Section 1: Definition of Specific Behavior

Demintrius has five primary target behaviors that were recorded through observation or
were brought up as a concern by his teachers.
Demintrius speaks in class without raising his hand, or interrupts a student or teacher to
speak. For example, when a teacher is asking a question of the class, Demintrius will
attempt to answer without raising his hand. During class discussions, he often interrupts a
student while they are talking or interrupts the teacher to ask a question while he/she is
explaining something.
Demintrius gets out of his seat without permission. For example, Demintrius will stand
up to ask a question or to get something from elsewhere in the room.
Demintrius makes rude and disrespectful comments to teachers and students. For
example, Demintrius laughs when other students make a mistake, he mocks his teachers,
and he tells certain teachers and aides that he does not have to listen to them.
Demintrius does not start or continue his work when prompted. For example, Demintrius
will refuse to do classwork until the last few minutes of class, when he will hastily write
down his answers without thinking.
Demintrius does not follow instructions when prompted. For instance, Demintrius will be
asked several times to sit down or spit out his gum and he will refuse to do so until he
decides to do it on his own.
Through conversations with teachers, there is a sixth target behavior that is a concern. When
given permission to leave the classroom, Demintrius does not come back within an appropriate
amount of time and often goes to Dr. Waltons classroom or other teachers classrooms, which
disturbs their class or planning time.

Section 2: Literature Reviews

Coogan, B. A., Kehle, T. J., Bray, M. A., and Chafouleas, S. M. (2007). Group contingencies,
randomization of reinforcers, and criteria for reinforcement, self monitoring, and peer
feedback on reducing inappropriate classroom behavior. School Psychology Quarterly
22(4), 540-556. DOI: 10.1037/1045-3830.22.4.540
In this study, a group of five students with disruptive behaviors were introduced to a
group behavior management plan, in which they gain or lose points as a team based on
individuals' behaviors. The study focuses on the effectiveness of group contingencies and selfmonitoring. This study relates to my focus child because he is in a class with other students who
also have disruptive behaviors, but he is the instigator of the group. If his individual behavior
plan succeeds, there may also be a decrease in other students' behaviors as well. In a future study,
I would use this model for this particular class.
Additionally, the component of the effectiveness of self-monitoring relates to my focus
child. As he carries his point sheet with him throughout the day, he is able to get immediate
feedback and monitor his progress throughout each class. This allows him to keep track of his
behavior consistently so he can self-correct or avoid his target behaviors all together. Monitoring
his daily feedback also allows the student to make decisions to continue to improve his behaviors
day-to-day.

Damon, S., Riley-Tillman, T. C., Fiorello, C. (2008). Comparing methods of identifying

reinforcing stimuli in school consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological
Consultation 18, 31- 53. DOI: 10.1080/10474410701864123
This study examines the effectiveness of two different methods of choosing reinforcers

for a behavior support plan. The first method is a forced-choice reinforcer in which the student
chooses the preferred reinforcer when given a series of two choices. The second method was the
teacher choosing the reinforcer to be used in the support plan.
The data shows that the students who chose their own reinforcers had more significant
behavioral gains than when the same students were given teacher-chosen reinforcers.

Pisacreta, J., Tincani, M., Connell, J. E., and Axelrod, S. (2011). Increasing teachers' use of 1:1
praise- to-behavior correction ratio to decrease student disruption in general education
classrooms. Behavioral Interventions 26, 243-260. DOI: 10.1002/bin.341
This study focuses on the importance of teacher training in behavior management,
specifically giving praise for behavior corrections rather than reprimands. The research shows
that providing individual praise for appropriate behaviors resulted in increased positive student
behavior. Previous studies have shown that consistent reprimands from teachers result in
increased behavior problems in the classroom. The importance of this study is that without
training, many teachers use reprimand more often than praise. After training, teachers made vast
improvements in the ratio between behavior and praise, showing that teacher training in behavior
management is critical to managing a successful classroom.

Todd, A. W., Campbell, A. L., Meyer, G. G., and Horner, R. H. (2008). The effects of targeted
intervention to reduce problem behaviors: Elementary school implementation of CheckIn Check-Out. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 10(1), 46-55. DOI:
10.1177/1098300707311369
This article discusses a three-tiered approach to positive behavior support in schools. Tier

one includes school-wide supports, tier two includes support for students at risk for problem
behaviors, and tier three includes individualized, intensive interventions. This study focuses on a
tier two targeted approach using the Check-In Check-Out (CICO) program.
Four elementary school-age boys participated in the study and used the CICO program all
day throughout all classes. The study produced positive results in the students' behavior. Problem
behaviors decreased and replacement behaviors increased. Additionally, teachers thought the
CICO method was easy to implement and would recommend that other schools use the program
to decrease problem behaviors.

