The Tough Kid Book

Tough Kids combine behavioural excesses such as non-compliance, aggression, and tantrums with less obvious deficits in academic, self-management, and social skills. Tough Kids are a challenge, but you can use proactive, positive techniques to manage and motivate them.

This book guides you through the process of identifying and assessing Tough Kids. It provides suggestions for structuring your classroom to ensure success for all kids—including the most difficult. Step-by-step instructions explain how to implement both positive and corrective strategies for classrooms, groups, and individual students. Advanced behaviour strategies such as Tootling, Contracts, Self-Monitoring, and more are designed specifically for Tough Kids. For Tough Kids currently in special placements, the Tough Kid Generalization Model offers a detailed plan for returning them successfully to the general education classroom.

All techniques presented in The Tough Kid Book have been shown to be effective by rigourous research.

New and updated in the third edition:

• Advanced strategies such as Tootling and Clean Your Plate to teach and encourage Tough Kids to demonstrate positive behaviours such as praising classmates and completing their independent work
• Techniques to improve academic engagement and performance
• Tips for using a functional behaviour assessment to uncover the function of a misbehaviour
• Executive functioning skills and the Tough Kid
• How to select and teach classroom rules

The Tough Kid Book is for regular and special education teachers, counselors, instructional coaches, and any educator who wants effective and positively focused classrooms.

The companion book, The Tough Kid Tool Box, provides ready-to-use reproducibles and detailed directions for implementing many of the behaviour management strategies presented in The Tough Kid Book.

Download File

Download File

"Over the years, The Tough Kid Book and its companion, The Tough Kid Tool Box, have defined the gold standard for effective intervention with students who experience behavioral-emotional challenges in their schooling. The authors of these superb, teacher-friendly products are broadly known for their ground-level understanding of the challenges teaches face in managing the behavior of tough kids. These authors’ collective experience and perspectives have enabled them to produce products that provide the answers teachers and related school staff are searching for. These are rarefied skills indeed and are clearly reflected throughout the design and presentation of the material in these two products. The Tough Kid Book incorporates the most up-to-date discoveries and best-practice strategies available and presents them in a highly usable format. I recommend this book without reservation and believe it should be an integral part of every teacher’s “toolbox.”"
- Hill M. Walker, Professor of Special Education and codirector of the Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, University of Oregon, and Senior Research Scientist at the Oregon Research Institute

"We have used The Tough Kid Book and The Tough Kid Tool Box for decades in our school-based research. They are simply unparalleled in the field. The Tough Kid materials provide a one-stop resource for behavior consultants, coaches, interventionists, and teachers. They are easy to use and comprehensive in their approach. Most importantly, the strategies work! We consistently turn to the Tough Kid materials when consulting with teachers and parents who are searching for solutions for dealing with tough kids in their classrooms and homes. We can’t wait to use the new strategies! They are excellent additions to the tried-and-true methods and a welcome addition to an already exceptional resource. Hands down, The Tough Kid Book and The Tough Kid Tool Box are the most important materials in schools today. Every educator should have these!"
- Susan M. Sheridan, Director, Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools; George Holmes University Professor, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

"What distinguishes The Tough Kid Book from other resources for evidence-based strategies that get students to follow classroom rules and comply with teacher requests? Rhode, Jenson,,and Williams have distilled decades of research and experience with hundreds of teachers into tactics that not only prevent and manage problem behavior, they build students’ repertoires. A treasure-trove of reliable methods for teaching disruptive and disagreeable students to assume responsibility for their own behavior, desire and achieve academic success, and look out for the welfare of others. The Tough Kid Book can help teachers transform out-of-control classrooms into safe, productive, and fun learning environments."
- William L. Heward, Ed.D., BCBA-D, Professor Emeritus, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University