Group contingencies are evidence-based behavioral interventions frequently employed in educational settings. Group contingencies are composed of four distinct parameters: (1) a criterion, (2) a reward, (3) target students, and (4) target behaviors. Although it is common practice for teachers to reveal these parameters to students before the…

An increasing number of students with emotional and behavioral disorders are being served in general education environments. This article provides general and special education teachers with step-by-step instructions in three classroom management strategies that, when implemented well, can increase academic engagement and reduce challenging…

Social skill interventions are utilised by educational psychologists (EPs) to promote positive social behaviour amongst pupils. These have predominantly occurred for target populations, rather than at the whole-class level. Research into evidence-based, whole-class interventions for social skill development is warranted. The Good Behaviour Game…

Many teachers struggle with effectively managing challenging behavior, which occurs in the majority of classrooms serving young children. Teachers of young children (ages 3-8) commonly cite noncompliance, aggression, disruptive behavior, and poor social skills as being among the most challenging behaviors (Snell et al., 2012). For many of these…

Behavior management issues may impede learning in physical education (PE), yet there is a paucity of evidence-based behavior-management programs studied in the PE environment to assist PE teachers to be better prepared to handle these issues. Classwide-function intervention teams (CW-FIT) is a group contingency procedure for managing student…

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a classroom management system that employs an interdependent group contingency, whereby students work as a team to win the game. Although previous anecdotal data have suggested that this arrangement may promote prosocial behavior, teachers may have concerns about its fairness and potential to evoke negative peer…

Challenging behavior in preschool is a serious concern for teachers. In recent years, positive behavior support (PBS) has been shown to be effective in reducing such behaviors. Class-Wide Function-related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is a specific program for implementing PBS principles in classroom settings. CW-FIT is a group contingency that…

Preschool environments can be critical to academic success and risk reduction but disruptive behaviors can have significant and lasting negative effects on students as well as teachers. These behaviors may be pervasive in some classrooms and effective interventions are needed. A combined delayed multiple baseline and withdrawal design across a…

The present study investigated the effects of an intensive training protocol on levels of paraeducator fidelity to a group contingency intervention used to manage the classroom behavior of students with EBD. A multiple baseline design across classrooms was used to determine whether the training was associated with initial and sustained increases…

Disruptive behaviors requiring intervention occur across multiple school systems, including individual students and classrooms. Such behaviors, including talking aloud in class, getting out of one's seat, or more serious behaviors, can be frustrating for other students as well as teachers, who are trying to help students meet ever-increasing…

Social learning theory contends that group contingent reinforcement can be used as a means of shaping problematic behavior in both academic and nonacademic settings. Prior research has focused on contingent management of academic behaviors with older populations at the college level and younger students both with and without disabilities in the…

Group contingencies have the advantages of encouraging individual students to collectively feel responsible for appropriate and inappropriate classroom behaviors and have shown effectiveness in improving students' behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a random dependent group contingency on the on-task behaviors of…

The Good Behavior Game (GBG), a type of interdependent group-oriented contingency management procedure, was first introduced in 1969 and has been used with overwhelming success in classrooms and other settings. Since its inception, the "game" has utilized team competition and peer influence combined with reinforcement procedures. It has been found…