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TEACHERS' JUDGMENT IN THE AREA OF
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

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MYRTLE ETSUKO YOSH l NAGA

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ABSTRACT

TEACHERS' JUDGMENT IN THE AREA OF
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

BY

Myrtle Etsuko Yoshinaga

Teachers, both beginning and experienced, have felt
frustrated and uncertain in handling discipline concerns of
the acting-out youngster and the withdrawn youngster. The
acting-out youngster impairs both the group's progress and
his own functioning, while the withdrawn youngster only
impedes his own classroom functioning. Teachers, tradi-
tionally, have access to a variety of information about
the youngsters in their classroom and also a multitude of
ways to handle misbehaviors. This information comes from
neighborhood information, teacher lounge information,
formal cumulative records, assessment tests and profes-
sional school workers' information. fThe techniques of
handling misbehavior have ranged from very punitive methods
to humanistic and supportive interventions.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine
the responses and confidence levels of teachers, with
varying amounts of experience and in-service training, to

specific classroom incidents of an acting-out youngster

as
,\

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\
U

Myrtle Etsuko Yoshinaga

and a withdrawn youngster. The choices from which the
teachers decided were behavior formation strategies
(reinforcement and modeling) and behavior elimination
strategies (extinction and punishment).

This study was conducted with eight third, fourth,
and fifth grade teachers without in-service training (group
2), and six student teachers (group 3), from the Highland
Park City Schools. The eight teachers of group 1 attended
seven or more behavior modification in-service training
sessions. Total in-service sessions were 18. The eight
experienced teachers who comprised group 2 were from
another elementary school and had no previous contact
with the in—service program or the investigator. The six
student teachers were also housed in this elementary
school. They were all from the Michigan State University
Teacher Training program. T-scores, for differences of
means, on the age, years of experience and number of
professional courses completed were not significant at the
.05 level for the two groups of experienced teachers. The
t-score for differences of means was not significant at
the :05 level for the number of professional courses com-
pleted between the experienced groups and the inexperienced
group.

The questionnaire administered consisted of two
case-studies, that of an acting-out youngster and of a
withdrawn youngster. Each of the case-studies was divided

into five distinct sections: classroom incident,

Myrtle Etsuko Yoshinaga

psychological history, school history, social history and

a follow-up classroom incident. The psychological, school
and social histories were systematically varied, for the
study was interested in the increments of information and
not whether particular information would bring about a
change in the responses. The particular increments of
information were based upon information found in 75 percent
of the cumulative folders of 25 identified actingwout
youngsters and 25 identified withdrawn youngsters. Selected
experienced teachers, principals, and two special project
teachers nominated these youngsters. They also judged the
classroom incidents for their representativeness, appro-
priateness and sufficiency of information in relation to
their experiences.

After each increment of information, the teacher
was asked to make a choice from behavior formation strate—
gies (reinforcement and modeling) and behavior elimination
strategies (extinction and punishment). The stems were
judged by two independent raters for l) purity of strategy,
2) the feasibility of the strategies in relation to the
incidents, and 3) the desirability of strategies in rela-
tion each other. The teacher was also asked to rate her
confidence in the appropriateness of the particular
decision.

This study hypothesized that generally the group of
experienced teachers with in—service training would choose

behavior formation strategies more frequently, and be more

Myrtle Etsuko Yoshinaga

confident about the appropriateness of their decision,
than the contrast experienced group without in-service
training and the inexperienced group of student teachers.
It was also hypothesized that for all groups, the initial
choice of strategy, based only on the classroom incident,
would remain stable despite increasing amounts of informa-
tion. The confidence level for all groups would increase
as information increased. A final hypothesis involved

the comparison of responses observed in the classroom'and
the questionnaire responses of the eXperienced group with-
out inservice training. It was hypothesized that there
would be a high degree of correspondence between the ques-
tionnaire responses after all the information was given
and the most frequent classroom management strategy used
by the teacher.