Turtura, J. E., Anderson, C. M., and Boyd, R. J. (2014).Addressing Task avoidance in middle
school students: Academic behavior check-in/check-out. Journal of Positive Behavior
Interventions 16(3), 159-167. DOI: 10.1177/1098300713484063
This article provided the model for this positive behavior support plan. The research took
place in a middle school with a school-wide positive behavior plan in place. The target behaviors
include class disruptions such as talking without raising a hand or talking to classmates when the
expectation is to be quiet. Other behaviors include off-task behaviors such as avoiding eye
contact with teacher, putting head down on a desk and closing eyes, and refusal to comply with
teacher requests. These behaviors are similar to the target behaviors of my focus child.
The check-in/check-out system includes a morning check-in, feedback throughout the
day, afternoon check-out, and a parent signature of the point cards. Implementation of the checkin/check-out system resulted in immediate reduction of problem behaviors in the participants.

Section 3: Baseline Data Collection

Baseline data was collected through observations of the antecedent, behavior and
consequence. Data was collected over a period of two days during three class periods which each
lasted 45 minutes.
The following graph shows the frequency of each specific target behavior during baseline
data collection.

25

Speaking without
permission

20

Getting out of seat

without permission

15
Disrespect toward
teacher or students

10

Refusal to start
classwork

5
0
Da y 1

Day 2

Not following
instruction when
prompted

Demintrius was observed during three 45-minute periods. Some of the Demintriuss
behaviors seemed to cover more than one target area. For instance, he might have gotten out of
his seat without permission, but he was also refusing to do his classwork at the same time.
Another example is Demintrius might have been prompted to do something, but replied with a
disrespectful comment. This would fall under both disrespect and not following instruction when
prompted.

Section 4: Hypothesis of Functional Intention

There are three primary functions of Demintriuss behaviors. Some of the behaviors that
were observed had more than one function. Of the two days worth of data, I recorded a function
of power 52 times, attention 46 times, and avoidance 47 times. I believe that Demintrius was
trying to get my attention with some of his behaviors just because he knew I was observing in the
room, although he didnt know I was observing him specifically. Therefore, I think the primary
functions of his behavior are power and avoidance. Based on informal classroom observation,
Demintrius attempts to gain attention less than the data would show, however, many of his
behaviors are to gain attention from teachers or peers.

Section 5: Replacement Behavior

The positive behavior support plan includes five replacement behaviors for Demintrius.
Demintrius will raise hand his to speak in class.
Demintrius will raise his hand to ask to get out of his seat in class, or to leave the
classroom.
Demintrius will start or continue his classwork within three minutes after being
prompted.
Demintrius will use respectful and appropriate language toward students and teachers.
When given permission to leave the classroom, Demintrius will go directly to where he is
supposed to go and return to class in a timely manner. The time allowed outside of the
classroom will be determined by the individual teacher.

Section 6: Positive Behavior Supports

Check-In Check-Out System

The first positive behavioral support that will be used is a check-in check-out (CICO)
system. Demintrius will be given a hard copy of a point sheet, which is what the school calls the
chart used for the CICO system. He will receive a new copy every morning and it take it to every
class with him, including lunch. In the morning, he will check in with his homeroom teacher and
then be allowed to go to Dr. Walton's room to get his point sheet. Demintrius will turn in the
point sheet from the previous day that should be signed by his father. Dr. Walton will give
Demintrius positive reinforcement about the previous day's chart and give him encouraging
words to do a good job during the current day. He is allowed to be in Dr. Walton's room for a
maximum of five minutes before returning to his homeroom.
Demintrius will take his point sheet to every class and give it to his teacher at the
beginning of class. The teacher will circle a number from zero to three for each replacement
behavior based on how well Demintrius performed the replacement behaviors during that class.
Zero means that Demintrius did not exhibit the replacement behavior at all. One means he did a
poor job exhibiting the behavior, two means that he did a good job, and three means that he did
an excellent job. The teacher will sign the chart and give it back to Demintrius at the end of class.
During lunch, Mr. Davis, the assistant principal, will score and sign his point sheet. At the end of
the day, Demintrius will take his point sheet home to be signed by his father. He will give it to
Dr. Walton during homeroom the next morning and will collect tracks (the school-wide PBIS
token system) based on the number of points he earned.
All of the five replacement behaviors will be listed on his chart. Each one will be worth
zero to three points, except for the last replacement behavior, which will be a Yes, No, or N/A
and worth no points. The fifth replacement behavior is that when given permission to leave the

