The School Principal as a Behavior Modifier<sup>1</sup>

Brown, Ronald E.; Copeland, Rodney E.; Hall, R. Vance

doi:10.1080/00220671.1972.10884440

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The impact was shown across two different principals and schools, three grade levels, and two types of subject matter. The studies also replicate the findings depicting the value of the principal's involvement achieved by Brown et al (1972Brown et al ( , 1986, Nau et al (1981), and Souweine et al (1977). As Sidman (1960) has argued, replications of this sort extend the generality of the findings.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Promoting Principals' Managerial Involvement in Instructional Improvement

Gillat

Sulzer-Azároff²

1994

J of App Behav Analysis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Studies of school leadership suggest that visiting classrooms, emphasizing achievement and training, and supporting teachers are important indicators of the effectiveness of school principals. The utility of a behavior-analytic program to support the enhancement of these behaviors in 2 school principals and the impact of their involvement upon teachers' and students' performances in three classes were examined in two experiments, one at an elementary school and another at a secondary school. Treatment conditions consisted of helping the principal or teacher to schedule his or her time and to use goal setting, feedback, and praise. A withdrawal design (Experiment 1) and a multiple baseline across classrooms (Experiment 2) showed that the principal's and teacher's rates of praise, feedback, and goal setting increased during the intervention, and were associated with improvements in the academic performance of the students. In the future, school psychologists might analyze the impact of involving themselves in supporting the principal's involvement in improving students' and teachers' performances or in playing a similar leadership role themselves.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Promoting Principals' Managerial Involvement in Instructional Improvement

Gillat

Sulzer-Azároff²

1994

J of App Behav Analysis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The second area of investigation which has shown promise is the practice of using the school principal as the behavior modifier. Brown, Copeland, and Hall (1972) have shown that when a principal delivered tokens plus back-up reinforcers contingent upon arriving in class on time, the chronic tardiness of their subject was eliminated. I n the same experiment, the author used playing basketball with the principal as the reinforcer to increase on-task behavior of a third-grade boy.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The principal game: A group consequence procedure to increase classroom in-task behavior

Darch

Thorpe

1977

Psychol. Schs.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The effect of principal attention contingent upon team on-task performance was examined in an unruly fourth-grade class. In the first condition, principal attention was delivered through a game-like group consequence procedure referred to as the Princi a1 Game. During the second experimental condition, principal attention was aelivered to individual subjects contingent upon each individual's behavior. Principal attention was found to be a strong reinforcer in both experimental conditions, but ercentage of on-task behavior during team consequences was higher than %wing individual consequences. University of Wisconsin-OshkoshOver the last few years there has been a proliferation of behavioral techniques within the public schools. The behavior agent (Johnson & Bailey, 1974;Seymour & Stokes, 1976), populations studied (Kazdin & Bootzin, 1972), and the techniques used (O'Leary & Drabman, 1971) have varied greatly. Two areas recently investigated have shown promise for managing the behavior of students in public school settings : group consequence procedures, and principal involvement in the reinforcement process. Illustrative of the first area is an investigation by Barrish, Saunders, and Wolf (1969), in which they introduced a technique referred to as the "Good Behavior Game." This technique combined the use of rules, team points, and back-up reinforcers to effectively decrease disruptive behavior in the classroom. Replications of the Barrish, et. al, study have been equally successful in modifying undesirable behaviors. For example, Harris and Sherman (1973) used the "Good Behavior Game" procedure in two fifth-and sixth-grade classrooms. These authors were successful in reducing disruptive out-of-seat behavior and talk-outs. The back-up reinforcer used by Harris and Sherman (1973) was permission for members of the winning team to leave for home 10 minutes early a t the end of the day. Simply, peer influence effected through team competition procedures is effective in eliminating much disruptive behavior of elementary age students.The second area of investigation which has shown promise is the practice of using the school principal as the behavior modifier. Brown, Copeland, and Hall (1972) have shown that when a principal delivered tokens plus back-up reinforcers contingent upon arriving in class on time, the chronic tardiness of their subject was eliminated. I n the same experiment, the author used playing basketball with the principal as the reinforcer to increase on-task behavior of a third-grade boy. Another study by Copeland, Brown, and Hall (1974) extended the effects of contingent principal attention to full classrooms. They found that use of contingent principal attention was effective in increasing academic performance in two thirdgrade classrooms.Contingent teacher attention has been used as a reinforcer in several experiments (

show abstract

“…This technique significantly increased the children's attendance. It should be noted that although the same principal (Brown) administered the treatment programs in the Copeland et al (1972) and Brown et al (1972) studies, the Copeland et al research took place in a school in which the principal had had no previous contact. In that study, he was supervising a summer program in a school located on the opposite side of the large inner-city district from his regular school.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

THE EFFECTS OF PRINCIPAL‐IMPLEMENTED TECHNIQUES ON THE BEHAVIOR OF PUPILS¹

Copeland

Brown

Hall

1974

J of App Behav Analysis

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Three investigations were conducted on the effects of various procedures initiated by a principal on the behavior of elementary school children. Seventy nine children including kindergarten, first, third, and fifth graders served as subjects. In Experiment I, when three chronically absent children attended school, the principal entered their classrooms and praised them for being present. In Experiment II, three low-achieving subjects were sent to the principal's office to receive praise contingent on meeting predetermined criteria in word-recognition and addition tutoring sessions. Experiment III assessed the effects that a procedure implemented by a principal had on the academic functioning of 74 third graders. Twice weekly in two classrooms the principal recognized both improving students and the highest performing students for their work on addition study sheets. In all three experiments, the target behaviors increased when the principal applied the treatment contingencies. The application of multiple baseline designs revealed a functional relationship between the children's behavior and the procedures implemented by the principal. Since the study was carried out in an overcrowded innercity public school, it was suggested that the treatment procedures might be widely applicable.

show abstract

The School Principal as a Behavior Modifier¹

Cited by 10 publications

References 6 publications

Promoting Principals' Managerial Involvement in Instructional Improvement

Promoting Principals' Managerial Involvement in Instructional Improvement

The principal game: A group consequence procedure to increase classroom in-task behavior

THE EFFECTS OF PRINCIPAL‐IMPLEMENTED TECHNIQUES ON THE BEHAVIOR OF PUPILS¹

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

The School Principal as a Behavior Modifier1

Cited by 10 publications

References 6 publications

Promoting Principals' Managerial Involvement in Instructional Improvement

Promoting Principals' Managerial Involvement in Instructional Improvement

The principal game: A group consequence procedure to increase classroom in-task behavior

THE EFFECTS OF PRINCIPAL‐IMPLEMENTED TECHNIQUES ON THE BEHAVIOR OF PUPILS1

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

The School Principal as a Behavior Modifier¹

THE EFFECTS OF PRINCIPAL‐IMPLEMENTED TECHNIQUES ON THE BEHAVIOR OF PUPILS¹