Reinforcement in the classroom improves student

motivation and performance

By Laura C. Peters, M.A.
Have you ever reached a point in the school year when you feel your students could use a little extra push to keep
them on track Are you findin! that productivity is la!!in! in your classroom Are students less en!a!ed than they
were at the "e!innin! of the school year
#n addition to !ood instruction, reinforcement strate!ies $ such as stickers or small pri%es, social or sensory activities
and special privile!es $ en!a!e students in lessons, motivate learnin! and encoura!e success with tasks.
Are you seein! some challen!in! "ehaviors emer!e in your classroom #f you answered yes to any of these &uestions,
it may "e time to think a"out usin! some additional reinforcement strate!ies in your classroom.
'f course, the "est "ehavior mana!ement is !ood instruction. (ood instruction, and a !ood instructional fit, are
reinforcin! in and of themselves. )tudents who are en!a!ed in the lesson are motivated to learn and they feel !ood
a"out their involvement and success with the tasks. Additionally, students who are en!a!ed in the lesson are not
focusin! their ener!y on mis"ehavin!. )ometimes, however, !ood instruction does not prevent all "ehaviors of
concern. Buildin! in reinforcement strate!ies to address specific "ehaviors or to motivate students can "e a simple and
effective way to re*ener!i%e your class +,ewcomer, -../0 )imonsen, 1air"anks, Briesch, Myers, 2 )u!ai, -..34.
What is reinforcement?
A simple definition of reinforcement is somethin! that happens after a "ehavior that makes the "ehavior more likely to
occur a!ain. 5einforcers can take many forms, includin! tan!i"le items such as stickers or small pri%es, and intan!i"le
motivators, such as social activities, sensory activities or special privile!es. 6very class is different, and several types
of reinforcers may "e used to motivate different students.
Before "e!innin! any reinforcement system, it is a !ood idea to survey students to find out what they find motivatin!.
7hink carefully a"out what types of thin!s you will "e a"le to offer as reinforcement and list those items or activities on
a survey for your students, "ut allow room for su!!estions0 they may come up with !reat ideas too. 8ou can find a list of
no*cost reinforcers on the 9C: Positive Behavior )upports Blo! entry, ;(ettin! )tarted with Classroom
Acknowled!ement.<
How do I get started?
'nce you know what you will use to reinforce your students, you can "e!in to plan for how you will use these
motivators. 7hink a"out what "ehaviors you are tryin! to chan!e. ,aturally, you will have some students who are
already consistently performin! any desired "ehavior0 you do not need to wait until the entire class needs to chan!e a
"ehavior "efore usin! a reinforcer. #t is hi!hly unlikely that you will ever find a sin!le "ehavior that needs to "e chan!ed
for all of your students. =ependin! on your students and the "ehaviors of concern, you may want to start "y workin! on
an uncomplicated "ehavior, such as turnin! in assi!nments, so that you and the students experience success, or you
may choose the "ehavior that is causin! the most disruption or challen!e.
'nce you have tar!eted a "ehavior, you must clearly define for the class what the desired "ehavior is. #t is not enou!h
to tell students what they should not do. 8ou must clearly descri"e, in o"serva"le terms, a desired "ehavior that is
incompati"le with the challen!in! "ehavior. 1or example, if you are tar!etin! ;tardy< as the challen!in! "ehavior, the
incompati"le "ehavior would "e to arrive to class on time. #f your challen!in! "ehavior is somethin! less easily defined,
such as ar!uin!, your desired "ehavior may take more finesse to define. 1or example, what do you want students to do
that would "e incompati"le with ar!uin! Are they to speak only a"out the assi!ned topic, ask permission "efore
speakin! to peers or ask for help if they feel an!ry with a peer 7hink carefully a"out how to define the "ehavior so that
students are fully aware of what they are supposed to do. #n this way, anyone in your classroom can easily determine if
students are performin! the desired "ehavior. 7his may "e your most challen!in! step of the process +Cihak 2 (ama,
-..30 )mith, -../4.
'nce you have defined the desired "ehavior, you need to teach students what is expected of them and clearly post the
expectations. 5efer often to the expectations and prompt students "efore activities when challen!in! "ehavior is likely
to occur. After you have tau!ht students how to perform the desired "ehavior, you must acknowled!e them when they
actually do what you want them to do. #f your students arrive to class on time, praise them for doin! so. #f ar!uin! was
the pro"lem "ehavior, praise students each time they choose the incompati"le "ehavior of askin! for help when they
feel an!ry with a peer.
1or more information a"out effectively usin! praise statements, an excellent resource is the #ris Center from 9ander"ilt
:niversity. 7he online module on 6ncoura!in! Appropriate Behavior contains an excellent section on effectively
usin! praise on pa!es >*/.
7his example of one teacher?s expectations clearly posted in the room shows "road expectations that are defined in
"ehavioral terms, makin! them o"serva"le.
How should I use the motivators in my classroom?
,ow you?re ready to include your chosen motivator as an added incentive for students to perform, or continue
performin!, the desired "ehavior. @hatever system of reinforcement you choose, "e sure to pair the motivator with
praise. 7here are many ways to incorporate reinforcement into your classroom and three examples will "e discussed
here $ contracts, Mystery Motivators and a token economy.
Class contracts
Perhaps the most strai!htforward system for introducin! reinforcement into your classroom is a class contract. A
contract is a written statement of what is expected of the students and what is expected of the teacher. 'f course, there
is more to makin! a class contract successful than a simple statement of expectations. 8ou may want to include the
students in draftin! the contract and even have everyone si!n the contract itself.
