Positive Behavior Support Plan

Towson University
Elizabeth Johnson
4/6/15

Definition of Specific Behavior

Sarah will often leave the classroom or assigned area without
permission from the teacher or staff. While in the classroom, Sarah will
often begin to speak off topic to other peers and/or staff, then will state
something along the lines of Im board, Im leaving followed by her
walking out of the classroom. Sarah will frequently be out of the
classroom during instructional time for about 4-80 minutes a class. She
often takes other students off task before leaving instructional area as
well. Although this behavior is not extremely disruptive or dangerous to
other students, Sarah is missing a crucial amount of instructional time
during each period and is failing all classes.
Literature Review
1.

Broden, M., Hall, R.V., Dunlap, A., & Clark, R. (1970). Effects of

Teacher Attention and a Token Reinforcement System in a Junior High

School Special Education Class. Exceptional Children, 36(5), 341-349.
In this article, the authors discuss two studies that have shown
different reinforcement systems that have been found to increase
positive and appropriate behaviors in a junior high classroom. The first
study observed 13 seventh and eighth grade students that were in a
special education classroom. Researchers observed the classroom for 7
days to gather information to set a baseline of the behaviors. Once the
teacher was shown the baseline, she was asked to give social
reinforcement to studying behaviors for 11 days. After these 11 days, a

timer phase was implemented, where a kitchen timer was randomly

set for 8-minute increments; when the timer went off the students who
were completing work were given a grade of excellent or were able to
leave for lunch early. With these reinforcers, students maintained a
higher study level throughout the remainder of the year. In the second
study, a token reinforcement system was created with a point sheet
due to the higher study levels not being carried over to the other
classes. With the point sheet enforcement, researchers saw and
immediate and dramatic behavioral change. Reversal procedures were
conducted on both studies and shown to increase the behavior again.
In conclusion, the researchers stated that classrooms that have high
behavioral problems could benefit from a point sheet system, however,
this type of system may not be appropriate for many junior high school
students.
2.

King, R.B., & Mclnerney, D.M. (2014). The work avoidance goal

construct: Examining its structure, antecedents, and consequences.

Contemporary Education Psychology, 39(1), 42-58.
This study investigated the structure, antecedents, and
consequences of work avoidance goals. Four studies were conducted in
several different secondary schools in the Philippines. The first study
asked what is the structure of work avoidance goals and are they
distinct from mastery and performance goals? (42). Questionnaires
were distributed to 588 students. Results concluded that the structure

of work avoidance goals are quite different from mastery and

performance goals. The second study asked what are the antecedents
of work avoidance goals? (42). Again, a questionnaire was distributed
to 1,147 high school students. Results indicated that the entity theory
of intelligence positively predicted work avoidance goal adaptations,
and that teacher and peer support negatively predicted work
avoidance while parent support had no significant predictor. The third
study asked what is the relationship of work avoidance goals to
engagement, dissatisfaction, and achievement?(42). Researchers
distributed questionnaires to 848 secondary students from two
separate schools. Results indicated that work avoidance leads to
decreased engagement, increased disaffection and lower grades.
Lastly, the fourth study asked do work avoidance goals influence
boarder well-being outcomes? (42). Researchers distributed
questionnaires to 676 high school students and results showed that
work avoidance goals led to a negative overall well-being.
3.

Cook, C.R., Collins, T., Dart, E., Vance, M.J., McIntosh, K., Grady,

E.A., & Decano, P. (2014) EVALUATION OF THE CLASS PASS

INTERVENTION FOR TYPICALLY DEVELOPING STUDENTS WITH
HYPOTHESIZED ESCAPE-MOTIVATION DISRUPTIVE CLASSROOM
BEHAVIOR. Psychology in The Schools, 51(2), 107-125.
This study evaluated the Class Pass Intervention (CPI) as a
secondary intervention for students with escape-motivated disruptive

classroom behavior. The researchers were concerned about students

missing out on valuable instructional time and disrupting their
classmates ability to learn. The study provided students with escapemotivated disruptive behavior with a pass that can give them the
opportunity to leave an unwanted activity without disrupting the
classroom. 456 elementary school students were used during this
study, with only 3 students who were identified as having escapemotivated disruptive behavior. These 3 students were each given 3
class-passes and were trained on how to use them. They were not able
use the pass during an exam or immediately after using a class pass (a
15 min wait must occur). This study of the CPI both negative and
positive reinforcements were implemented. Students were also
encouraged to not use the class-pass all of the time, and collect them
if possible in order to be reinforced with an activity or incentive of
choice. After being trained to use these passes, and implementing the
passes, the 3 students that were studied were shown to have less
escape-motivated behavior, and were able to stay in the classroom
without disrupting the other students more frequently than before.
Although, the study states that the students behavior was lowered the
researchers discussed the limitations, and how to go on with future
research.

