Date of Award

Spring 5-2015

Degree Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Daniel Tingstrom

Committee Chair Department

Psychology

Committee Member 2

Keith Radley

Committee Member 2 Department

Psychology

Committee Member 3

Brad Dufrene

Committee Member 3 Department

Psychology

Abstract

Disruptive behavior in the classroom setting negatively impacts the learning process in various ways, interfering with the educational process of individual students, the teacher, and/or the class as a whole. Class-wide levels of disruptive behaviors worsen these impacts and are often related to problems with a teacher’s classroom management techniques and abilities. Group contingency interventions, such as the Good Behavior Game (GBG), are often used to provide teachers with evidence based management strategies while improving student behavior in the class. Furthermore, group contingency interventions, such as the GBG, can be conceptualized as Tier I or Tier II interventions within a School Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports system. The present study evaluated the effects of a streamlined, no-teams version of the GBG in general education high school classrooms. While the GBG has been assessed in a variety of settings, it has limited empirical evidence for use with secondary level students, indicating a significant need for such an evaluation. The effects of the intervention were determined with an A/B/A/B single case withdrawal design in three classrooms (9th, 10th and 11th grade). The results of the study indicate that the no-team version of the GBG was effective at reducing levels of disruptive behavior and increasing levels of academic engagement in each classroom. Furthermore, the intervention procedures were found to be acceptable to each of the teachers, indicating that the streamlined version of the GBG is an efficient and effective strategy for improving student behavior.

Doctoral Dissertation: http://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1046/

ORCID ID

orcid.org/0000-0001-9179-3138

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