Using Interdependent Group-Oriented Reinforcement to Enhance Academic Performance in General Education Classrooms

Abstract

In their meta-analysis, Stage and Quiroz (1997) found that group-oriented contingencies yielded the largest effect size of interventions designed to reduce inappropriate behaviors in public schools. However, such procedures may be underutilized for enhancing academic performance and learning. The current article describes how interdependent group-oriented reward procedures with randomly selected, indiscriminable, or unknown contingency components (i.e., target behaviors, rewards, and criteria for earning rewards) can be used to enhance student academic performance. Applied examples are interspersed throughout the article. Analysis focuses on how these procedures address philosophical, managerial, and social-emotional concerns associated with rewarding academic performance in general education classrooms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher H. Skinner

Christopher H. Skinner is Professor and Coordinator of School Psychology programs at The University of Tennessee. He received his PhD in School Psychology from Lehigh University in 1989. Skinner's primary research interests include behavioral school psychology and the development and evaluation of interventions that remedy student problems. Skinner has been co-editor of the Journal of Behavioral Education since January 2000.

Robert L. Williams

Robert L. Williams is a Professor of Educational Psychology and Counseling and a member of the School Psychology Program at the University of Tennessee. His research background is in applied behavior analysis and his most recent research has addressed such issues as critical thinking, cooperative learning, and reward contingencies in large college-level courses.

Christine E. Neddenriep

Christine E. Neddenriep received her PhD in Education (School Psychology) from the University of Tennessee in 2003 and is currently a school psychologist with Omaha Public Schools. Her research interests include implementation and evaluation of academic and behavioral interventions in educational settings.