4.

Nelson, K. G. (2010). Exploration of classroom participation in the

presence of a token economy. Journal Of Instructional Psychology,

37(1), 49-56
This study discusses the use of a token economy to increase the
classroom participation in an undergraduate classroom. The
researchers hypothesized that a token economy of bonus points
would help students overcome some of the difficulties of classroom
participation. Researchers used a token economy to encourage
students to participate in classroom discussion by asking good
questions in class. 318 undergraduate students taking a college course
over a period of a semester were used for this study. At the beginning
of the course the professor discussed how each student would have
the opportunity to earn up to 1 bonus point per class period. The next
class research students attended the class and asked the students to
participate in a research study. Participants were asked to complete 3
questionnaires (demographics sheet, big five inventory, and a goal
orientation questionnaire) in order to determine the type of person
they were (ex. Female extrovert) and see if there was an actual
increase in participation. Over the course of the semester only 251
participants actually contributed to the bonus point participation. After
the semester was over, researchers deemed the results of assessing
student participation when using a token economy to be useful and
encouraging. The participation of the students in the undergraduate

class clearly exceeded the rates of past classroom participation

research and exceeded the rates hypothesized. This being said, the
researchers believe that a token economy is helpful in encouraging
classroom participation.
5. Doll, C., McLaughlin, T.F., Barretto, A. (July 2013) The Token Economy:
A Recent Review and Evaluation. International Journal for Basic and
Applied Science, 2 (1), 131-149.
This article explains the uses and abilities of a token economy in
various environments and over a vast amount of time. The authors
begin the article with a brief overview of what a token economy
actually is, describing them as a system where tangible items are
exchanged for other tangible items or behaviors from one person to
another. They explain that token economies are used throughout all
different area- from military to mental health, educational facilities to
Government, each giving tangible rewards for desired behaviors. They
discussed the variations in token economies (ex. Response cost, lottery
systems, individual vs. whole class, and level systems), the efficacy of
token economies in different levels of education (ex. Preschool,
elementary school, middle school, high school, college or university,
and community and home) and also the limitations and ethical
concerns that arise in token economies. The concluding statements of
the authors give ideas for future research on token economies, and

explain how token economies have been found to be effective in

behavior management in various settings and environments.
Baseline Data Collection
I am currently completing my internship at the Hannah More
School, in the Middle and High School science classroom. Sarah is a
high school student who is diagnosed with a behavioral disorder and is
attending my split biology/ environmental class that I teach. Since I
only see her once a day I have also asked other teachers and the
resource staff to collect data in order to find a baseline for Sarah. Over
the course of 3 days I and several other staff members have observed
Sarahs behavior. Based on Sarahs history and behavior, I have
created a behavior collection chart to track the antecedent, the
behavior, and the consequence, along with the amount of time Sarah is
in the classroom, and out of the classroom. This will also be able to
show the amount of time in total that Sarah is out of the classroom
without permission for the day.
Based on the baseline data collection records shown below, we
are able to see that Sarah is out of the learning environment for 88100 minutes per day. The average day consists of 420 minutes of
instructional time. It appears that when Sarah is asked to complete
work or spoken to by the teacher she will leave the classroom. When
leaving the classroom there are two ways in which she conducts
herself, the first by not saying anything at all and just leaving the

classroom, and the other by bringing attention to herself by cursing or

screaming. After experiencing this behavior in my classroom, I asked
several of the other teachers how she behaves with them, they stated
that they do not know what her trigger is because she will often walk
into the classroom and immediately out or her work habits will be
inconsistent in regards to completing work or walking out of the
classroom.

