Introduction. Increasing Appropriate Lunchroom Behavior: A Praise Note System for Elementary Students

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1 Increasing Appropriate Lunchroom Behavior: A Praise Note System for Elementary Students Rikki K. Wheatley, Cade T. Charlton, Richard P. West & Matthew J. Taylor Center for the School of the Future at Utah State University Center for the School of the Future at Utah State University The Center for the School of the Future (CSF) is a research center dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of education by identifying effective educational practices and supporting their dissemination and adoption in local circumstances. Introduction Behavior problems in schools are well documented (Mayer, 2001; Turnbull et al., 2002) A variety of school-wide intervention strategies address these concerns (Lewis & Sugai, 1999; Oswald, Safran & Johnson, 2005; Walker & Horner, 1996)

2 School Common Areas Students may spend 1+ hours per day in common areas (hallways, lunchrooms, bus lines, playgrounds, etc.) Misbehavior in school common areas accounts for approximately one-half of all problem behaviors in many schools (Colvin, Sugai, Good, & Lee, 1997; Todd et al., 2002) Common Complaints Talking, out-of seat & quarreling (McPherson et al., 1974) Noise level, running, shouting, confusion, messiness, & supervisors yelling (Samuels et al., 2001) Explanations Large numbers of students Large amount of physical space Too few adults trained to deal with problem behaviors Too few adults available (Todd et al., 2002) Unstructured routines Lack of clear expectations (Lewis & Garrison-Harrell, 1999)

3 School-wide Effects Get-tough policies lead to punitive disciplinary measures that increase problem behavior (Lewis & Garrison-Harrell,1999; Mayer & Leone, 1999; Van Acker & Grant, 1996) Disruptive behaviors in the lunchroom are correlated with increased disruption in the classroom (Samuels et al., 2001) Strategies Positive methods for effectively improving behavior for individual students (Carr et al., 1999; Todd et al., 2008), and groups of students (Lewis, Sugai & Colvin, 1998; Sugai & Horner, 1999), in common areas (Kartub et al., 2000; Lewis, Colvin & Sugai, 2000, Nelson, Colvin & Smith, 1996) as well as in the classroom (Skinner et al., 2002; Todd et al., 2008) Four Elements of Effective Instruction Clear Expectations Skill Building through Opportunities to Respond Rewards and Recognition Positive and Trusting Student- Teacher Relationships (West, Smith & Taylor, 2004)

4 Current Study Demonstrate effectiveness of simple behavior management program founded on the four principles for effective instruction Provide guidance for successful implementation of necessary components of a Praise Note system (intensity, delivery, and tracking) Method Participants Approximately 200 first through fifth grade students at a rural elementary school in Northern Utah The students were predominantly white (80%), and from middle to lower-middle socioeconomic backgrounds Setting Elementary school lunchroom Regularly scheduled lunch periods Approximately three grades in the room at a time Design Method Multiple baseline across three target behaviors Littering Inappropriate sitting Running

5 Praise Note System Procedure The intervention consisted of three basic components: Training and modeling sessions (clear expectations & skill building) Praise Notes accompanied by specific verbal commendations (recognition & positive relationships) Public Posting and Tangible Rewards (rewards and recognition) Training Faculty and Staff Training Clarified Expectations Taught to deliver Praise Notes correctly (student s name, praise statement, and description of behavior that was appropriate) Frequent delivery (every 2-3 minutes) Target students who needed extra help Student Training Training Clarified Expectations 20 minutes for each behavior the day before each phase of the intervention began Introduction and modeling Opportunities to practice Chance to earn a Praise Note

6 Reward System Drawing (2-3 tickets each day) Public Posting Group Reward (extra recess, ice cream party, etc.) Weekly teacher drawing Results The intervention was successful across all three behaviors Littering: 96% decrease (34.3 pieces during baseline to 1.3 pieces during intervention) Inappropriate Sitting: 64 % decrease (65.5 instances during baseline to 23.3 instances during intervention) Running: 75% decrease (34 instances during baseline to 8.5 instances during intervention)

7 Discussion Evidence of an effective program based on the four elements Guidance for program implementation Training model Delivery method Contingencies Faculty buy-in Discussion Continued Intensity Optimal intensity unknown 55% of students received a Praise Note each week Practical for staff and teachers to manage with help Future Research Contribution of the four elements of effective instruction on the overall quality of the learning environment Praise Note applications targeted to other school common areas Conducted in larger schools to investigate practicality Systematically vary intensity to discover optimal intensity levels