The data collected were primarily analyzed using
analysis of variance procedures for a two-factor experiment
with repeated measures. Six separate analyses were made
for each of the two dependent variables, choice of strage-
gies and confidence level. The Scheffe' method for post—
hoc comparisons was used for testing specific hypotheses.
Pearson product moment correlations were performed to
obtain the correspondence level between the questionnaire
responses after all the information was given and the
classroom observations.

The results indicated that there were significant

differences in the confidence levels between groups. These

Myrtle Etsuko Yoshinaga

differences were found 1) in the acting—out case study

with increasing increments of information and 2) comparing
the acting—out and withdrawn cases after all the informa-
tion was given. Comparisons using the Scheffe' post—hoc
method revealed no significant comparisons. No significant
differences across repeated measures of the choice of
strategies were obtained. Because of this finding, the
hypothesis of the stability of the initial response across
increments of information was confirmed. Increasing level 3
of confidence with increasing increments of information was
not supported. The teachers with in-service training did
not differ significantly in their choices of strategies in ,
either the acting-out case or the withdrawn case. After
all the information was given, there were no significant
differences in the choices the three groups made in either
case.

The questionnaire responses of the teachers without
in-service training were compared with actual classroom
observations. Two 20—minute observations were obtained on
different days. All the obServations were done by this
investigator. The correlations were 0.00 for the withdrawn
case study and 0.1428 for the acting-out case study.

There is still much to be accomplished in assessing
the variables in the area of classroom management.
In-service and pre-service training programs would profit
from any information that would help teachers to become more

positive in handling their problems, to know how to

Myrtle Etsuko Yoshinaga’

utilize more effectively the available information about'
the child, and to be more confident and consistent in

their approaches.

TEACHERS' JUDGMENT IN THE AREA OF

CLAS S ROOM MANAG EMENT

BY

Myrtle Etsuko Yoshinaga

A THES I S

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHI LOSOP HY

Department of Counseling, Personnel
Services and Educational Psychology

1974

To my parents
who never lost faith in me,

And to my sister, Jean

who is sadly missed by all
who knew her.

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Particular appreciation is extended to my advisor
and doctoral committee chairman, Dr. Harvey F. Clarizio.

He has always been unselfish with his interest, time and
support throughout my entire graduate career. His influ4
ence is evident, not only in the completion of this study,
but also in my professional endeavors as a school
psychologist.‘

I want to thank Drs. Mary Ellen McSweeney, J. Edwin
Keller and Jo Lynn Cunningham for their attention and
their guidance. Their thoughtful comments in the prepara-
tion of this final copy were much appreciated.

To May E. Polk, the Director of the Special Project,
special thanks for her cooperation in obtaining permission
to use the school records and to do my observations in the
classrooms. I am also grateful to the teachers and student
teachers, without whose help this study would not have been
completed.

Special thanks are extended to Mr. Ronald S. Jones
for his help in conducting the in—service sessions and for
being a rater in the observations.

Finally, sincere appreciation to my friends,

especially Gwendolyn A. Weaver, Phyllis C. Shepard-Spiro,

iii

Gladys M. Thomas, whose interest, encouragement and help

contributed to the realization of this goal.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE . . 1
Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . 1
Review of Related Literature . . . . . 3
Classification of Behavior Problems . . 3
Judgment--Accuracy and Confidence . . . ll
In-Service Training of Teachers . . . . 15
Strategies of Classroom Management . . . 20
Behavior Modification Approach . . . . 21
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
I I O METHODOLOGY 0 O O O O O O O O O O O 2 6
Overview of the Study . . . . . . . 26
Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Treatment 0 I O O O I O O O O O 38
Measuring Instrument .. . . . . . . 40
Case Study I: The Withdrawn Youngster . 46
Case Study II: The Acting-Out Youngster . 55
Collection of Data . . . . . . . . 61
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION . . . . . . . . 77
Part One--General Findings . . . . . 79
Part Two--The Acting-Out Case with
Increasing Increments of Information . 83
Part Three--The Withdrawn Case with
Increasing Increments of Information . 89
Part Four--The Follow-Up Classroom
Description 0 o o o o o o o o o 93

Part Five--Correlations of Observational
Frequencies and Questionnaire Choices . 96
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Chapter
IV.. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .

Summary . . . . . .
Conclusions . . .

