Effects of differential reinforcement on the behavior and self-esteem of children with emotional and behavioral disorders

Students in a residential special school for children with emotional and behavioral disorders participated in a study designed to reduce their levels of inappropriate behavior. The residential care staff rated the students' behavioral problems and their class teachers rated their overt self-esteem pre and post intervention. In addition, the students completed self-ratings of their self-esteem. The students were divided into two groups, experimental and control. A multiple baseline across behaviors design was used to assess behavioral changes in the experimental group. Both groups received tangible rewards to the same level but only the experimental group received them contingent upon behaving appropriately. Results showed that the experimental group students made substantial reductions in their levels of inappropriate behavior, which were maintained at a three-month followup. Also, ratings of their behavioral problems by residential child care staff suggested that this improvement in behavior had generalized beyond the classroom to the residential setting. However, no significant differences were found between the pre- and post-intervention ratings of their self-esteem or teacher ratings of their overt self-esteem.     

THE EFFECTS OF A GOOD-BEHAVIOR CONTRACT ON THE CLASSROOM BEHAVIORS OF SIXTH-GRADE STUDENTS1

The effects of a good-behavior contract on the on-task behavior, disruptive behavior, daily assignment completion, and weekly grades of four sixth-grade students were examined in a public school classroom. The contract consisted of presenting the students with a list of good conduct and assignment completion goals and a list of disruptive behaviors coupled with a list of rewards and penalties that could be earned. The rewards and penalties made use of existing facilities and classroom privileges. At the beginning of each morning work period, the teacher negotiated the good-behavior contract with each experimental subject. During the negotiations, the teacher emphasized student self-management and encouraged each student to earn a reward by achieving the good-conduct goals and completing the contract assignments. An isolated work area was provided to allow students the opportunity to remove themselves from their desks for a fixed period of 15 min. At the end of the work period, the teacher determined whether each student earned a choice of reward or penalty dependent on assignment completion and whether the teacher had observed disruptive behaviors. Thus, the contract permitted the student to negotiate the goal behaviors and contingencies with the teacher. Throughout the study, the students were in agreement with the teacher on whether a choice of reward or penalty had been earned. The contract was introduced for different children at different times, constituting a multiple-baseline analysis. On-task behavior and daily assignment completion increased, weekly grades were higher, and disruptive behavior decreased when the contract was in effect. Three contrast subjects were selected from the class as model students who consistently produced acceptable assignments and who did not engage in high rates of disruptive and/or off-task behaviors. When the contract was in effect for the experimental subjects, their performance compared favorably with the contrast subjects, who never received the daily contract. The results demonstrated that the contract was effective within the confines of the facilities and contingencies readily available in a public school classroom setting.     

Utility of teacher behavior ratings for identifying special needs students

The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of a teacher behavior rating instrument for identifying special needs students. Using a modified form of theDevereux Elementary School Behavior Rating (DESB)Scale 35 kindergarten through grade 6 regular classroom teachers completed ratings on all of their 876 students. Subsequently, extensive aptitude, academic, social, and behavioral assessment was conducted and those students were identified who were in need of supportive educational programming to function adequately within the regular class setting. Analysis of the teacher behavior ratings indicated a highly significant difference between those students identified for special supportive services and their regular classroom peers on 9 of 11 behavioral factors. The findings lend clear support for the use of classroom teachers' behavior ratings in the identification process.     

Daily Behavior Report Cards with and without Home-Based Consequences: Improving Classroom Behavior in Low Income,African American Children with ADHD

Daily Behavior Report Cards (DBRC), which typically require teachers to evaluate students' daily behavior and parents to provide contingent consequences, are an effective and acceptable method for improving children's classroom behavior. The current study evaluated whether parent involvement is an essential treatment component or whether teacher feedback alone would be sufficient to produce children's behavior changes. The effectiveness of DBRC with teacher feedback to students and parent delivered consequences (PC) was compared to teacher feedback to students only (no parent delivered consequences, NPC) for increasing appropriate classroom behavior and academic productivity in African American, low income, elementary school children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Both treatments led to increased on-task behavior, although PC was superior to NPC. Academic productivity outcomes are less clear. Treatment implications and future directions for research on teacher feedback interventions are discussed.     

Pyramid training of elementary school teachers to use a classroom management "skill package"

Three regular elementary teachers were trained in the use of a classroom management "skill package". Subsequently, each of these three teachers (tier 1 of training) trained three more teachers to use the same skill package (tier 2 of training). Direct behavioral measures of student disruptiveness were taken in the three tier-1 classrooms and four tier-2 classrooms, and permanent product measures of student productivity in arithmetic were taken in the three tier-1 classrooms. Results indicated that student disruptiveness decreased at least as much in the tier-2 classrooms as in the tier-1 classrooms. Data also indicated that serving as trainers benefited two of the tier-1 teachers who profited least from the original training by producing further reductions in disruptiveness in their respective classrooms. Productivity data suggested that use of the "skill package" increased classroom academic output, especially for those students below the median in productivity during baseline. The investigators' time investment in training a tier-2 teacher was one-fourth that of training a tier-1 teacher.     

RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF TEACHER ATTENTION AND THE “GOOD BEHAVIOR GAME” IN MODIFYING DISRUPTIVE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR1

A variety of behavioral procedures have been employed in recent years to modify disruptive classroom behavior. Such methods have been developed with the belief that curtailing disruptive behavior would strengthen positive classroom performance. In this study, two procedures, the good behavior game and the teacher-attention method, were compared to determine short-run effectiveness. Four teachers (two fourth-grade and two fifth-grade) implemented both methods in their classrooms over a five-week period. Presentation of methods was alternated in a counterbalanced design to control for order effects. Each of the four classrooms consisted of 25 students. A time-sampling procedure was used to record the presence or absence of disruptive behavior within 15-second intervals. Disruptive behavior was defined as any talking-out or out-of-seat behavior without permission. The results indicated that both procedures were effective in modifying disruptive classroom behavior, but that the good behavior game reduced disruptive behavior significantly better than the teacher-attention method. In addition, all teachers preferred the game to the teacher-attention procedure. This reaction seemed related to the effort involved in initiating the two activities. The good behavior game required less effort on the teacher's part. However, use of the game alone raises certain ethical considerations. One such issue involves abuse of peer pressure. Also, there is a possibility that negative rules may tend to promote resentment. Positively stated rules would ameliorate that problem. Another relates to the possibility that some teachers might be carried away by the ease of the game's implementation to the extent that behavior control becomes the primary objective in the classroom. As a result, one might consider use of the game to maximize short-term change, but then phase out this procedure in favor of another method (e.g., teacher attention) for long-run effects.     

An evaluation of interdependent and independent group contingencies during the good behavior game

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) uses an interdependent group contingency to improve classroom behavior. Despite the wealth of research on the effectiveness of the GBG, some teachers may have concerns about their students’ abilities to work in teams, particularly if they have a history of poor social skills. We used an alternating treatments design to compare the relative effectiveness of the GBG with interdependent and independent group contingencies in a classroom for children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Our results showed that both versions of the GBG reduced verbal disruptions, inappropriate sitting, and off‐task behaviors for all children. However, the majority of children preferred the interdependent arrangement. We discuss how these results may promote more widespread use of the GBG with children with substantial behavioral challenges.     

思维风格对中美大学生课堂学习行为的影响研究

对长期以来具有争议的中美学生存在课堂学习行为差异的现象,研究者推测中美学生由于具有思维风格的差异,造成他们对课堂内容的处理方式的区别,从而影响他们不同的课堂行为反应。研究对来自于中国学生、中国留美学生和美国学生三组样本的数据进行分析。结果表明在控制了文化组别和学习动机因素后,思维风格仍能显著预测课堂学习行为,并能部分地解释中美学生之间存在的课堂学习行为差异。     

学习风格与中美大学生课堂学习行为的关系研究

中美学生存在课堂学习行为差异的现象得到了中外众多教育工作者的关注和讨论.本文作者推测,中美学生在学习风格上存在的结构取向和深度取向的差异,是导致他们表现出不同课堂行为反应的一个原因.本研究采用学习风格量表和课堂学习行为量表对281名中国大学生和206名美国大学生施测.数据分析结果表明,中美学生存在学习风格与课堂学习行为的显著差异;学习风格的结构取向与课堂学习行为呈显著负相关,深度取向与课堂学习行为呈显著正相关;结构取向的学习风格在文化组别与课堂学习行为之间存在部分中介作用,表明结构取向至少能部分地解释中美大学生之间的课堂学习行为差异.     