A contract should "e a "indin! a!reement0 therefore, you should think carefully a"out how to phrase the expectations.
Consider also how to set up the contract so that students are likely to earn the reinforcer at the end of the contract. 1or
example, if your "ehavior of concern is students arrivin! late to class, you may write a contract statin! that if all
students arrive to class on time three days in a week, the students may listen to music in class on 1riday. Another way
to phrase the class expectation would "e to state that a reinforcer may "e earned when a certain percenta!e of the
students arrive on time. 7hink a"out how challen!in! the "ehavior of concern is and tailor your expectations
accordin!ly.
5emem"er that if students do their part, you must do your part. Make sure you set up a reinforcer that you are a"le to
provide in the stated timeframe. #f your motivator was to !ive students a snack when they met certain criteria, make
sure you have it availa"le when they earn the contract. 7he contract will lose its power with students if you do not honor
your commitment.
Another concern with class contracts is that you may have a student who chooses to sa"ota!e the class, or who is
una"le to meet the expectations in the contract. #f you think this may "e a concern, you may set different expectations
for that student, or provide an individuali%ed incentive.
Mystery Motivators
Mystery Motivators are a type of varia"le reinforcement +5hode, Aenson, 2 5eavis, B//-4. 7he "asic idea is that
students have an opportunity to reveal a hidden space on a chart when they exhi"it the desired "ehavior. 7he hidden
space may or may not indicate that the class has earned a predetermined type of reinforcement. #ntervention
Centralprovides a detailed description of how to put to!ether a Mystery Motivator.
@hen settin! up your chart, think a"out how often you want to allow students to uncover s&uares and how many
marked s&uares you want to include in your chart. 1or example, if you are teachin! students a new "ehavior, or tryin!
to reinforce a "ehavior that you have not seen at all in your class, you would pro"a"ly want a hi!h ratio of marked
s&uares to unmarked s&uares so that most of the time students would earn a reinforcer. However, if you are usin! the
Mystery Motivator to keep students on track with a "ehavior you have already tau!ht, you may want to offer fewer
opportunities for reinforcers. 7his is an ideal strate!y to use when you plan to fade the reinforcer &uickly. Mystery
Motivators can also "e used for individual students or altered for smaller !roups of students as needed.
Token economy
A token economy is a system in which students earn some type of a token that can "e exchan!ed later for a specific
reinforcer. #f you choose to use a token economy, you will need to carefully plan the lo!istics of the system. 7oken
economies can "e very complex, "ut a few rules of thum" will help to make the system mana!ea"le.
Always pair tokens with specific praise0 make sure students know why they have earned a token so that you
will increase the likelihood that the desired "ehavior will continue.
)tudents should only earn one token at a time. 7ry to avoid thinkin! of the tokens as currency. 1or example,
avoid settin! up an earnin! schedule $ students earn five tokens for homework, two tokens for havin! materials, etc.
7his will "ecome unnecessarily complicated and it sends a different messa!e than tokens earned when students are
;cau!ht "ein! !ood.<
Plan for re!ular times when students can exchan!e tokens for reinforcers and stick to your schedule. 8ou
should plan to allow students to exchan!e tokens a"out once a week, or more fre&uently for youn!er students or
those who need more immediate reinforcement. 7he tokens will lose their meanin! if students are una"le to use them
for specific motivators.
,ever take away tokens a student has earned. 'nce a student earns somethin!, it "elon!s to him or her. #f a
student earns a token for comin! to class on time and then later does not have his materials, you cannot take his or
her token for the infraction. 7hat would "e like your principal takin! money out of your "ank account if you did not turn
in your lesson plans on time0 you have already earned your money and it is not his or hers to take "ack.
Make sure to !ive out your tokens consistently. 1ind ways to remind yourself to catch all students "ein!
!ood. 7here is a tool on the PB) Blo! that you may find helpful as a reminder.
:sin! reinforcers in the classroom can "e helpful when teachin! your students new "ehaviors, reinforcin! desired
"ehaviors as needed and keepin! your students motivated throu!hout the year. 7he strate!ies discussed in this article
should help you to develop a mana!ea"le system to use in your classroom. By followin! these strate!ies, you should
see improved student "ehavior.
5eferences
Cihak, =.1. 2 (ama, 5.#. +-..34. ,oncontin!ent escape access to self*reinforcement to increase task en!a!ement for students with moderate
to severe disa"ilities. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 43+C4, DDE*DE3.
,ewcomer, L. +-../4. :niversal positive "ehavior support for the classroom. PBIS Newsletter, 4+C4. 5etrieved )eptem"er -C, -../
from httpFGGwww.p"is.or!Gp"isHnewsletterGvolumeHCGissueC.aspx
5hode, (., Aenson, @.5., 2 5eavis, H.I. +B//-4. The tough id boo! Lon!mont, C'F )opris @est, #nc.
)imonsen, B., 1air"anks, )., Briesch, A., Myers, =. 2 )u!ai, (. +-..34. 6vidence*"ased practices in classroom mana!ementF Considerations
for research to practice. Education and Treatment o" #hildren, 3$+J4, JDB*J3..
)mith, A. +-../4. Blendin! effective "ehavior mana!ement and literary strate!ies for preschoolers exhi"itin! ne!ative "ehavior. Earl% #hildhood
Education &ournal, 3'+-4, BC>*BDB.