Implications for Further Research
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . .
APPENDICES
I. The Questionnaire . . . . . . .
II. Letter to Teachers . . . . . .
III. Observation Form . . . . . . .
IV. Strategy Choices; Mean Confidence Level

Ratings; Inter-Rater Reliability

Observation Frequencies; Confidence Levels

vi

Page
102
102
107
117

120
126
144
145

146

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page
2.1 Teachers' age, years of experience, number

of courses of groups 1 and 2 . . . . . 35
2.2 Teachers' number of courses of groups 1

and 2, compared with group 3 . . . . . 37
2.3 Frequently occurring behaviors . . . . . .44
2.4 Pearson product moment correlations of ‘

Raters l, 2, and 3 . . . . . . . . . 73
3.1 Analysis of variance of frequency of

istrategies in the acting-out case
with four increments repeated measures . . 80

3.2 Analysis of variance of frequency of
strategies in the withdrawn case with
four increments repeated measures . . . . 80

3.3 Analysis of variance of frequency of
confidence level in the acting—out case
with four increments repeated measures . . 80'

3.4 Analysis of variance of frequency of
confidence level in the withdrawn case
with four increments repeated measures . . 81

3.5 Strategy choices for the acting-out case . . 86

3.6 Post hoc comparisons for the confidence
level of the acting—out case only . . . . 87

3.7 Strategy Choices for the Withdrawn Case-Study 92
3.8 Analysis of variance of frequency of
strategies after all information was

given in the acting—out and withdrawn
case-studies . . . . . . . . . . . 93

vii

Table

3.9

3.10

3.11

Page
Analysis of variance of frequency of
confidence level after all information
was given in the acting-out and with-
drawn cases . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Scheffe' method of post hoc comparisons for
the confidence levels after all informa—
tion was given in the acting-out and
withdrawn cases . . . . . . . . . . 95

Correlations of questionnaire response and
classroom observations . . . . . . . 98

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page
2.1 Experimental Procedure . . . . . . . . 31
3.1 Percentages of subjects choosing behavior

formation strategy in the acting-out

case . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.2 Means of confidence level in the acting-

out case . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.3 Percentages of subjects choosing behavior

formation strategy in the withdrawn case . 90
3.4 Means of confidence level in the withdrawn

case . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

ix

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Purpose of the Study

 

Classroom management has been a continual concern of
both beginning and experienced teachers. A teacher's effec-
tiveness is often evaluated by the way she/he disciplines

her/his class and how orderly her/his class is when they are
visible to other teachers and administrators. Teachers
viewed as weak in classroom management were perceived as
having low status among their colleagues (Willower, et_§l.,
1967; Groton, 1971). Moreover, several recent studies have
shown that teachers seem to concern themselves more with
classroom management than with instruction (Hoy, 1968, 1967).
This seems to be especially true in urban classrooms where
Deutsch (1960) has found that teachers spend about 80 per-
cent of their time in discipline. Finally, mental health
principles indicate that adequate classroom management is
highly related to the students' learning and well-being.

Behavior modification has become a very popular
means of effective classroom management. With this method
teachers have been taught to specify behavior and to utiliZe

the behavior modification strategies effectively and

1

consistently. Teaching is seen as more than an art or an
intuitive profession. Much has been written about 1)

these strategies and their uses, 2) the effectiveness of
these strategies and 3) the ease of training persons,

other than clinicians, in their use. However, little has
been written about 1) how much current information a
teacher utilizes in making a discipline decision and 2)

how confident she/he is in the appropriateness of that
decision. Related research has primarily been conducted on
clinical judgment of clinical psychologists. Accuracy and
confidence in clinical judgment by experienced and inexperi-
enced clinicians have been assessed (Oskamp, 1965).

The general purpose of this study is to investigate
the decisions teachers make regarding classroom discipline
and their level of confidence in handling discipline
problems. Specifically, this investigation asks teachers
of varying degrees of experience and training to make
decisions, choosing from various alternatives of behavior
formation strategies (positive reinforcement and modeling)
and behavior elimination strategies (extinction and punish-
ment). Two case studies, that of an acting-out youngster
and that of a withdrawn youngster, are presented. Each
case-study consists of increasing increments of information
about the child, i.e., social, psychological and school
information. After each increment of information, the
teacher is asked to make a decision and to assess her/his

confidence in the appropriateness of that decision.

