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Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 1
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student
Kelly Flynn
Dallastown Area High School
Statement of Academic Integrity: I have read and agree to follow the plagiarism policy as outlined in the University of New England’s “Student Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct” statement regarding Academic Honesty and Integrity. By attaching this statement to my Action Research Project, I acknowledge that the work is my own created for the specific requirements of the MSEd program. I also certify that I understand that if I do not adhere to these policies, consequences such as expulsion from the program could occur.
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 2
Table of Contents
ABSTRACT 3
INTRODUCTION 4
Rationale for the Study
Statement of the Problem
Primary Research Questions
Hypothesis
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 6
METHODOLOGY 12
Research Design
Data Collection Plan
Sample Selection
Instruments
RESULTS 14
Presentation of Data
Discussion of Findings
Limitations of the Study
Summary
Further Research
ACTION PLAN 27
CONCLUSIONS 28
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 3
Table of Contents (cont.)
REFERENCES 30
APPENDIX A 33
APPENDIX B 34
APPENDIX C 35
APPENDIX D 36
Abstract
Incorporating a behavior plan in a high school setting is always a challenging endeavor.
This paper tracks a goal-driven “signature sheet” that one student carried from class to class. At
the end of each class the teacher signed off on the sheet if the student reached the goal, or refused
to sign the sheet if the goal was not met. Data was collected through teacher surveys, weekly
grades, student behavior log, student interviews, and data derived from the signature sheets
themselves. An interesting aspect of the study was that there were no incentives attached to the
signature collection process. The hypothesis was that by incorporating a checklist, the student’s
behavior and time on task will improve, because the student will have sufficient reminders about
their goals . The results were mixed, but the signature sheet did serve as a method to get
feedback from teachers and to monitor progress.
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 4
Introduction
Rationale for the Study
A learning support student with a behavior plan at Dallastown Area High School was not
an active member in the implementation and process of the behavior plan. The plan was
developed and implemented by an Individual Education Program (IEP) team, which
consisted of teachers, counselors, administrators, and parents. The student was then
informed of the plan by being told that goals were developed to change their behavior, and
that they would be monitored, measured, and graphed on a weekly basis. The problem was
that at that point, the student was not necessarily actively involved in the plan. When and to
what extent the student gets feedback was at the learning support teacher’s discretion.
When it comes to changing behavior, the student not only has to want to change, but also
needs constant refocusing. Students often get swept up in the moment and lose focus on
agreed upon behavior goals. There was no system in place where the students with behavior
plans were given the necessary reminders of that plan. In other words, the student was often
disconnected from the process, and was not an active participant.
Some critical factors were the lack of reminders for the student that an agreed-upon
behavior plan existed, the lack of feedback given to students pertaining to the goals of their
plan, and the transition to new goals once the behavior plan has proved successful.
Something needed to be put in place systematically to address these issues.
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 5
Statement of the Problem
The student was having problems academically and behaviorally, so the learning support
teacher initiated a formal observation by a qualified staff member. During the observation,
the student was observed to be on task 60% of the time, while the other 40% he either had his
head down, doodled, socialized with others, or stared into space. The student recently had a
behavior plan added to his Individual Education Plan (IEP) in the form of a Positive
Behavior Support Plan (PBSP). In the plan, two critical aspects of behavior were identified:
argumentative behavior and refusal to complete tasks. The problem was that once the
behavior plan was put in place, the student did not have sufficient reminders of his goals.
Research Questions
1. What is the effect of a tangible, student-controlled, checklist on behavior and work
completion?
2. How does increasing student involvement in the process improve the student’s
outlook on the process?
Data was first collected by e-mail in the form of questions to teachers. The questions
would measure the student’s occurrences of argumentative behavior and percentage of on-task
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 6
behavior. After four weeks of data collection, a checklist was incorporated into the study that
had teachers measure the same data – occurrences of argumentative behavior and percentage of
on-task behavior. This checklist was carried by the student and signed by each teacher at the
conclusion of class.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis was that by incorporating a checklist, the student’s behavior and time on
task would improve. This would occur because the student was reminded of his goals, would feel he is
part of the process, and would achieve a sense of accomplishment.