classroom, Demintrius goes directly to where he is supposed to go and returns to class in a timely
manner. The teacher should give Demintrius a time frame, two minutes, for example, for him to
be back to class. The teacher will notice the time on the clock and Demintrius will have a timer
to carry with him. If he is not back within the given time frame, or if he changes the timer, the
teacher will circle no on his chart. Points will be deducted when he returns his chart the next
day based on how many times no is circled for that section of the chart.
There are a maximum of 108 total possible points. Demintrius will receive tracks (the
school-wise PBIS token system) based on his performance. The scale for the possible number of
tracks he can earn is as follows: 0-44 = 0 tracks, 45-59 = 1 track, 60-74 = 2 tracks, 75-84 = 3
tracks, 85-94 = 4 tracks, and 95-108 = 5 tracks.

Verbal Cues
The second positive behavioral support will be for the teacher to give Demintrius verbal
cues to raise his hand before speaking or asking to get out of his seat. For instance, if Demintrius
speaks without raising his hand, the teacher will instruct him to raise his hand before he or she
acknowledges his question or comment. If the class is having a discussion in which students are
speaking freely, Demintrius does not need to raise his hand in this situation. If Demintrius gets
out of his seat without permission, the teacher will instruct him to sit back down and raise his
hand to ask for permission. If Demintrius does not listen to either of these instructions, the
teacher should ignore Demintrius's requests or arguments and continue to remind him to raise his
hand. When Demintrius does raise his hand to speak or get out of his seat without being
prompted, he should receive verbal praise.
Demintrius will also be given verbal cues to use respectful and appropriate language

toward teachers and students. If Demintrius says something inappropriate or disrespectful, the
teacher should instruct him to be respectful and either rephrase his question or comment in an
appropriate way, or say nothing at all.
Lastly, Demintrius should also be given verbal cues to start, continue, or finish his
classwork to help him stay on task. The teacher should remind him that he is earning points on
his chart by completing his work.

Planned Ignoring
Sometimes Demintrius continues to exhibit the target behaviors despite many reminders,
verbal cues and reprimands. If this should occur during class, and the teacher has given
Demintrius ample verbal cues to exhibit the replacement behaviors, the teacher should ignore
Demintrius's behaviors until he exhibits and appropriate replacement behavior.

Structured Break Time

Demintrius should be given structured break time during class. If he is behaving well
during class, he should be give up to two breaks for up to five minutes each. During these breaks,
Demintrius may draw, walk around the room, or do some other independent activity that does not
disturb other students. The appropriate activity should be in the classroom and will be up to the
discretion of the teacher. The structured break time is part of this positive behavior support plan
because Demintrius has an accommodation of frequent breaks on his IEP. If he is working
independently or with a group on classwork and has good behavior, he should be given this break
time.

Section 7: Data Collection and Visual Representation

Data was collected in two different ways. First, data was collected from the point sheets
Demintrius turned in every day. Out of 15 days, he only turned in eleven point sheets, so the data
was taken from those eleven sheets. Second, data was taken from ABC observations on day 13 of
implementation. This data was compared to the baseline ABC data.
The line graph below shows the data from the point sheets that Demintrius used daily. He
picked up the chart during homeroom and his teachers filled out the chart during homeroom,
lunch and every class period throughout the day. Throughout implementation, Demintrius never
brought his chart to lunch, even though he was reminded frequently and he was reminded by the
vice principal as well. There were also a total of 14 class periods throughout the eleven days that
he did not get the chart filled out by his teacher.
The data shows that Demintrius was mostly scored in the 2-3 range for his replacement
behaviors. But there were several class periods where he was scored a 1 or a 0 for certain
replacement behaviors. The trend lines show that there was minimal change in points for all
replacement behaviors. The sharpest decrease was in starting his work within three minutes of
being prompted.