Review of Related Literature

 

Although the research is limited in the specific
area of teachers' judgment and confidence in discipline
decisions, background information and supporting evidence
needed to be investigated in four broad categories.

First, the empirical classification of children's behavior
disorders is important in establishing a basis for the '
categories of the questionnaire. Second, supporting infor-
mation from clinical studies lays the basis for the hypo-
theses of this study. Third, the value of in-service’
training must be determined to lend credence to some of

the differences hypothesized between groups of teachers.
Finally, a brief discussion of behavior modification
strategies is necessary as they provide the basis of the
options in the questionnaire given to the teachers. In
each of these categories, only the most directly related

studies will be included.
Classification of Behavior Problems

Teachers and other mental health related school
personnel have been particularly concerned about being
able to adequately sample and classify the behaviors of
{children considered deviant. Classifications are considered
important because it is generally thought that assignment of
a child to a category would generate useful information
about the child. Certain treatments would be associated

with particular categories of classification.

There have been two competing vieWpoints in regard
to categories of behavior disorders (Lorr, 1961). The.
"class-model" viewpoint holds that all or nearly all
symptoms must be present. The disorder is either present
or absent. Variation in amount is not considered. Dis-
orders are also considered mutually exclusive. The other
viewpoint, the more recent "quantitative" model, holds
that a group of symptoms constitute the disorder, and the
number of symptoms present indicate the measure of the
intensity of the disorder. The symptoms form a dimension
of disorders and all individuals to a greater or lesser
degree possess the disorder. This model also indicates
that the dimensions are independent and a person can be a
combination of dimensions (Quay,l972).

Certain problems have been associated with the
"class model." Where a "standard" system of categories is
utilized, the main problem is the low agreement among
clinicians on indiVidual diagnosis (Quay,l972, p. 38).
Consistency of diagnosis over time is low. No reliability
studies of diagnostic classification for children‘s
behavior disorders have been reported. Reports from
psychiatric clinics of diagnostic category placements (Rosen,
Bahn and Kramer,l964) indicate that about 70 percent of
'children are classified under the category "adjustment
reaction." This category implies little more than that the
child has some behavior problem.

It is generally thought that despite the number of

clinical observations that may go into the construction of

a classification system, the interrelatedness of the symp-
toms that comprise a category cannot be simply assumed.
The question Of this interrelation is considered a statis-
‘tical one (Quay, 1972). Application of statistical
procedures to data collected under Specified and varied

' conditions is an area in which more reSearch needs to be
done.

Dreger (1964) reported that precise classification
is really the first step in the process of scientific
diagnosis—therapy. In education, this would be the identi-
fication of the problem or disorder, which would be
followed by prescribing the proper solution to the problem.
Dreger (1964) has delineated distinct steps in a diagnostic—
therapeutic process. Three are important for consideration
in this study:

1) Gathering of accurate and comprehensive behavior
descriptions and concomitant behavior-setting

_descriptions ‘

2) Applications of the obtained descriptions to
representative samples of specifid populations

3) Determinations of interrelations among behavior

descriptions, leading to basic dimensions of
disorder.

Analysis of the ggantitativeApproach

 

The quantitative approach isolates patterns of
behavior that are statistically interrelated. Pioneers of
lthis method were Ackerson (1942) and Hewitt and Jenkins
(1946). Hewitt and Jenkins investigated 500 case records