Review of the Literature
Goals and Reinforcers
A study by Wheatly (2009) called Improving Behavior Through Differential Reinforcement: a
Praise Note System for Elementary School Students demonstrated the effectiveness of a simple
behavior management system, and set the framework for the application of similar systems. The
study focused on increasing appropriate behaviors in an elementary school lunchroom, and the
interventions consisted of 1) teaching specific appropriate behaviors 2) providing opportunities
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 7
for students to practice skills, and 3) implementing a Praise Note system to reward students for
behaving appropriately. Students were taught appropriate behaviors, and the school staff was
trained to recognize and reward students who kept the lunchroom clean, sat appropriately in their
seats, and walked in the lunchroom. Data showed significant decreases for each of three target
behaviors.
Even though this study focused on an elementary school lunchroom, there are concepts
applicable to the research project. The idea of a “token reinforcer” such as a Praise Note
system is a significant part of the modification in the student’s behavior program. Token
reinforcers are “symbolic representations exchangeable for some reinforce of value to students.”
(556)
The study by Fabiano (2007) was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and
the Department of Education. It studied 48 students age 5-12 diagnosed with ADHD in a
summer school setting. It studied the effects of three levels of behavior modifications – no
modifications, low modifications and high modifications. The article defined all three levels of
modification, where no modifications included only negative feedback for negative behavior,
low modifications included verbal praise, weekly rewards, and a daily report card, and high
modifications included daily feedback and daily rewards. The article showed that behavior
improved in every category (number of detentions, number of redirections, teacher stress level,
etc.) the higher the modifications, even for a placebo group.
The article stressed daily report cards, which were reviewed with parents to “provide
daily and weekly home based rewards contingent on positive performance.” (200) Also,
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 8
“Programs typically targeted academic seatwork completion, rule-following behavior, or both.”
(201) This research project focused on daily reinforcement, and targeted both work completion
and rule following as the two most important pieces of data collected.
Effective Behavior Support
A study by Lewis and Sugai (1999) introduced Effective Behavioral Support (EBS), which is a
“systems approach for addressing the full continuum of behavioral challenges found in schools.”
(9) The article focused on a team approach to addressing student behavior, administrator and
teacher supports, assessments of disciplinary practices, data-based decision making, and action
planning. This study was comprehensive and revolved around the functional behavior
assessment and other school-wide behavior plans. Of particular interest in this study was the
emphasis on monitoring and data collection: “When behavior support plans are implemented, a
strategy for monitoring the impact of the plan likewise must be implemented. The monitoring
strategy should involve collecting and analyzing regular, direct measures of the intervention on
the behaviors of concern.” (9) The point of the action research is to see how a concrete,
physical, checklist-based system will affect the student’s behavior.
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 9
Positive Strategies
The text Positive Strategies for Students with Behavior Problems (2008) provided a step-
by-step process and strategies for implementing a student behavior plan from start to finish. The
text provided tips for data collection, team building, developing a hypothesis, and mentoring. It
also provided an appendix with 26 pages of worksheets that included style assessments, data
charts, and behavioral checklists. The book did a good job of staying current, as it addressed
prevalent problems all too common in classrooms today: “For a teen with inadequate
supervision, limited perseverance, and few positive role models, adolescence brings great
temptation. The teenager might affiliate with marginal or deviant peers and respond to those
social models.” (30)
This action research project focused on a special education student, and the text did a
good job of explaining the steps involved in formulating special education paperwork, such as
the Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and Support Plan (PBSP in many schools, PBS in
the text). The text gave tips and strategies for data collection, particularly when it came to
monitoring replacement behaviors.
Functional Behavior Assessments
A study by McIntosh (2007) focused on functional behavior assessments (FBAs). Recent
research has demonstrated its effectiveness in general education settings, and current research is
providing insight into procedures that can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of functional
behavior assessments and function-based support in typical school settings. In this article the
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 10
authors provide six guidelines for effective functional behavior assessments and support in
school settings.
When the research in this study began, an FBA and PBSP (positive behavior support
plan) had already been developed for the student. This article questioned whether a checklist
type system will work with an older, more aware student like the student in this study: “Critics
argue that simple contingency based interventions (rewarding desired behavior and punishing
problem behavior) are unlikely to be effective with sophisticated students who engage in
complex problem behavior.” (39) A major concern was that the student in this study is a more
sophisticated student who may look at the intended modifications to his behavior plan as
“gimmicky” or a method to control him.
