Association for Behavior Analysis International

Students who engage in problem behavior in the classroom setting greatly challenge teachers and diminish the ability to learn (Chafee, Briesch, Johson, & Volpe, 2017). According to Public Agenda (2004), 77% of teachers polled stated their teaching practices would be more effective if they did not have to deal with discipline problems. This symposium will present four papers on improving student behaviors in school-based classroom settings. The first study evaluated the use of the Class Pass Intervention to decrease disruptive behaviors and improve academic engagement for students diagnosed with ADHD. Both the second and third studies focused on improving classroom behavior using self-monitoring combined with either Check In/Check-Out or the Individualized Behavior Rating Scale with students with a variety of disabilities. The final study presents a meta-analysis on the results of Tier 2 interventions used in school-based settings for improving behavior and academic engagement. Dr. Kwang-Sun Blair will serve as discussant.

BCBA's, BCaBA's, Educational Personnel including teachers, RBT's

Findings from previous research has shown that disruptive behavior can impair students’ academic success (Pierce, Reid, & Epstein, 2004), as well as increase teacher’s stress level (Westling, 2010). Class Pass Intervention (CPI) is a Tier 2 intervention designed to decrease disruptive behavior and increase academic engagement, however, thus far research on the effects of CPI has been limited to typically developing elementary and high school students with escape and attention-maintained problem behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of CPI on problem behavior and academic engagement of children with and without disabilities (i.e., ADHD) and students who engage in multiply-maintained problem behavior. The study used a multiple baseline design to assess experimental control. In the current study, CPI led to a decrease in problem behavior and increase in academic engagement for two students with ADHD and one student at risk of ADHD, all of whom engaged in problem behavior maintained by escape, access to attention, or both. In addition, results of a social validity assessment completed with teachers and students indicated that the intervention was effective and easy, respectively.

School Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a three-tier prevention system that helps decrease challenging behaviors with positive behavioral interventions and increase socially significant behaviors (Sailor, Dunlap, Sugai, & Horner, 2009; Sugai et al., 2000). Some students continue to struggle with following school expectations with only tier one supports in place and thus need additional supports. Because of this, tier two interventions have been created to help support these students. Self-monitoring and Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) are both tier two interventions within school-wide positive behavioral support and have been used independently to decrease problem behavior. This study combined these two interventions to teach students to monitor their own behavior and in addition get feedback from their teacher which is already a component of the CICO intervention. A multiple baseline across participants design was used to evaluate the effects of CICO with self-monitoring. Results indicated that CICO with self-monitoring was effective in reducing off-task behavior for one participant while two other participants required the addition of more immediate reinforcement to decrease off-task behavior.

One of the greatest challenges facing school staff is problem behavior in the classroom (Public Agenda, 2004). Children who engage in problem behavior in the classroom setting greatly challenge teachers and diminish the ability to learn. This study evaluated the effects of self-monitoring using the Individualized Behavior Rating Scale Tool (IBRST) on problem behavior and on-task behavior in a classroom setting using a multiple-baseline across participants design. This study also evaluated the extent to which students self-rating on the IBRST correlated with direct observation data. Results indicated that self-monitoring using the IBRST was an effective strategy for increasing on-task behavior and decreasing problem behavior for all three students. Results also indicated that the IBRST may be an accurate and reliable means of measuring data when direct observation data may not be feasible or possible. There were 56/60 perfect agreements, with the other four opportunities being only 1-pt value apart. Limitations and future research will be discussed.

This meta-analysis synthesized 33 single-subject design studies on Tier 2 behavior interventions implemented within the School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Tier 2 interventions are additional programs and strategies that can be implemented for students who require supported in addition to universal supports. The purpose of tier 2 interventions is to reduce the risk of academic or behavioral problems. The results of our meta-analysis indicate that the number of studies reporting Tier 1 treatment fidelity and outcomes for students at kindergarten and secondary grade levels are limited, and that the number of screening methods used for selecting target students is insufficient. Large effects were found for self-regulation, Class Pass Intervention and social skill instruction. Check-in/Check-out, group contingency, and multi-component interventions had moderate effect sizes. Moderator analyses indicated that there were different effect sizes across types of intervention, outcomes, and implementers. Limitations to this study and future research will be described.