of children referred to a child guidance clinic. They rated

45 frequently occurring behaviors for their absence or
presence in each of the case records. The purpose was to
find which symptoms were intercorrelated. Three syndromes
were identified and labeled: the unsocialized aggressive,
the socialized delinquent, and the over-inhibited child.
The advantages of the quantitative approach
include: 1) the dimensions are observable collections of
behavior and 2) the behaviors can be objectively defined.
This permits considerable interjudge reliability about the
degree to which a child manifests the behaviors of the
particular dimension. The disadvantages of this method are
characteristic of the technique of factor analysis. First,
a dimension cannot be identified 1) if it is not represented
by the behavior traits in the analysis or 2) if there is
no intercorrelation with some subset of behaviors. This
criticism can be overcome by selecting deviant behaviors
carefully for inclusiveness, and providing systematically
varied samples of children. Second, the factors are con-
sidered dimensions of behaviors and not types of individuals.
In the area of child disorders, the pathology will usually
be discussed in terms of behavioral dimensions rather than
types. The mental health professionals usually focus on
those children who represent extremes of these dimensions.
Third, the descriptive systems are factor analytically
based. The results are influenced by the data collection
method (ratings, observations, questionnaires) and the

settings in which the data are collected. There is always

a risk in the use of the technique. Quay (1972) indicates
that "it is the relationship of factorially derived
dimensions of behavior, however measured, to etiological
and treatment variables that give the dimensions psycholo-
gical relevance" (p. 8). Finally, those with strong
clinical orientation criticize the categories as over-
simplified and lacking in dynamic quality (Anthony, 1967).
These criticisms arise from certain theoretical predilec—
tions and suggest a careful inquiry into the effectiveness
of the system in describing the child's behavior and in
applying reliable judgments about the treatment and classi-

fication of this behavior.

Patterns of Behavior Problems

 

Peterson (1961) developed the problem behavior
rating scale. This scale represented the most common
problem behaviors of children referred to a child guidance
clinic. In 1961, Peterson had teachers empirically rate
831 grammar school students on a problem check list.
Factor analysis of the correlations of all the items
resulted in two independent clusters. These he called
"Conduct Problem" (aggressive behaviors) and "Personality
Problem" (withdrawn behaviors). These two factors have
appeared in a number of studies despite differences in'
subjects (clinic referrals, special education children,

delinquents) and instruments used (checklists, ratings,

referrals).

‘Peterson (1961) concluded that all children can be
placed somewhere between these two dimensions. The deviant
child is distinguished by the quantity of behavior problems
rather than specific quality of behaviors. I

Another important study in this area is the
Behavioral Classification Project. The Behavioral Classi-
fication Project is trying to build a more adequate classi-
fication by using behavioral items with demographic and
personal history variables. These items reflected parents'
complaints to the Duval County Child Guidance Clinic (Dreger,
gt_§l., 1964.

Five clusters of behaviors are considered "types"
of children with similar behavior problems. The five
"types" most recognizable to parents and clinicians are:

Cluster A. Relative mature, semisociable
egocentricity

Cluster B. Relatively immature, nonsociable,
semisurgent egocentricity

Cluster C. Sociable anxiety

Cluster D. Semisociable, nonanxious, desurgent
retardation

Cluster B. Egocentric, antisocial aggressiveness.

Cluster B corresponds with Peterson's (1961)
Conduct Problems and Hewitt and Jenkins' (1946) Unsocialized
Aggressive Child. Cluster C matched Peterson's (1961)
Personality Problem and Hewitt and Jenkins' (1946)
Overinhibited Child.

Many research studies have used as their measuring

instrument the Wickman's checklist (1928). In studies more

recently done, the attitudes of teachers and mental health
workers have become more compatible. However, teachers
still consider overt behavior problems more serious, while
the psychologists consider withdrawal problems to be more
severe (Ziv, 1970). In a study that was conducted based
in part on Wickman's inventory and in part on teachers'
recoqnition and attitude toward problem behaviors as
reflected in actual referrals to Pupil Personnel Services,
the primary concerns of teachers were with the withdrawn,
the aggressive, and those with learning problems. The
majority of referrals were for children with learning prob-
lems (Westbrook, 1970).

All statistical studies which attempt to classify
behavior problems have shown the pattern involving aggres-
sive behaviors (Hewitt and Jenkins, 1946; Peterson, 1961;
Patterson, 1964; Quay, 1964; Quay and Quay, 1965; Westbrook,
1970). Some of the characteristics most frequently
associated with this pattern are disobedience, disruptive—
ness, fighting, destructiveness, temper tantrums, irreSpon-
sibility, impertinence, jealousy, signs of anger, bossiness,
profanity, attention seeking behavior, and boisterousness.
The general trait is an active aggressiveness that
alienates the child from his peers and adults (Quay, 1972).

