An Educator's Guide to Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Inteventions and Supports. Jason E. Harlacher
at school. See table 2.7 for additional examples of long-term acknowledgment.
Table 2.7: Long-Term Acknowledgments
| Reward | Description |
| Admission to Events | Student can use high-frequency acknowledgments as “money” to purchase admission to dances or sporting events. |
| Announcement | Announce student’s name over the loud speaker and congratulate him or her on displaying the expectations. |
| Classroom Display | Students who earn a set number of tickets can have a sticker or image pasted on the classroom’s wall. Over time, several students contribute stickers or images, creating a collage. |
| Pancake Breakfast | Students with a certain number of high-frequency acknowledgments attend a pancake breakfast held before school. Parents and community members are invited to attend as well. |
| Passes | Students can buy passes that allow them to do things like sit in the teacher’s chair for a set time, job shadow someone in the school, be first in line, or use their cell phone or iPod. |
| Schoolwide Display | Randomly draw students, and display information about them on a billboard or within a school trophy case. |
| Table at Lunch | Students earn the ability to sit at a decorated table in the lunchroom. |
Source: Kendyl Depoali Middle School, n.d.; George, 2009; Harlacher, 2011
Group Recognition
Group recognitions are events or acknowledgments that groups of students can earn (Alberto & Troutman, 2013; Kazdin, 1975; Litow & Pumroy, 1975). Specific grade levels, lunch period groups, or classes may be acknowledged for their success in engaging in appropriate behaviors.
Group recognition can be planned or spontaneous. If planned, students are aware of the reward in advance and can prepare for it. For example, a school may offer a reward to students if they have 100 percent participation in the state-level achievement test. If spontaneous, the acknowledgment is intermittent and arises based on a problem or need that comes up during the school year; the idea being to provide fresh, fun, and relatively unpredictable rewards to students. For example, a school may identify a problem with tardies halfway through the school year, so they offer students an early release day if the number of tardies is cut in half (within a certain amount of time). Or a teacher may decide to spontaneously reward the students in a classroom for displaying a specified expectation during mathematics instruction one day. Additionally, teachers may offer certain privileges based on behavior they see that day or to students who have earned a certain number of high-frequency acknowledgments that day or week. For example, elementary students who have earned high-frequency acknowledgments that day can line up first before the other students line up, or secondary students can be dismissed a minute or two early from class. See table 2.8 for examples of group recognition.
Table 2.8: Group Recognition
| Example | Description |
| Classroom Rewards | Classrooms or grades can compete against other classrooms or grades for a set criterion (first to earn one hundred tickets, the most high-frequency acknowledgments within a week, and so on), which teachers can track by placing them in a bucket or providing a visual display of the total tickets earned. Classrooms or grades can compete against each other, or groups of students within classrooms can compete. |
| “Days Without” Tracker | A problem behavior is identified, and a sign that says “days without …” is created. If students go a certain number of days without the behavior, they earn a reward. |
| Free Choice or Free Recess Time | Classroom earns free time or free recess. Teacher can provide tallies for appropriate behavior, with every ten tallies representing a minute. Once one hundred tallies are earned, the class gets ten minutes of free choice or recess. |
| Golden Trash Can or Plunger | The cleanest classroom or bathroom earns a golden trash can or plunger for the day or week. |
| Grade-Level Pajama Day | The grade with the fewest referrals for a specific behavior gets to wear pajamas for the day and watch a movie. |
| Homework Hold Out | If class meets goal for homework or assignment completion, students may earn the opportunity to have a “homework hold out” where they do not have homework on a night that it would usually be assigned. |
| Marble Jar | A classroom has a jar with a line drawn on it. As students display expectations, the teacher places a marble in the jar. When the marbles reach the line, the class earns a reward (for instance, a dance party, a popcorn party, or the teacher doing something silly). |
| Music During Lunch | Music is played softly during lunch to control the noise level. Students can hear the music only if they speak relatively quietly. |
| Teacher Fun | Students can work for fun rewards, such as duct-taping the principal to the wall, using a dunk tank on a teacher, and so on. |
Source: Kendyl Depoali Middle School, n.d.; George, 2009; Harlacher, 2011; Springfield Public Schools, n.d..
Noncontingent Acknowledgments
Noncontingent acknowledgments are rewards or events that are provided to enhance the positive culture and climate associated with the school. These positive experiences are for all students in the school, and students do not have to meet a specific behavioral goal to receive this type of acknowledgment. They can range from simple to complex, and the teachers deliver them at regularly scheduled intervals regardless of the person’s behavior (Alberto & Troutman, 2013). An example of a simple noncontingent acknowledgment is making an effort to give students positive attention when they arrive at the classroom or regularly during the day without a student needing to meet a specific behavioral expectation. A complex example is a field day where a school celebrates what it means to be a member of the school and plays field games, with all students invited to participate regardless of behavioral successes.
Responding to Undesired Behavior
In addition to creating practices to identify, teach, and reinforce expectations, schools also determine the practices they will use to document and manage undesired behavior. The steps in creating a coherent system for managing undesired behavior are to:
1. Define major versus minor problem behaviors
2. Identify strategy levels for responding to undesired behaviors
3. Develop a response process
Define Major Versus Minor Problem Behaviors
Teachers may have different levels of acceptability of behaviors, which in turn can lead to one teacher referring many students for fairly minor infractions and another teacher referring students for only serious infractions (George et al., 2009; Todd, Horner, & Tobin, 2006). The result is inconsistency in discipline among the teachers, the administration, and even the students. To ensure a more coherent, clear system, the administration and school team first define minor versus major behaviors (George et al., 2009; Greenwood et al., 2008). Classroom teachers manage minor behaviors—those that are disruptive yet not serious, such as running in the hallways, distracting others from working, being off task, or misusing technology (for instance, texting in class). Minor behaviors may still be documented on a minor referral form, but they do not require administrator involvement to solve the problem. Administrators (principal or vice principal) manage major behaviors which are those that are unsafe and warrant immediate attention and action, such as physical aggression, bullying, or certain acts of defiance. Schools also identify crisis behaviors or situations, such as firearm possession or drug possession, that require immediate action because of the threat such behaviors pose.
Obtaining agreement on crisis behaviors is more straightforward because of their nature, but obtaining agreement among staff for major versus minor behaviors can be challenging (George, 2009; McKevitt & Braaksma, 2008), particularly for behaviors that can have major or minor versions (for example, disrespect, noncompliance,