A TOKEN REINFORCEMENT PROGRAM IN A PUBLIC JUNIOR-HIGH SCHOOL1

In recent years, the technology of contingency management has been shown to be of increasing value in regular classrooms and public-school systems with both groups and individual pupils (Ayllon and Roberts, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1974, 7 , 71–76; Glynn and Thomas, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1974, 7 , 299–306; Lovitt and Curtiss, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1969, 2 , 49–53; Lovitt and Smith, Exceptional Children, 1974, 40 , 357–358; Medland and Stachnik, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1972, 5 , 45–51). In addition, established procedures are being systematically replicated across grade levels and differing subject-matter areas. A series of studies initiated by O'Leary and Becker (Exceptional Children, 1967, 33 , 637–642) form the basis for the present investigation. The token reinforcement program described by O'Leary and Becker (Exceptional Children, 1967, 33 , 637–642) was managed by the teacher of an adjustment class and involved 9-yr-old children described as emotionally disturbed. An elaborate replication of the 1967 O'Leary and Becker study conducted by O'Leary, Becker, Evans, and Saudargas (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1969, 2 , 3–31) with a grade-two class introduced several variables to examine their separate effects. The authors specified their treatment levels as baseline, classroom rules, educational structure, teacher praise and ignore, token I, withdrawal, token II, and follow-up. The present research modified the general design of O'Leary et al., (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1969, 2 , 3–31) to study how to maintain treatment effects. In the modification, rules were eliminated as a treatment variable because they are frequently associated with aversive practices in the school system, and it was deemed desirable to have mainly a positive orientation. A second difference was that the present subjects were grade-nine pupils functioning in the regular public-school system. The six students were older (average age = 16.2) and well behind their peers in achievement. They were considered behavior problems and as potential dropouts by teachers and counsellors. They were not considered to be emotionally disturbed. Finally, procedures designed to maintain behavior change generated by the token system were added. The operant level of unacceptable classroom behavior was obtained for six students receiving an individualized program of instruction in mathematics and science in a nonacademic grade-nine class in a public junior secondary school. Initially, two conditions (educational structure and praising appropriate behavior while ignoring inappropriate behavior) were introduced successively. Both procedures reduced inappropriate behavior slightly. When a token system, using backup reinforcers readily available in the school, was introduced in conjunction with the initial two conditions, inappropriate responses declined dramatically in all subjects. Withdrawal of the token program for a three-week period, leaving educational structure and praising and ignoring in effect, increased inappropriate behavior in five of the six subjects. The token program was then re-introduced in conjunction with contingency contracts. The result was a decline of inappropriate behavior below the mean of the first token condition for all subjects. Tokens were thinned and finally removed toward the end of this condition, leaving teacher praise and attention and the contract system in effect. Data obtained during a four-week followup indicated that the low level of inappropriate behavior was maintained in all subjects. This extension of the O'Leary et al., (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1969, 2 , 3–31) program, designed and implemented by the regular teacher, demonstrates that these procedures may be highly effective within the constraints found in an ordinary classroom in the junior secondary school.     

Being a good or a just teacher: Which experiences of teachers’ behavior can be more predictive of school bullying?

In two cross‐sectional questionnaire studies with N = 2,931 German students, aged between 12 and 17 years (M = 14.1, SD = 0.5), we investigated the relation between students’ bullying behavior and their personal belief in a just world (BJW). We considered students’ personal experience of teacher justice as a possible mediator in this relation and investigated whether the students’ experiences of their teachers’ classroom management explained bullying behavior in addition to personal BJW and teacher justice, while statistically controlling for sex and school type. In both studies, multilevel modeling results showed that the more students endorsed personal BJW and the more they evaluated their teachers’ behavior toward them personally as being just, the less likely they were to report that they bullied others. The students’ personal experience of teacher justice mediated the association of personal BJW with bullying. Furthermore, the students’ personal experience of classroom management significantly predicted bullying in addition to personal BJW and teacher justice. The observed relations were mainly significant at the individual level. The pattern of results persisted when we controlled for school type and when we considered student sex as a moderator. We discussed the adaptive functions of BJW and implications for future school research and practice.

     

Feasibility of and teacher preference for student‐led implementation of the good behavior game in early elementary classrooms

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a classwide group contingency shown to reduce disruptive student behavior. We examined the feasibility of training young students to lead the GBG in one first‐grade and three kindergarten classes. We also examined teacher preference for teacher‐led GBG, student‐led GBG, or no GBG using a concurrent chains procedure. We successfully trained students in all classes to lead the GBG, and the GBG reduced disruptive behavior regardless of who implemented it. Preference for who implemented the game varied across teachers. Results of this study suggest that students as young as kindergarten age can be trained to implement the GBG and that teacher preference should be taken into account when determining how classwide interventions are to be implemented.     

A Comparison of Results and Acceptability of Functional Behavioral Assessment Procedures with a Group of Middle School Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (E/BD)

There is currently controversy over the validity and applicability of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) procedures with students with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD). A set of FBA procedures, including teacher and student interviews and direct classroom observations, were carried out with eight students with disabilities (7 classified E/BD, one classified LD). Results indicated that when all three methods (teacher/student interviews, classroom observations) yielded a ranking for a function they agreed 64% of those occasions. For those situations in which there was overall disagreement there was agreement between teacher interview and classroom observations most of the time. Social validity data indicated that both students and teachers felt that the assessment procedures were a useful and productive process.     