Per
iod

Specific Behavior: Leaving Classroom/ assigned Area

March 9,2015
Chart 1
8:35am-3: 35pm
1st
2nd
3rd
3rd
4th
5th
5th
Hom
eroo
m

The
teac
her
aske
d
the
stud
ents
to
begi
n
writi
ng
their
idea
web
on
the
diffe
rent
religi

The
Assig Class Teach
The
The
Stud
war
nmen was
er
teache teac
ent
mt was havin was
r was
her
was
up
writte
ga
havin workin aske aske
was
n on discu
ga
g
d
d to
on
the
ssion discu indepe each turn
the
board abou ssion ndentl stud
in
boar along
t
about y with
ent
point
d
with
what linear anothe
to
sheet
and
agen they equa
r
write
stud
da
had tions. studen
a
ents
for
just
t while para
were
the
gone
Sarah grap
aske day.
over.
and 2
h
d to
other abou
writ
classm
ta
e
ates
favo
their
were
rite
idea
to be topic
s.
silent
.
readin

Tota
l
tim
e
for
the
day

ons.
g.
Sara Sara Sarah After Sara Sarah
h
h
walke retur
h
got up
said bega d into ning walke and
f...
n to
the
to
d out walked
this
talk classr
the
of
out of
sh.
to
oom class
the
the
Im
anot
and
room classr room.
leavi her
then
,
oom
ng stud walke Sara witho
and
ent
d out h did
ut
walk abou witho
not
perm
ed
t
ut
know ission
out sexu sayin what
.
of
al
ga
the
the
cont word. class
class ent.
was
roo Sara
doing
m to
h
and
reso was
state
urce aske
d I
d to
dont
stop.
unde
Sara
rstan
h
d
then
what
aske
the
d to
f***
go
were
to
doing
the
and
reso
walk
urce
ed
roo
out
m.
of
the
class
room
.
Sara Sara Sarah Sara
Sara
Sarah
h
h
was
h
h
was
was miss given was
was
given
give
ed
a
given given
a
na
an
lunch
a
a
lunch
lunc impo deten lunch lunch detenti
h
rtant tion
dete
dete
on for

Sara
h
got
up
and
walk
ed
out
of
the
roo
m.

Stud
ent
walk
ed
out
of
the
class
room

Sara
h
was
give
na
lunc
h

Sara
h
was
given
a
lunch
dete

Tot
al
ti
me
in
cla
ss
Tot
al
ti
me
ou
t
of
cla
ss

Perio
d
A

dete
ntio
n for
leavi
ng
assi
gned
area
.
81
min

part
of
the
less
on.

for
leavi
ng
assig
ned
area.

84
min

2 min 4 min

9
min

6
min

30
min

ntion
for
leavi
ng
assig
ned
area.

ntion
for
leavi
ng
assig
ned
area.

leavin
g
assign
ed
area.

dete
ntion
for
leavi
ng
assig
ned
area.

ntion
for
leavi
ng
assig
ned
area.

85
min

10 min

16
min

>1
min.

283
/42
0

7 min

12
min

10
min.

88
min

9 min 5 min

Specific Behavior: Leaving Classroom/ assigned Area

March 10,2015
Chart 2
8:35am-3: 35pm
1st
1st
3rd
4th
4th

The
teacher
pointed
to the
drill on
the
board
and told
students

The
teacher
was
working
on
English
project
with
Sarah 1:1

Sarah
was
completi
ng work.

Sarah
was
completi
ng work;
teacher
came to
work
with her.

Home
room

Sarah
No work
was
was
asked to
asked
complet
of
e a short student
writing
.
prompt.

Total
time
during
the day

Total
time
in
class
Total
time
out
of
class

they had
5
minutes
to
complet
e
Sarah
walked
into the
classroo
m wrote
NOTHIN
G on
drill
sheet
and
walked
out of
the
classroo
m.
Sarah
was
given a
lunch
detentio
n for
leaving
assigned
area.

but had
to help
other
students
and left
Sarah.
Sarah
said, I
cant do
this on
my own
and
walked
out of
the
classroo
m.

Sarah
left the
room
and went
to the
resource
room.

When
the
teacher
came to
talk to
Sarah,
Sarah
left the
room.

Sarah
began to
talk to
another
student
about an
off topic
subject
and then
left the
classroo
m.

Sarah
walked
into
class
and
walked
out.

Sarah
was
given a
lunch
detentio
n for
leaving
assigned
area.

Sarah
was
given a
lunch
detentio
n for
leaving
assigned
area.

Sarah
was
given a
lunch
detentio
n for
leaving
assigned
area.

Sarah
was
given a
lunch
detenti
on for
leaving
assigne
d area.

