The use of reward systems is common in education, particularly at the primary school level. Indeed, there are very few classes in primary schools in which such systems are not implemented. Token economy are used to encourage students to adopt appropriate target social and academic behaviors. However, consensus on their effectiveness is lacking. It…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often exhibit disruptive behaviors in classroom, including out-of-seat behaviors, which have been found to negatively affect their overall academic achievement and social interactions and relationships with parents, typically developing peers and teachers, and increase the likelihood of being…

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is an effective intervention to reduce disruptive behavior. The GBG typically involves immediate stimulus presentation (e.g., delivery of a token) following disruptions; however, experimenters have also removed tokens contingent upon disruptions. In the present study, we compared the effects of the GBG-stimulus…

Early elementary inclusive classrooms present teachers with demanding responsibilities. The wide range of student backgrounds, ability levels, and previous school experiences require a well-managed classroom that maximizes instructional time. Teachers reported spending more time addressing disruptive behaviors than they thought they should. One…

Children who do not adequately master the transition from "learning to read" (LTR) to "reading to learn" (RTL) will clearly fall behind in every subject area during their secondary education. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a simple reading comprehension strategy developed by Schumaker, Denton, and Deshler…

Token economies have been shown useful in a variety of settings to improve physical activity-related behaviors. However, few researchers in empirical research have examined the effects of token reinforcement targeting motor skill performance implemented specifically in physical education with typically developing children. Therefore, the purpose…

Many teachers are concerned about their ability to work effectively with students who have a diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to determine the perceived efficacy of common interventions used to address negative ADHD behaviors in the elementary and middle school…

A multiple probe design across behaviors was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a SMART Board used in conjunction with teacher delivered constant time delay (CTD) to teach environmental text to three young students with disabilities and minimal group learning experience during small group direct instruction. Observational learning, instructive…

The use of positive reinforcement sometimes gets lost in translation because educators forget the importance of acknowledging good behaviors. We instinctively tend to punish and give consequences because we often forget the importance of preventing undesired behaviors from occurring in the first place. More efforts should be spent on maintaining…

This paper reports the findings of a field experiment that gamified the classroom experience of elementary school ESL students by implementing digital badges-and-points which students could earn by achieving specific behavioral and learning goals. Altogether, 120 children in eight different classes participated in this study. Four of the classes…

Students with behavioral and emotional disabilities spend less time on academic instruction due to their behavioral disruptions, contributing to the academic difficulties these students face. Classroom management strategies, in the form of positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS), incorporate principles of applied behavior analysis to…

Noncompliance in three elementary age students with intellectual disabilities was assessed using functional behavioral assessments. Escape was identified as the primary function of the behavior in all three students, and access to tangible items was identified in one of the students as a secondary function. Teacher-monitoring and self-monitoring…

This study investigates the effects of a token economy as an intervention to reduce disruptive and off-task behavior of third grade students in an open concept setting. The intervention combines the use of a token reinforcement with a raffle style drawing. The students receive tokens on an intermittent reinforcement schedule for being on-task,…

The author presents a strategy for helping students with emotional and behavioral disorders become more proficient at solving math word problems. Math word problems require students to go beyond simple computation in mathematics (e.g., adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing) and use higher level reasoning that includes recognizing relevant…

Token economies have a long research and applied history within clinical settings and classroom education (Kazdin, 1982). However, despite reported successes in improving physical activity behaviors (Alstot, 2012), research examining token reinforcement implemented specifically in physical education is virtually nonexistent. Therefore, the purpose…