Evaluation of a whole-class token economy to manage disruptive behavior in preschool classrooms

Abstract

The behavior of children in a preschool classroom was assessed to evaluate the effectiveness of two classroom management approaches: (a) strategies already employed by the teachers, and (b) the Level System. Strategies already employed by the teachers were those that they currently used in their preschool classroom. This phase was considered the baseline or "A" treatment phase. The Level System is a new program that utilizes strategies including a token economy, stimulating rewards, strategic attention, and labeled praise to manage a range of behaviors exhibited by children in the classroom. This was considered the "B" treatment condition. These two approaches were evaluated using an ABAB sequence where each was employed for a minimum of 17 observations with 4 male 4-year-old participants. Behaviors were assessed using unobtrusive classroom coding of activities and teacher report. Four main findings were obtained: (a) the Level System was more effective in managing disruptive behavior than previously-used classroom management strategies, (b) fewer time outs were given while the Level System was used in the class compared to while the typical classroom management strategies were used, (c) teacher report of satisfaction with the Level System varied, but parents reported high levels of satisfaction with the Level System, and (d) negative effects on "intrinsic motivation" with use of the Level System were not evident.

A Review of the Use of Group Contingencies in Preschool Settings

“…Although teachers generally reported the intervention to be acceptable, teachers who reported high acceptability in the one study in which authors attempted to collect maintenance data did not elect to continue the intervention (Filcheck, 2004).…”

Managing classroom behavior of Head Start children using response cost and token economy procedures.

“…In addition, the teacher praised more at follow-up than at baseline. Filcheck (2003) also found this increase in teachers' use of labeled praises. The Level System may have impacted the teacher's skill by encouraging her to attend to and reinforce appropriate classroom behavior.…”

“…Research, however, also has found that teachers rate response cost and token economy procedures as acceptable, but prefer the response cost program (Anhalt, McNeil, & Bahl, 1998;McGoey & DuPaul, 2000;Reynolds & Kelley, 1997). Furthermore, Filcheck (2003) found that teachers reported satisfaction with the Level System, but chose not to implement this program at follow-up. On the other hand, Filcheck, Greco, and McNeil found that the teacher chose to implement the Level System, though she reported low satisfaction with this program.…”

“…Primary caregivers who agreed to participate in the study completed the parent interview once following the final withdrawal phase of the study. The parent interview was adapted from the original parent interview developed by Filcheck (2003). The parent interview contained 18 items that assessed acceptability of various aspects of behavior management strategies (Level System, response cost, time-out, and praise).…”

Examining the Generalization of a Combined Independent and Interdependent Group Contingency for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

“…In their updated meta-analysis, the researchers again did not identify studies examining the setting generalization of intervention effects and noted that more attention should be given to evaluating the generalization of group contingency interventions (Maggin et al, 2017). Similarly, Pokorski et al (2017) identified only three studies that addressed the generalization of intervention effects in their review of group contingencies in preschool settings (Filcheck, 2004; Herman & Tramontana, 1971; Swiezy, Matson, & Box, 1992). Filcheck (1992) found that intervention effects were consistent across different teachers implementing the intervention but did not examine setting generalization.…”