• Get the classroom management effort off to a good start, • Establish effective rules and procedures, • Implement appropriate disciplinary interventions, • Foster productive student-teacher relationships, • Develop a positive "mental set," • Help students contribute to a positive learning environment, and • Activate schoolwide measures for effective classroom management. Marzano and his coauthors Jana S. Marzano and Debra Pickering provide real stories of teachers and students in classroom situations to help illustrate how the action steps can be used successfully in different situations. In each chapter, they also review the strengths and weaknesses of programs with proven track records. With student behavior and effective discipline a growing concern in schools, this comprehensive analysis is a timely guide to the critical role of classroom management in student learning and achievement.

Educators consistently say that the most powerful reason for using Dimensions of Learning is that no matter what goal they are pursuing, the model helps them maintain a focus on learning.

Anyone familiar with the first edition of the Teacher's Manual will notice a number of changes in the format of the second edition. The most notable is the addition of "marginalia." When appropriate, the text of the manual is supplemented with information in the margins, including references for books, articles, additional readings, or classroom materials relevant to the topic; quotes from teachers who have been using Dimensions of Learning in their classrooms; brief descriptions of schoolwide or districtwide efforts to implement various aspects of the model; relevant "quotable quotes" from well-known people; and visual representations of important information explained in the text.

Heavy-duty tabs divide six sections of the manual, and an index makes it easy to find information on particular topics.