Self Monitoring
Jennifer B. Ganz (2008) presented research on self-monitoring as it has to do with
positive behavioral support for children with disabilities. Included are steps, examples, and
recommendations when it comes to self-monitoring. In particular was the emphasis that rewards
and reinforcement are especially effective: “Students with disabilities often willingly engage in
the strategy of self-monitoring because they recognize the value of participating and earning
concrete reinforcement.” (39)
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 11
Of particular interest were the methods of implementation, especially when it came to the
use of concrete materials such as self-monitoring cards, checklists used to self-monitor, and the
observations that “higher functioning and older students can use paper-based systems.” (43) The
student in this study was an older student with a disability (ADHD), and was high functioning.
Another interesting aspect of the research was that just the act of self-monitoring can lead to
improvement: “..participants often improved targeted behaviors even when they did not
accurately self-monitor or record the frequency of those behaviors.” (39)
Conclusion
The book by Janney (2008) also describes how to implement a behavioral support plan
from start to finish. It provided plans and strategies for implementing school-wide plans as well
as individual plans. It stressed non punishment-based interventions because “punishment-based
interventions clearly show their limited effectiveness on generalization and maintenance of
behavior improvements.” (4)
The text incorporated a design where the student was involved with the process. It
stressed talking with the student about what they feel are the antecedents to the problem
behavior, as well as “their goals, interests, and feelings.” (120)
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 12
Methodology
Research Design
The research design included collecting data under the prevailing system, which is to e-
mail the student’s teachers weekly and ask for feedback regarding the student’s goals, and then
transition to the signature sheet system, where the student has his goals signed off by teachers
daily. The data was then turned in to the learning support teacher on a weekly basis. In addition
to the signature sheet data, the learning support teacher got feedback from the teachers through
an internet survey website and feedback from the student through an interview process. The
student’s grades and behavior log was submitted in real time by teachers and administrators on a
database that could be accessed by the learning support teacher.
Data Collection Plan
Data was collected via weekly e-mails for four weeks from January 17 through February
11. The transition to a signature sheet was made for the four weeks of February 14 through
March 11. Throughout the process, the learning support teacher was able to directly observe the
student daily during the student’s Algebra 2 class. During this time, the learning support teacher
took the role of Active Participant Observer. According to Mills, this means the teacher of the
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 13
class, was able to qualitatively assess student progress, but didn’t necessarily “have time to
record observations in a systematic way.” (75)
After the e-mail and signature sheet data was collected, the teachers received surveys in
an attempt to get feedback concerning the signature sheet process. The surveys were sent by e-
mail to all the student’s teachers as well as any paraprofessionals that dealt with the student. The
online tool www.surveymonkey.com was used. At the same time, a student interview was
conducted to see how the student felt about the process.
There were several people involved in this project besides the learning support teacher,
the student, the student’s teachers and counselors. One collaborator was the head of the
Learning Support department. She has several years of experience implementing behavior plans,
and had a student on a behavior plan as well. A fellow Learning Support teacher had technical
expertise and many ideas of how to present the data. He was also able to validate the data.
Another collaborator was the assistant Principal, who had experience with field projects and
action research. He was the administrator who approved the action research and offered advice
and support.
Sample Selection
The subject in this research project is one 10th grade learning support student. What made
this student unique is that he had a history of behavior problems, most of which involved class
misconduct, violation of school rules, and cutting assigned detentions. The most severe
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 14
infraction involved threatening a teacher, which led to an out of school suspension and the
behavior plan that generated this research.
Instruments
Data was collected via weekly e-mails for four weeks using the format found in
Appendix A. The transition to a signature sheet (Appendix B) was created for the four weeks
following. Teachers and paraprofessionals who dealt with the student received surveys
(Appendix C) through www.surveymonkey.com to get feedback about the signature sheet
process. A survey results page is shown in APPENDIX D. A question and answer interview
was conducted by the learning support teacher with the student to get student feedback.
Results
Presentation of the Data
GRAPH 1 below shows the average number of times per week the student was NOT on
task at least 80% of the time, the average number of times the student was argumentative, and
the average number of times the student had to be redirected for the four weeks data was
collected via e-mail and the four weeks data was collected through the signature sheet.