3 min

Sarah
was
unable to
complete
assignme
nt and
had to
bring it
home to
complete
for
homewor
k.
17 min

40 min

30 min

45 min

> 1 min

136/22
5

14 min

56 min

5 min

10 min

5 min

10 min

100
min

Specific Behavior: Leaving Classroom/ assigned Area

March 13, 2015

Perio
d

1st

The
teacher
was
lecturin
g about
Judaism

1st

Chart 3
8:35am-3: 35pm
2nd
5th

The
Sarah was
The
teache
given an
teache
r was
assignment
r was
assigni to complete
going
ng
a coloring of to give
groups
the
Sarah
to
macromolec
a
create
ules
readin
a
gproject
Runnin
on
g
Judais
record.
m
Sarah
Once
Sarah began Sarah
came
assign
to color
stated,
into the ed to a
differently
I
classro
group that she was already
om and Sarah
supposed
know
put her stated to, scribbled how to
head
she
all over the
read, I
down.
didnt
paper, and
dont
After
need
then walked
need
about
to be
out of the
to be
10 min in class
room.
tested
she got anymo
on it.
up and re and
And
left the left the
then
room
class
walked
without
until
out of
saying
the
the
a word.
bell
room
rang.
and
went
to
resourc
e.
Sarah
Sarah
Sarah was
Sarah
was
was
given a
was
given a given a lunch
given a

Homero
om

Sarah
walked
into
home
room

Sarah
walked
out of
homeroo
m.

Sarah
was
given a

Total
time
during
the
day

lunch
detenti
on for
leaving
assigne
d area.
Total
time
in
class
Total
time
out
of
class

20 min

lunch
detenti
on for
leaving
assign
ed
area.
26 min

40 min

4 min

detention
for leaving
assigned
area.

lunch
detentio
n for
leaving
assigned
area.

65 min

lunch
detenti
on for
leaving
assign
ed
area.
19 min

>1 min

136/2
25
min

20 min

26 min

10 min

90
min

Hypothesis of Functional Intention

After analyzing the data collected over the 3-day period, the
function of Sarahs elopement from the classroom is work avoidance on
material that includes reading or writing. Sarah is diagnosed with
multiple disabilities, including behavioral disability and a learning
disability. Due to her learning disability, Sarah has difficulty in reading
and writing, allowing her to have the accommodations of scribe and
human reader. Based off of the data collected from the baseline
collection, Sarah will often disrupt the classroom and leave when
assignments are distributed, when she will need to work
independently, read, and or write. This causing me to believe that the
behavior is based off of work avoidance.

Replacement Behavior

What should the student be doing?

The ultimate goal for Sarah is to be able to stay in the classroom
or instructional area while staying on task for the duration of the class.
However, due to the current amount of time she is missing (physically
and mentally) from each period and from the instructional day, Sarah
should begin the replacement behavior of staying in the classroom on
task for 15-minute increments. For every 2 weeks that Sarah is able to
stay in the classroom for the 15-minute increments, the time expected
to stay in the classroom will increase by 5-minutes.
How will you teach the replacement behavior?
There will be several ways in which Sarah will be able to learn
the replacement behavior. Sarah will be introduced to a visual support
chart and a token economy. The visual chart will allow Sarah to gage
the amount of time she has been diligently working in order to receive
her reinforcement. Since Sarah rarely attends homeroom, Sarah will be
asked to have a conference to inform Sarah of the visual support chart.
I will explain to Sarah that she will be able to choose some of the
incentives, and will be able to choose the graphics used on the chart
itself. To do this though she will need to complete it during homeroom
time. Once the Sarah has decorated her chart I will then inform her
that for every 15-minutes that she is able to stay in the classroom she
will be able to earn one of her incentives for 5-minutes.

When will you teach the replacement behavior?

I will be teaching Sarah about the visual support chart and the
token economy during homeroom. The instruction will go on
throughout the course of the day. Although I have created set
standards for the token economy (for every 15-minutes in class and on
task), each teacher will also have their own set guidelines that can only
add to the replacement behavior but cannot change the amount of
time.
Positive Behavior Supports
Upon speaking with Sarah there are several things that she
enjoys, these include but are not limited to: 1. Use of the iPad, 2. Time
at the gym 3. Lunch with favorite teacher, 4. A walk around the school/
outside when nice and 5. 5 minutes of free time ( to be able to relax
or speak with a staff member of choice). Each of these items will be
available to her when she has completed a 15-minute replacement
behavior.
The chart provided below is the visual support in which Sarah will
be using throughout the school day. Velcro will be attached in order to
hold in place her incentives and the times will be written for each
period. For every 15-minutes that Sarah is able to stay on classroom
topics and stay in the classroom she will receive the reinforcement that
she has chosen for that time period.

