Improving student bus-riding behavior through a whole-school intervention

We describe a multicomponent intervention to improve bus-riding behavior of students attending an urban public school. The intervention was developed with technical assistance consultation that emphasized collaboration among students, school personnel, and bus drivers. The primary intervention procedures were identifying appropriate behaviors during transportation ("bus rules"), training bus drivers to deliver positive reinforcement, and rewarding student performance through a weekly school-based lottery. Disruptive bus behaviors, as measured by discipline referrals and suspensions, decreased with intervention relative to baseline phases in an ABAB reversal design. These positive results were maintained over the long term, with school personnel assuming responsibility for intervention in the absence of ongoing consultation.