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 15
GRAPH 1
Week of 1/17
Week of 1/24
Week of 1/31
Week of 2/7
transition to signature sheet
Week of 2/14
Week of 2/21
Week of 2/28
Week of 3/7
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
Avg Number of times NOT on task at least 80% of the timeAvg Number of times Argumen-tativeAvg Number of times redirected
Teacher surveys were sent out after the above data was collected to get teacher feedback
as what they saw regarding the transition from weekly e-mails to the daily signature sheet. The
results for each question are shown below (GRAPH 2 to GRAPH 5).
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 16
GRAPH 2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Yes, but in a negativeway
No change Slight change for thepositive
Significant change forthe positive
I initiated a signature sheet for the student on 02/14/2011. Since that time, to the best of ourknowledge, have you seen a change in the student's incidences of ARGUMENTATIVE
BEHAVIOR?
Response
Num
ber o
f res
pond
ents
Series1
GRAPH 3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Yes, but in a negativeway
No change Slight change for thepositive
Significant change forthe positive
I initiated a signature sheet for the student on 02/14/2011. Since that time, have you seen achange in the student's ON-TASK BEHAVIOR?
Response
# of
Res
pond
ents
Series1
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 17
GRAPH 4
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
Yes, but in a negativeway
No change Slight change for thepositive
Significant change forthe positive
I initiated a signature sheet for the student on 02/14/2011. Since that time, have you seen achange in the student's OVERALL BEHAVIOR?
Response
# of
Res
pond
ents
Series1
GRAPH 5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Yes, I've noticed animprovement
No. change.
Have you seen any change since February in the student'sCLASS PARTICIPATION?
Responses
# of
Res
pons
es
Series1
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 18
Grades were posted into a database weekly by teachers and are were accessible by school
staff and parents. The following graphs are broken down by subject, showing grades after a
behavior plan was put in place and grades after the signature sheet was implemented.
GRAPH 6
17-Sep24-Se
p1-O
ct7-O
ct
15-Oct
22-Oct
29-Oct
19-Nov3-D
ec
10-Dec
17-Dec
start o
f Beh
avior P
lan24-Dec
7-Jan14-Ja
n11-Fe
b
start o
f Sign
ature
Sheet
16-Feb25-Fe
b4-M
ar0
1020304050607080
Intro to Business
Grad
e
Date
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 19
GRAPH 7
17-Sep24-Se
p1-O
ct7-O
ct
15-Oct
22-Oct
29-Oct
19-Nov3-D
ec
10-Dec
17-Dec
start o
f Beh
avior P
lan24-Dec
7-Jan14-Ja
n11-Fe
b
start o
f Sign
ature
Sheet
16-Feb25-Fe
b4-M
ar0
10203040506070
Comp, App
Grad
es
Date
GRAPH 8
17-Sep24-Se
p1-O
ct7-O
ct
15-Oct
22-Oct
29-Oct
19-Nov3-D
ec
10-Dec
17-Dec
start o
f Beh
avior P
lan24-Dec
7-Jan14-Ja
n11-Fe
b
start o
f Sign
ature
Sheet
16-Feb25-Fe
b4-M
ar0
102030405060708090
100
English
Grad
es
Date
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 20
GRAPH 9
17-Sep24-Se
p1-O
ct7-O
ct
15-Oct
22-Oct
29-Oct
19-Nov3-D
ec
10-Dec
17-Dec
start o
f Beh
avior P
lan24-Dec
7-Jan14-Ja
n11-Fe
b
start o
f Sign
ature
Sheet
16-Feb25-Fe
b4-M
ar0
1020304050607080
Biology
Grad
e
Date
GRAPH 10
17-Sep24-Se
p1-O
ct7-O
ct
15-Oct
22-Oct
29-Oct
19-Nov3-D
ec
10-Dec
17-Dec
start o
f Beh
avior P
lan24-Dec
7-Jan14-Ja
n11-Fe
b
start o
f Sign
ature
Sheet
16-Feb25-Fe
b4-M
ar0
102030405060708090
100
Algebra
Grad
e
Date
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 21
GRAPH 11
17-Sep24-Se
p1-O
ct7-O
ct
15-Oct
22-Oct
29-Oct
19-Nov3-D
ec
10-Dec
17-Dec
start o
f Beh
avior P
lan24-Dec
7-Jan14-Ja
n11-Fe
b
start o
f Sign
ature
Sheet
16-Feb25-Fe
b4-M
ar0
102030405060708090
100
Math strategies
Grad
e
Date
GRAPH 12
17-Sep24-Se
p1-O
ct7-O
ct
15-Oct
22-Oct
29-Oct
19-Nov3-D
ec
10-Dec
17-Dec
start o
f Beh
avior P
lan24-Dec
7-Jan14-Ja
n11-Fe
b
start o
f Sign
ature
Sheet
16-Feb25-Fe
b4-M
ar0
20
40
60
80
100
120
PSSA Reading & Writing
Grad
e
Date
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 22
GRAPH 13
17-Sep24-Se
p1-O
ct7-O
ct
15-Oct
22-Oct
29-Oct
19-Nov3-D
ec
10-Dec
17-Dec
start o
f Beh
avior P
lan24-Dec
7-Jan14-Ja
n11-Fe
b
start o
f Sign
ature
Shee
t
16-Feb25-Fe
b4-M
ar0
102030405060708090
World Cultures
Grad
e
Date
The learning support teacher was able to get a behavior log for the student from the Dean
of students. The behavior log went all the way back through middle school. For the sake of this
study, only infractions made this year are presented below (CHART 1). There is a split in the
graph after January 11th to show when the e-mail data from the teachers began. There is also a
break after January 28th to show infractions after the signature sheet was put in place.