Effects of the Good Behavior Game on student and teacher behavior in an alternative school

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a classroom behavior management procedure that has been shown to be effective in reducing disruptive behavior across many settings and populations (Flower, McKenna, Bunuan, Muething, & Vega, 2014). We investigated the effects of the GBG on student and teacher behavior in two classrooms containing fourth‐ to eighth‐grade students in an alternative school for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Results indicated the GBG reduced disruption and increased the teacher's use of praise relative to reprimands. Social validity measures, collected from both teachers and students, indicated strong approval of the GBG.     

Instructional ecology and academic responding time for students at three levels of teacher-perceived behavioral competence

Thirty third and fourth grade students, ages 8-10 years, were observed systematically over two entire school days to examine the nature of instruction and academic responding time for students at varying levels of teacher-perceived behavioral competence. Data were recorded on six categories in 10-sec intervals. While the amount of time spent in active academic responses (about 45 min in a typical school day) did not differ significantly between groups, it was found that students perceived to be lower in behavioral competence spent more time engaged in certain inappropriate behaviors and received more teacher disapproval. Yet, students grouped on the basis of teachers' perceptions of their behavioral competence did not differ on the majority of instructional or student responding variables. Findings related to the relationship between responding times and achievement also are presented. Implications of findings for understanding the classroom ecology for students exhibiting behavior problems are discussed.     

Standardized classroom management program: Social validation and replication studies in Utah and Oregon

A comprehensive validation study was conducted of the Program for Academic Survival Skills (PASS), a consultant-based, teacher-mediated program for student classroom behavior. The study addressed questions related to: (a) brief consultant training, (b) subsequent teacher training by consultants using PASS manuals, (c) contrasts between PASS experimental teachers and students and equivalent controls on measures of teacher management skills, student classroom behavior, teacher ratings of student problem behaviors, and academic achievement, (d) reported satisfaction of participants, and (e) replication of effects across two separate school sites. Results indicated that in both sites significant effects were noted in favor of the PASS experimental group for (a) teacher approval, (b) student appropriate classroom behavior, and (c) four categories of student inappropriate behavior. Program satisfaction ratings of students, teachers, and consultants were uniformly positive, and continued use of the program was reported a year later. Discussion focused upon issues of cost-effectiveness, differential site effects, and the relationship between appropriate classroom behavior and academic achievement.     

Role playing to train elementary teachers to use a classroom management "skill package"

Two teachers who led regular third-grade classrooms in a suburban elementary school were trained via role-playing to use a broad range of social skills in dealing with group behavioral management in the classroom. Teacher training reduced disruptive student behavior during both seat work and group discussions in both classrooms. A measure of student productivity during arithmetic period in one classroom showed significant gains in arithmetic problems correct per day for the middle and bottom thirds of the class, with the bottom third increasing by 76%.     

The role of the regular teacher in a whole school approach to guidance counselling in Ireland

A whole school approach to guidance counselling has been promulgated by Irish policy-makers as a model of good practice in the delivery of guidance counselling in the post-primary sector since the 1998 Education Act (DES, 2005a, 2009, 2012). This approach to guidance counselling provision is viewed as a whole school responsibility where schools are expected to collaboratively develop a school guidance plan to support the needs of their students. The role of the regular teacher in a whole school approach to guidance counselling has received very little attention either in the Irish education system or in empirical research. This article will address this deficit through its discussion of a case study carried out in one school in 2012. It will position the findings from the study in the context of the re-allocation of post-primary guidance counselling provision in the national Budget 2012 that has witnessed the substantive erosion of the guidance counselling service in the last two years.     

The use of teachers as behavioral observers

The effect of using teachers as behavioral observers on both student and teacher behavior was examined with eight teachers and 32 elementary school children. The frequency of prompts (but not praise or criticism) to those students observed by the teacher increased significantly from nonobserver to teacher observed experimental phases. In addition, students observed by the teacher showed more change in appropriate behavior than students who were not observed. The significance of these findings for research and therapy is discussed.     

An analysis of the relationship of teachers' reported use of classroom management strategies on types of classroom interactions

The results of an investigation to determine teachers' reported use of classroom management strategies and their relationship to teacher and student interactions are presented. We interviewed 20 teachers to determine how they developed and used classroom management strategies, and then observed the interactions of these teachers with children with serious behavior disorders (SBD). Results identified two groups of teachers: one that scored high on planned use of the strategies, and one that scored low. Comparisons between the two groups of the interaction patterns revealed small, but statistically significant differences in the mean length and total percent time involved in positive interactions. The group reporting higher use of the management strategies engaged in positive interactions which were longer in duration than the interactions of the group reporting lower use. The results are discussed in terms of further research needs and implications for teacher training programs.