The second pattern most frequently found in classi-
fication studies centers around withdrawn behaviors (Hewitt
and Jenkins, 1946; Peterson, 1961; Patterson, 1964; Quay,

1964, Quay and Quay, 1965; Westbrook, 1970). The general

10

trait associated with this pattern is a marked withdrawal
by the child from peers, adults and social activities.

Some Of the characteristics most frequently asSociated
with this pattern are feelings of inferiority, self-
consciousness, social withdrawal, shyness, anxiety in
social situations, crying, hypersensitiveness, unhappiness,
depression (Quay, 1972).

A third pattern has sometimes emerged and has
accounted for much less of the variance of the interrela-
tionships among problem behaviors. Also its meaning is
less easily decided upon. This pattern involves preoccu-
pation, lack of interest, sluggishness and laziness (Quay
and Quay, 1965).

1 Boys were more frequently referred as having
adjustment (withdrawn) problems and behavior (aggressive)
problems than girls. These are in relation to a variety of
reporting data from clinic referral, teacher reports, and
rating scales (Peck, 1935; Eaton, E‘Amico, Phillips, 1956;‘
Beilin, 1959; Sparks, 1952; Dreger, 1964). The difference
between boys and girls especially in regard to teachers'
reports, is that teachers distinguish a different kind of
adjustment for girls, and that different types of behaviors
are identified with the maladjustments of each sex (Stewart,
1949). These result from teachers' expectations that boys
and girls act in different and prescribed ways in our

culture.

11

Judgment—-Accuracy and Confidence

 

Little empirical research has been done to Show
how teachers' decisions and confidence in handling a class-
room misbehavior are affected when information about the
child increases. Supporting research comes from the area
-of clinical judgment. Clinical judgment is a complicated
process. Holt (1970) outlines six steps in the role of
clinical judgment. Three of them are applicable for this
discussion. They are:

l) The analysis of the criterion or the study of
what is to be_predicted. In analyzing the
11criterion,”you are trying to decide what
is the most meaningful measure of what you are
predicting. This presupposes an understanding

of the behavior in question and the circum-
stances under which it shows itself.

 

2) The situational and intrapersonal intervening
variables. Those situational and intrapersonal
intervening variables that are used in order to
predict the criterion need to be discovered.

 

3) The measuring instrument. How appropriate the
instruments are to the task is an important
but neglected question.

 

These three are integral in the accurate prediction of
behavioral outcomes. Clinical psychologists are trained
specifically in assessing personality and not in making
accurate predictions. Goldberg (1968) feels that there is
no realistic opportunity for the clinical psychologist to
improve his skills, because in clinical practice feedback is
virtually non-existent. When feedback does occur, the long
interval of time which elapses between the prediction and

the feedback serves to ensure that the initial cue

12

configuration leading to the prediction has disappeared
from the clinician's memory.

Clinicians have long held that with increasing
amounts of information about the person, accuracy of
clinical judgment would increase (Holt, 1970; Meehl, 1954;
McArthur, 1954; Taft, 1955). This belief might be seen
as a reflection of their training in clinical judgment.
Oskamp (1965) however, found that increasing the amount of
information did not increase the accuracy of clinical judg—
ment. After the initial presentation of information, the
clinicians formed their conclusions rather firmly. Answers
were rarely changed. Additional increments of information
served only to confirm the original judgment. He also
found that when the information level increased, the
clincians' confidence level about the accuracy of their
judgment increased. This increasing confidence rating
shows that the judges become increasingly convinced of their
own understanding of the case being presented. A similar
pattern should be found in the groups of teachers. Their
initial strategy decision should remain stable over the
increasing increments of information.

With certain groups of workers, experience has been
found to have an inverse effect on levels of confidence.
The more experienced judges were less confident than the
less experienced judges in the accuracy of their judgments.
(Oskamp, 1965; Goldberg, 1959; Oskamp, 1962). This effect

has been generally found in studies that require their

13

subjects to make specific judgments baSed on large amounts
of'information.