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 23
CHART 1
Date detention Incident
9/16/2010 detention violation of school rules
11/1/2010 detention class misconduct
11/1/2011 detention class misconduct
11/3/2010 ISS class misconduct
11/4/2010 detention profanity
12/3/2010 detention violation of school rules
12/8/2010 ISS class misconduct
12/17/2010 OSS threatening
1/5/2011 detention class misconduct
1/11/2011 detention cut detention
Behavior Plan implemented.
1/25/2011 detention tardy
1/26/2011 detention cut detention
1/28/2011 ISS cut detention
Signature Sheet implemented.
2/16/2011 detention missed homework/classwork
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 24
Discussion of Findings
The learning support teacher interviewed the student in a question and answer format.
The student’s responses were inconclusive and contradictory. When asked if the signature sheet
had a positive effect on work completion, the student responded no, but then acknowledged that
the signature sheet served as a reminder of his behavior goals and made him feel more involved
in the process of achieving his goals.
How much the signature sheet leads to the student actually reaching stated goals is
unclear. The surveys given to the teachers who dealt with the student on a day to day basis either
responded that they saw a slight change in time on task, or no change. When it came to overall
behavior, the respondent’s answers were equally distributed among the categories of a significant
positive change, a slight positive change, and no change. Some grades improved after the
signature sheet was put in place, while some grades went down.
The bright side of the data is that after the behavior plan and signature sheet procedure
was implemented, the student’s major disciplinary referrals went way down. More importantly,
the nature of the disciplinary referrals changed from major offenses such as class misconduct,
threatening, and language to more minor offenses such as tardiness and missing homework.
Although none of the goals on the behavior plan were reached, there was improvement towards
these goals over time.
An unforeseen result of the research was a change of placement for the student. The student had
wanted an alternative placement in an after school program called Twilight since the
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 25
beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. When the learning support teacher looked into a
change of placement for the student, the school administrator in charge of such placements
denied the request, stating that the program was not for students with disciplinary problems. His
reasoning was that students with discipline problems did not fare well in the Twilight program.
This administrator happened to be the same administrator who acted as mentor in this
research study. At the conclusion of the study, the administrator opened up the possibility of a
change of placement for the student, telling the learning support teacher that he would withdraw
the student and enroll him in Twilight if the learning support teacher thought it was in the best
interest of the student. The student was in fact transferred to the Twilight program.
Limitations of study
The research focused on one student, which provided simplicity, but limited the study in
several ways. It is difficult to make predictions based on the variability (or lack of variability) of
such a small sample size, especially when it is a teenager in a school setting. Who knows what a
teenager will do at any point in time? With a larger sample size, the learning support teacher
could have validated the data and perhaps come to more reliable conclusions. The study also
lacked a control, which could have been provided by keeping the control student on the e-mail
version of the behavior plan throughout the whole study.
There were other limitations to having only one student involved in this research. The
learning support teacher was not able to get desired parental support, as the parent did not return
several phone calls and did not attend the meeting when the behavior plan was created. The
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 26
student was occasionally absent and sometimes either forgot the signature sheet at home or
forgot to get it signed at the conclusion of class.
