams focused on strengthening Tier 1 practices and systems within MTSS frameworks. Through data-driven coaching, technical assistance, and collaborative problem-solving, Sarah supports school- and district-level teams in building effective behavior systems that promote consistency, clarity, and positive school climates. Her work centers on empowering educators to lead change, foster belonging, and ensure success for every learner.

Second Presenter's Institution

Clemson University

Second Presenter’s Email Address

cceresa@clemson.edu

Second Presenter's Highest Degree Earned

EdD

Year Second Presenter's Degree Was Awarded

2026

Second Presenter's Field of Study

Education

Institution Where Second Presenter Received Highest Degree

Capella University

Second Presenter's Brief Bio and Description of Credentials for This Presentation

Crystal Ceresani, EdD, is the Program Manager for Curriculum Development and School Climate Programming with the Behavior Alliance of South Carolina (BASC), bringing extensive experience supporting schools and districts in strengthening MTSS-B frameworks. With a background that includes roles as a state-level MTSS specialist, regional MTSS education specialist, school administrator, PBIS/MTSS coordinator, instructional coach, and middle grades teacher, she brings a comprehensive understanding of systems change and sustainable implementation. Crystal partners with school and district teams to build capacity through professional learning, coaching, and data-driven problem-solving. Her work focuses on developing effective MTSS for behavior Tier 1 practices, improving school climate, and empowering educators to create positive, consistent, and inclusive learning environments where all students can succeed.

Location

Scarbrough 2

Document Type

Individual Presentation

Primary Strand

Positive Behavior Interventions and Support

Relevance to Primary Strand

By focusing on empowering teachers to lead PBIS implementation within their classrooms, this session strengthens the bridge between schoolwide systems and daily practice. Participants will learn how to support teachers in aligning classroom matrices to schoolwide expectations while maintaining professional autonomy, which is an essential factor for buy-in, sustainability, and consistency. These strategies help build school and district capacity by fostering empowered implementers who carry PBIS practices forward with fidelity and ownership.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Climate and Culture

Brief Program Description

A classroom teaching matrix shouldn’t live on the wall; it should live in the culture. In this session, explore how to empower teachers to bring the matrix to life through engaging instruction and authentic ownership. Learn strategies to embed the matrix into daily routines so expectations become part of classroom identity, strengthen alignment with schoolwide PBIS, and maintain teacher autonomy to promote buy-in. Leave with practical ideas for teaching, reteaching, and reinforcing expectations that sustain positive behavior supports long after initial implementation.

Summary

A classroom teaching matrix is most effective when it is fully integrated into the culture of the classroom, rather than existing as a static poster. In this session, participants will learn strategies for developing, implementing, and sustaining classroom matrices that are both aligned with schoolwide PBIS norms and authentically reflect the classroom teacher’s style and context, ensuring consistency across classrooms.

The session emphasizes student ownership and engagement as essential to embedding the matrix into daily classroom culture. Participants will explore ways to involve students in creating, practicing, and reinforcing the matrix, including participatory learning strategies and the use of student exemplars. Reinforcement strategies will be highlighted to support consistent application of norms and positive behavior.

A critical component of the session is teaching and reteaching strategies. Leaders and teachers will learn how to design and maintain plans that ensure the matrix remains a living, evolving part of classroom culture, supporting sustained positive behavior and alignment with schoolwide PBIS practices.

Through discussion, examples, and application activities, participants will leave with practical tools, coaching prompts, and strategies to embed classroom matrices into routines, foster student ownership, reinforce expectations, and maintain alignment with schoolwide PBIS. This session provides actionable approaches for teachers, school leaders, and coaches to increase the effectiveness of PBIS at the classroom level while strengthening school- and district-level capacity to support sustainable behavior practices.

Evidence

This session is grounded in research demonstrating that consistent, schoolwide implementation of PBIS practices improves student behavior, engagement, and school climate (McIntosh & Goodman, 2016; Sugai & Horner, 2002). Classroom-level alignment to schoolwide systems, combined with teacher ownership and autonomy, is critical for sustaining fidelity and promoting positive outcomes (Simonsen et al., 2015).

The approach presented has been field-tested across multiple school teams, with teams reporting that collaboratively creating and embedding classroom teaching matrices led to stronger staff alignment, clearer understanding of norms, and more consistent reinforcement practices. Feedback indicates that using classroom matrices has helped teams: focus on positive interventions over punitive responses, translate schoolwide rules into actionable teaching expectations, review culture and climate data from new perspectives, and strengthen connections between schoolwide and classroom-level expectations. Teams also reported increased clarity in planning lessons and teaching behaviors, which enhanced both student engagement and staff confidence.

This approach reflects implementation science principles, emphasizing stakeholder engagement, coaching, data-informed decision-making, and sustainability (Fixsen et al., 2019). By empowering teachers to lead implementation while maintaining alignment with schoolwide norms, the session provides practical, replicable strategies to strengthen classroom culture, improve PBIS fidelity, and build school- and district-level capacity.

Learning Objective 1

Coach and support teachers in implementing classroom matrices effectively, balancing fidelity to schoolwide PBIS with teacher autonomy.

Learning Objective 2

Embed the matrix into classroom culture through participatory learning, student ownership, and consistent reinforcement strategies

Learning Objective 3

Design teaching and reteaching plans that ensure expectations are understood, practiced, and maintained over time.

Start Date

6-2-2026 2:15 PM

End Date

6-2-2026 3:15 PM

Recommended Citation

Miller, Sarah and Ceresani, Crystal, "From Wall to Practice: Empowering Teachers to Embed the Classroom Matrix in Classroom Culture" (2026). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 86.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2026/2026/86

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.