PBSP Point Sheet Progress

Raises hand to
speak

Points Awarded for Each Replacement Behavior

3.5

Raises hand to
get out of seat

2.5

1.5

Uses
respectful
language

0.5

11
Da
y

10
Da
y

9
Da
y

8
Da
y

7
Da
y

6
Da
y

5
Da
y

4
Da
y

3
Da
y

2
Da
y

Da
y

HR, Lunch, and Mods 1, 2, 3, 4/5, 7/8, 9 and 10 Over Eight Days

The following two graphs show the frequency of target behaviors between baseline and
post-implementation data collection. The results show an overall decrease in target behaviors,
however, speaking without permission and use disrespectful language increased from day two of
baseline data. The other three target behaviors (getting out of seat without permission, refusal to
start work, and not following instruction when prompted) showed significant decreases.

Begins work
within 3
minutes of
being
prompted

Baseline and Post-Implementation Comparion of ABC Data

25

Frequency of Behavior

20

Speaking without
permission

Getting out of
seat without
permission

15

Disrespect
toward teacher or
students

10

Refusal to start
classwork

Baseline Day 1

Baseline Day 2

Post-PBSP
Observation

Baseline and Post-Implementation Comparison of ABC Data

25

Not following
instruction when
prompted

Speaking
without
permission
Getting out of
seat without
permission

Frequency of Behavior

20

15

Disrespect
toward teacher
or students

10

Refusal sto
start classwork

Baseline Day 1

Baseline Day 2

Post-PBSP

Not following
instruction
when
prompted

Section 8: Data Summary and Interpretation

The point sheets showed immediate progress toward Demintrius's goals. He was
receiving two to three points for each target behavior in almost all of his classes. Demintrius
seemed to be motivated by the immediate feedback and responsibility that the point sheets
provided. I noticed that immediately upon starting the point sheet, Demintrius went from doing
almost no classwork in Language Arts to completing all of his classwork and getting started with
his work immediately. After about a week of implementation, his progress started to decrease,
particularly in the areas of raising his hand to speak and using respectful language. Demintrius
also began to fail to bring his point sheets back signed by his father, therefore, he was not
receiving tracks for the total number of points he earned. Demintrius did not seem to care that he
was not receiving the tracks.
During the last week of implementation, Demintriuss was not making enough points to
be awarded with seeing Dr. Walton in the mornings. He was very angry when I told him this and
refused to take his point sheet for that day. His behavior in the mornings for the few days after
that was not good, but he began to level off after about three days and came respectfully into my
classroom to pick up his point sheet without talking to Dr. Walton. Around this same time, one of
his teachers, who was also his case manager and homeroom teacher, resigned and someone else
became his homeroom teacher. This transition seemed to affect his overall behavior, especially
during homeroom. He received much lower points in homeroom than in his other classes after
his original homeroom teacher left the school.
The ABC data shows that Demintrius's target behaviors made an overall improvement
throughout the course of the implementation of the plan. Demintrius made particular progress in
raising his hand to get out of his seat, completing his classwork, and complying with instructions

when prompted. The ABC data shows that he still showed a high frequency of speaking without
raising his hand and making disrespectful comments toward teachers or students. I believe this
has to do with the individual teachers' classroom management styles in the classrooms I
observed. For instance, every time Demintrius spoke without raising his hand, the teacher
responded to him and did not prompt him to correct his behavior. Had the teachers prompted
Demintrius to raise his hand before he could receive a reply, I believe he would have shown
more improvement in this target behavior. Similarly, the teachers' reactions to Demintrius's
disrespectful comments did not do anything to correct his behavior. He was given a reprimand
that he ignored. Had the teachers prompted Demintrius to use more respectful language or gave
him praise when he did show respect, I believe he would have shown more improvement in this
target behavior. For instance, in the class that I teach, my mentor and I do not respond to
Demintrius's question or comment when he speaks without raising his hand. We prompt him to
raise his hand first before we can answer his question. We also give him praise when he does
raise his hand to speak. Additionally, we praise him for using respectful language or correcting
himself when he says something disrespectful. Moreover, if he uses disrespectful language, we
prompt him to express his thought it a different way or make the choice to stay quiet. In this
class, Demintrius rarely has a problem with speaking without raising his hand or using
disrespectful language.
I think the data shows that the plan is mildly successful, but needs improvement. There
are limitations that will be discussed further in the reflection section. One big problem is lack of
teacher training and compliance with the behavior supports outlined in the plan. This is a much
broader problem to solve, especially as an intern. Since every teacher has a different teaching and
management style, it was hard to get everyone on the same page and complying with the

supports in this plan. All of Demintrius's teachers were given the first four sections of this paper,
excluding the literature reviews. The teachers complied with the point sheets, but did not seem to
comply with the other behavioral supports such as using verbal cues, planned ignoring, and
structured break time.