Ryback (1965), on the other hand, found that in
situations where subjects experience similar tasks repeatedly,
and where minimal feedback is provided, their confidence
level about their performance increased in relationship to
their exposure to the tasks. 1

The situations presented in Ryback's study were
five questionnaires composed of ten items each comparing
geometric measures of simple designs. Generally, without
systematic feedback learning cannot take place, and
accuracy or change of previous answers would not increase.
However, experience with any task or situation would
increase familiarity with the tasks. Thisfamiliarity
with the components of a situation would reinforce and
strengthen certain styles of performance and would manifest
itself in higher confidence ratings. It would not imply
greater accuracy of diagnosis or a more effective approach.

1 A teacher confronted with a discipline problem falls
in this last group in that situations occur repeatedly but
with minimal feedback about the appropriateness of strategy.
Three factors lend support to this conclusion.

First, although the student involved in the prob-
lem situation changes, the categories of problems the
teacher must deal with are limited in number. Frequently
occurring problems are found to be those relating to infrac-

tions of classroom rules and routine, and failure to meet

14

school requirements (Peck, 1935; Driscoll, 1970). Problems
such as these occur frequently, year after year.

Secondly, teachers Show a preference for concep-
tual simplicity. They seem to display a distaste for
rational analysis of what they are doing. Teachers adopt
new ideas and techniques readily without thoroughly inves-
tigating the strengths and weaknesses. Techniques are
abandoned if they are not successful in stOpping immedi-
ately the misbehavior. Decisions are often based upon
intuition, what "feels right," rather than upon an objective
basis (Jackson, 1971). Because of this tendency, techniques
that have proved successful with one youngster will be
repeated with another youngster, without evaluation as to
the effectiveness of the strategy for this particular
youngster. The strategy that proved to be successful is
used most frequently.

Third, teaching tends to be an isolating type of
activity (Sarason, 1971). The teacher rarely receives
feedback, either negative or positive, from administratOrs
and/or other teachers.

The experienced teacher, and even more likely, the
teacher who has experienced success in handling discipline
problems, would probably be extremely confident in the
decision she made. The success would be determined by the
immediate stopping of the undesirable behavior. Feedback
of the appropriateness of the strategy would be limited to
this immediate "stoppage of behavior," and would not be

evaluated by feedback from other teachers or administrators.

15

The inexperienced teacher, on the other hand, would be less
confident than the experienced teacher. Her lack of
experience in the teaching field and her insecurity about
her competence in the area of discipline would account for
this. Training programs talk about the area of discipline
but rarely does a prospective teacher have a chance to
practice discipline strategies and receive feedback about
the effectiveness and appropriateness of them. Professors
of education "stress the desirability of permissive pupil
control, while 'discipline' as it is actually practiced in
the public schools emphasizes the need for more authori-
tarian controls" (Hoy, 1968; Ausubel, 1961). The initial
exposure to the classroom for these inexperienced teachers
may be frustrating as they try to coordinate the demands
of teaching, especially with regard to maintaining discip—
line of the classroom, and obtaining the learning goals of
the school (Hoy, 1968). This period would not contribute

to the confidence of the inexperienced teacher.
In-Service Training of Teachers

Educators increasingly are convinced that the
teachers' education is only partially completed at gradua«
tion. Professional growth still needs to be enhanced.

A great majority of pre—service programs structure
their academic courses and student teaching programs in
about the same manner. Pre-service education programs
offered at most colleges and universities emphasize three

major areas:

16

l) The first emphasis is on curriculum content.

2)

3)

 

This category consists primarily of the
subject matter that the teacher is expected

to instruct the student. The material is
usually transmitted in the form of verbal
abstractions.

The second emphasis is on professional know-
ledge, which includes such areas as educational
psychology, child and adolescent development,
and educational evaluation. Most of this
information is also transmitted in the form

of abstractions. The teachers are then
required to apply these abstractions to con—
crete educational situations. In many cases,
teachers find it difficult to make this
transfer, and as a result they are critical

of the information as being useless.