Amount of
class time

Incentive Choices

Activity

Incentive

Data Collection and Visual Representation

(Please see attached Charts)

Positive Behavioral Support

51

Positive Behavioral Support

120
100
80
60
Minutes out of the classroom

40
20
0

Data Summary Interpretation

51

Based on data that was collected, there was a dramatic change

in the behavior after the implementation of the token economy
behavioral support plan. After implementing the token economy
behavior support plan, Sarah was staying in class for longer periods of
time and asking to go to the resource room or use a flash pass more
frequently. Based on the data it appears that she was motivated by the
incentives that she chose. The graphs above show the amount of time
that she was out of the teaching environment from day 1 of the
baseline data collection until day 16 of the implementation. Although
there was not a dramatic decrease immediately, there appears to be a
steady decline in Sarah leaving the classroom.
At the beginning of the data collection (Days 1-3) Sarah was out
of the classroom between 80-100 minutes total a day whether it was
with permission or without. When implementing the token economy
behavioral support plan, Sarah lowered her amount of time out of the
room by almost half, with a total time out of the learning environment
only being 51 minutes. If we did not include the time that Sarah is not
in the classroom due to a flash pass or with permission from the
teacher, then the amount of time out of the classroom would be
significantly different. Sarah would approximately have 30 minutes out
of the learning environment a day as compared to when taking the
initial data of 80-100 minutes.

It seems as though the implementation of an incentive plan has

worked relatively well. In the mornings, Sarah is able to choose which
incentives she will be earning throughout the day and is able to place
them on her board rather than other behavioral plans in which the
administration has chosen the incentives. Although Sarahs time out of
the classroom has significantly lowered, she is still showing
disrespectful behavior in class before leaving. I believe that if we were
to also implement this program to her disrespectful behavior it would
be lowered along with her time out of the classroom.
If data was still continued throughout the implementation, I am
sure that the amount of time that Sarah is out of the classroom would
lower even more if not diminish.
Reflection
The completion of the positive behavior support plan (PBSP) has
helped my knowledge, skills and disposition of classroom management
significantly. Before completing this PBSP, I had been using behavior
management and classroom management tools that had been handed
down to me from other teachers or staff members, and they were not
classroom or child specific and only partially effective. By completing
this, I was able to learn how to prepare the research needed to create
my own management plan that touches on my students specific needs
and behaviors, I was able to gather information and test a hypothesis
for my students specific behavior, and I was able to create my own

token economy with a visual support and incentives specific for my

student. I feel as though I was really able to use the skills that I have
learned not only in this class, but also from all of the classes I have
taken throughout graduate school.
Although I was very excited to implement this new token
economy and use the visual support chart, I feel as though I ran into
several problems along the way. Since my Sarah did not just have
problems in my class and was missing a significant amount of time
from the school day, I wanted to gather information across the whole
day but was unable to leave my class to shadow the student. I decided
to ask the resource staff if they would be able to give me a report of
when Sarah was out of class and why she was out of class, but I than
ran into another problem, she did not always go to the resource room
and would sometimes just leave the classroom to wander the halls. To
be able to get the most effective information, I was able to ask all of
the teachers aids and the resource staff to complete a data chart of
when she was out of the classroom, the amount of time, and the
antecedent of the inappropriate behavior.
Being able to combine all of the skills and knowledge that I have
gained with the troubles I was faced with during this assignment has
allowed me to become better equipped for future behavioral/
classroom management endeavors. I feel as though this assignment

has given me the tools to overcome the obstacles and find answers to
the problem at hand.
If I had a chance to repeat this project there are a few things I
would do differently. First, I would track more than one behavior. The
main behaviors that I have seen through observation and through data
collection are disrespectful/noncompliance behaviors and elopement
from class. These two behaviors seem to be Sarahs main problems
with not completing class work and appear to be going hand in hand. I
feel as though if I would have been able to track and create
replacement behaviors for both of these behaviors, then the total
behavior between both of these would have gone down significantly.
The other thing that I would want to do differently if I were to repeat
this project would be to change the token economy and the rules
around the flash pass. Sarah depended greatly on the flash pass to use
at least once a day. In the article, ) Evaluation of the class pass
intervention for typically developing students with hypothesized
escape-motivation disruptive classroom behavior the students were
given specific guidelines on how they were to use their flash pass and
how they would be able to use it as a token if they did not use it
throughout the day. I think that if I would have made the flash pass
something that could be used but would still receive a consequence
then I believe that Sarah would have used it less. I would have also
only allowed Sarah to choose a certain amount of incentives a day

rather than giving her full range of the incentives every day. This was
very hard for teacher and other staff to complete. Although I only listed
two changes I would make to this project if I were able to repeat it,
there are several other things that I could have done differently in
order to possibly see a better outcome.