Section 9: Reflection
Creating and implementing this positive behavior support plan has been a great learning
experience and I am happy to see that there was some improvement. One of the biggest
challenges was having a plan that is implemented throughout all his classes. As an intern
especially, I felt that I wasnt able to communicate with his other teachers as much as I wanted
to. This type of setting requires a lot of communication between teachers and staff in order to be
successful. It is also hard to implement consistent, successful strategies when every teacher has
their own management style. If I were to do this again, I would have the teachers trained in ways
to deal with Demintriuss specific behaviors. For instance, providing him attention for his
attention-seeking behaviors only reinforces the behavior. Also, reacting to his disrespectful
comments in a way that shows you are hurt, angry or offended only makes him want to do it
more. If the teachers were trained in specific, consistent reactions to Demintriuss behaviors, I
think that the data would show more consistent change throughout all of his classes.
Another big problem I encountered was finding a way for Demintrius to check in at the
end of the day. I originally wanted Demintrius to be rewarded by coming to Dr. Waltons room
for a few minutes at the end of the day if he had earned enough points. But I didnt want his Mod
10 teacher to have to be responsible for his end of day check-out. I wanted to create a plan that
was easy for his other teachers to implement and didnt put much extra responsibility on them.

The problem was that Demintrius could not be responsible for adding up his own points because
he is not trustworthy. Additionally, Demintrius has some anxiety about getting to his bus on time
at the end of the day, so having him stop into Dr. Waltons room during bus loading might not
have been desirable to him.
The problem with Demintrius not checking in at the end of the day was two-fold. First, I
think it would have been better for him to receive that immediate feedback about his day rather
than wait until the next morning. Secondly, if Demintrius had checked in at the end of the day, I
could add up his points and make a copy of his sheet for my records. He was not reliable about
bringing the sheets back the next day and a some data was lost due to this.
Another problem with this plan was that the tracks given to Demintrius for the points he
earned were not a strong reinforcer. I tried talking to Demintrius about what reward he would
prefer for his good behavior and he said he didnt know and he didnt care. Even after weeks of
observations of the type of items or activities that could be used as a reinforcer, I couldnt find
anything that Demintrius would actually want to work for. So, I settled on giving the tracks
because that is the school-wide system. It would be a chance for him to earn even more tracks
than he would potentially get in a given day.
After about one week of implementation, Demintrius stopped bringing back his point
sheets in the morning, so I couldnt add up his points and reward him with tracks. He did not
seem fazed by this in anyway, and the encouragement to bring in his sheets so he could earn
tracks did not motivate him. It was also about one week after implementation that Demintriuss
behaviors started to decline. Going to Dr. Waltons room in the morning was not a good
reinforcer because it was nothing new to him; he frequently showed up to her room throughout
the day without permission before this plan was implemented. Plus, it was becoming a reward at

the beginning of the day, before beginning his point sheet, rather than a reward at the end for his
good behavior. Finding the right reinforcers and motivation for Demintrius could have made this
plan much more successful.
Overall, I think the plan is going well, but there is definite room for improvement. After
the initial implementation, I made some changes to Demintriuss point sheet to reflect changes.
First, I omitted lunch from the point sheet because he never got it filled out and the problem of
him leaving the cafeteria during lunch had stopped. Additionally, to Raises hand to speak, I
added Stays quiet during instruction to address the fact that even if Demintrius is not asking a
question of the teacher, he still talks to other classmates when he shouldnt be talking. Finally, I
changed begins work within three minutes of being prompted to follows instructions when
prompted so that this category includes instructions regarding behavior, not just academic work.
My next challenge as I continue to implement this plan is to find something that
motivates Demintrius to use as a reward for his good behavior. He seems to be motivated by the
immediate feedback and responsibility of the point sheets, but he needs some sort of reward that
he can work toward in order to be more successful.
I look forward to continuing to monitor Demintrius's progress during the rest of my time
at this internship. The initial implementation of this plan has been a valuable learning experience,
and I am motivated to keep it going and find solutions to the problems in the plan.