Summary
There was no real down side to signature sheet as a modified instrument to track
behavior. Although half the teachers responded there was no change, none indicated a negative
change, and some indicated a positive change. Overall, the signature sheet benefitted the student
and the special education teacher, and the end result was an alternative placement for the student.
The signature sheet dramatically decreased the incidence of what would be considered major
behavioral infractions by the student, and it led to behavior changes by the teachers and
administrators, as there was an increased level of communication and teamwork.
Further Research
To continue this research, the study would have to be conducted with more students,
perhaps over a longer period of time. Initial results show that this signature sheet approach has
promise and is worth pursuing.
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 27
Action Plan
Action Plan in Process
One solution is to incorporate a signature sheet in all behavior plans. The author of this study
has already decided to do this for several reasons. One is that there is a need to collect more
data. The study was limited to one student, and more research needs to be done. Another reason
is that the signature sheet puts responsibility in the hands of the student, as the student is
responsible for getting teacher feedback. This gives the student several daily opportunities to get
teacher feedback, many times positive feedback, and lessens the burden on data collection solely
on the special education teacher. The signature sheets also help regular education teachers, as
they too are reminded that there is a behavior plan in place. The signature sheet has also led to a
greater amount of interaction between the special education teacher and the regular education
teachers.
Future Action Plan
The action plan is to present the results of the action plan to the special education department
at the school. The Special Education department at the high school meets periodically to discuss
issues, and there is always time set aside during school inservice for department meetings. The
learning support teacher will make a Powerpoint presentation showing the process, results of the
research, and the advantages to incorporating a signature sheet to behavior plans.
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 28
There are some things the learning support teacher could do immediately to get this done.
One would be to talk with the head of the Special Education department so that time is set aside
for the presentation. Since this study is ongoing until the student officially transfers to
alternative education, this will be at an inservice towards the end of the school year. Another
step would be to get the student to write up a letter in support of the signature sheet. This could
be added to the presentation. One final step would be to get administrative support, which
should not be difficult, as one vice-Principal served as mentor to this project. The learning
support teacher plans to pass by the idea of presenting the findings to the department in an effort
to get feedback and garnish additional support.
Conclusion
The signature sheet was an instrument that improved communication between teacher and
student, learning support teacher and regular education teacher, and learning support teacher and
administration. For the student, the signature sheet made the data tangible, and it was a daily
reminder that there was a plan in place. It also provided a chance for teachers to give the student
feedback at the end of class, much of which was positive feedback. Once the signature sheet was
in place, the student’s behavior generally improved, but his time on task and resulting grades
were mixed.
The signature sheet made the learning support teacher’s job a lot easier. By making the
student partially responsible for collecting the data, the special education teacher did not have to
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 29
send out weekly mass e-mails to teachers and then sort the responses. The data was collected
daily by the student on one signature sheet document. The data could be analyzed much easier at
the end of each week. The learning support teacher also found that teachers were seeking him
out to give feedback. This was a welcome and positive change.
Perhaps the most dramatic result of the research was the increase in communication
between special educator and administration. By seeking out the help of an administrator in
regard to the research, the special education teacher gained an ally in regard to the behavior plan.
This led to an alternative placement for the student.
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 30
References
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Group contingencies,randomization of reinforcers, and criteria for reinforcement, self-
monitoring, and peer feedback on reducing inappropriate classroom behavior.
School Psychology Quarterly, v22 n4 p540-556.
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Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 33
APPENDIX A E-MAILED FEEDBACK FORM TO TEACHERS
Weekly Behavior Plan for _____________.
Directions: Please complete the following chart by typing “YES” or “NO” in the following boxes.
Please put the NUMBER OF TIMES __________ was redirected, and definitely note if he was argumentative.
Please send this email back to me by Friday, February 4th at Noon.
This chart is a record of behavior from Friday—Thursday.
Goal
_______will complete tasks and comply with teacher requests 80% of the time on a daily basis.
Comments:
Goal
__________ will not display argumentative behavior.
Comments:
*Please include the number of times ________ needed to be redirected, even if it was as minor as “_______, stop talking”, or “Please get to work”.
Comments:
If you have any questions or concerns please email the support teacher.
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 34
Appendix B Weekly Signature Sheet
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 35
APPENDIX C Survey Monkey Questionnaire
Improving a Behavior Plan for a High School Special Education Student 36
APPENDIX D Survey Monkey Results Page
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