A visual activity schedule (VAS) was used with a 7-year-old African-American (Non-Hispanic) male at-risk for school failure. An ABAB withdrawal design was used to assess the effectiveness of a VAS on decreasing latency during transitions. Results indicated that a VAS decreased transition latency between activities and reduced teacher prompting…

There are many factors influencing the learning environment in public school settings. As such, the recognition of developing a multidimensional approach incorporating a variety of "tools" for a teacher's toolbox can prove to be very effective. Research indicates that movement is one such tool that can increase the capacity for students…

Problem behaviors are prevalent in schools and may result in negative effects for the students exhibiting those behaviors, teachers, and other students. Increasing on-task behaviors has been shown to minimize disruptive behaviors. The current study utilized an interdependent group contingency-based intervention, Class-Wide Function-related…

The current study examined the effects of the Class-wide Function-related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT), a class-wide group contingency, on the on-task behavior of all students in a first grade class and the on-task and disruptive behavior of three target students within that class who were nominated by their teacher through a behavioral screening.…

Background: Acute physical activity breaks lasting 10--60 min have been related to positive effects on student focus and academic performance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of repeated brief physical activity-infused academic lessons (1-5 min) on student retention and on-task behavior. Methods: One class from each K-2 grade…

Children who are significantly inattentive and poor early readers require intervention, and traditional tutoring approaches may not be effective with this group. Using a single-subject, multiple-baseline-across-participants design, Study 1 examines whether a computer-assisted reading intervention increases performance for three first-grade…

Giving iPads to first graders is a leap of faith that many teachers are understandably hesitant to take, especially if their students need immediate reading intervention and school leaders want guaranteed results. This article discusses how the authors took on the challenge of improving elementary reading using iPads, found surprising success for…

The current study follows a sample of lower skilled language minority (LM) and native English-speaking (non-LM) students who participated in an efficacy trial of a kindergarten phonics-based intervention. Follow-up procedures allowed 93% of the original sample to be retained for simple treatment effects modeling (N = 78 LM and N = 59 non-LM) and…

In the action research project report, the teacher researchers found that many kindergarten and first-grade students did not have the reading readiness skills to be reading at their benchmark target. The purpose of the project was to improve the students overall reading ability. The dates of the project began on September 8 through December 20,…

High-quality formative assessment data are critical to the successful application of any problem-solving model (e.g., response to intervention). Formative data available for a wide variety of outcomes (academic, behavior) and targets (individual, class, school) facilitate effective decisions about needed intervention supports and responsiveness to…

In this study, the author used a multiple baseline design to evaluate the effects of a structured intervention on the engagement and initiations of 3 children identified as at-risk for school difficulty. The intervention had two phases. During intervention (Phase 1) the students received 9 15-min instructional sessions. The intervention had 3…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether strategically scheduled recess breaks throughout the school day will increase student on-task behaviours during the time when students work independently. As an intervention for this action research study, recess breaks were given more often but for less time; recess breaks were scheduled before…

Teaching self-management strategies to students with emotional behavior disorders is important in improving on-task behavior in the classroom. The problem in teaching students with emotional behavior disorders is that they often have trouble staying on task or staying focused, which causes disruption of the class. The purpose of the study is to…

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of an instructional adaptation (reduction of task duration) on off-task behavior in a general education classroom. The intervention was chosen following a functional behavioral assessment, which suggested that much of the off-task behavior was escape-maintained, and a curriculum-based assessment,…