The third emphasis is on classroom skills and
behavior. Student—teaching is the major
component in this area. Methods courses
usually attempt to transmit these skills to
the prospective teacher. A survey of teaching
methods courses in four-year teacher education
institutions found that lecturing and group
discussions were most frequently used.
Teaching again was considered mostly in

verbal abstractions, and analysis of teaching

l7

behavior was almost entirely lacking.
Student—teaching programs need to be
evaluated. The vast majority of the pro-
grams do not focus on the development of
specific behavior patterns, nor do they
provide effective feedback required for
efficient development of skills. A series
of studies found that student teachers
become more authoritarian and punitive as
a result of their training (Borg, 1970).
In-service programs, on the other hand, cannot be
described so uniformly as pre—service programs. Borg (1970)
feels that the only generalization about in-service pro-
grams that can be made is that schools do very little, and
what they do is poor. Most districts budget little or no
money for such training, and limit themselves to a program
of faculty meetings and/or one day institutes. The general
focus of workshops and extension courses is on specific new
curricular materials. He also feels that as a whole,
little emphasis has been placed on teaching methods and/or
new methods to use to advantage the new curriculum.
In-service programs generally are deficient in
four areas:
1) Emphasis is on telling, rather than doing.
Rarely is the teacher taught the complex
classroom skills through guided experience

in the behavior itself.

18

2) Instruction is general rather than specific.
Most programs deal with vague generalities
instead of dealing with systematic defini-
tions and procedures for the learning of
specific teaching Skills.

3) Effective models are not provided. Even

when a model is provided, rarely is the student
told what to look for. A situation is rarely
provided for the student to practice the
teaching skills he has observed.

4) Effective feedback is not provided. The

learner can progress much more rapidly if

he receives feedback, both specific and
immediate, about his performance. Typically,
feedback, especially in regards to in-service
workshops, has been a) too general and b)

too threatening for many teachers (Borg,
1970).

Workshops are the most popular form of in-service
training (Parker and Golden, 1952). Successful workshops
frequently result in development of skills deemed to be
important in teaching.

There have been numerous studies in the area of
behavior modification that have shown that teachers do
change their behavior after instruction. Acquisition of
skills in the use of these strategies depends upon the

immediacy of reward to the teacher. It has been concluded

19

that increased use of these strategies after instruction
has resulted in improved behavior in the individual child
or the group (Ullmann and Krasner, 1965; Hall, Lund &
Jackson, 1968; Thomas, Becker and Armstrong, 1968; Hall,
Panyan, Rabon and Broden, 1968; O'Leary, Becker, Evans

and Saudargas, 1969; Buys, 1972). These studies were
primarily in the form of the one-to-one consultation model.
The main emphasis was to increase the skill of a particular
teacher in relation to the prevailing classroom problem.

Most of theSe studies have focused upon increasing
the reinforcement procedures of the teacher. Success with
the procedures is usually reported. Continued performance
by the teacher in the use of these strategies is rewarded
by the subject's progress.

In this study, the workshop format and behavior
modification strategies were used. Teachers who received
the in-service training should demonstrate more positive
behaviors in the handling of discipline problems than
teachers without this particular type of in-service training.
With more familiarity with the process of identifying and
describing problems and presenting a plan for changing
behavior, the teachers with in-service training should be
more confident about their decisions when confronted with

like problems.

20
Strategies of Classroom Management

The strategies and alternatives available to the
teacher for handling discipline problems are numerous:
psychodynamic, psychoeducation, life-space interviewing
approach, the "traditional" approach of punishing all
transgressors promptly, and the learning theory approach
(Eddy, 1965; Clarizio, 1971). Stebbins (1970) found that
themost frequently used strategy is the "technique of
appeal." The teacher tries to establish conformity by
simple reminders of classroom rules, calling to attention,
reprimands for talking and/or admonitions to get back to
work. If the behavior does not cease, or if the behavior
is evaluated as detrimental to the student's learning, a
scolding or an angry threat of expulsion is the alternative.
These actions are usually said to be justified on the
basis that they suppress the misbehavior quickly. Studies
on punishment have shown that the effect Of this type of
negative teacher attention may in fact strengthen trouble-
some behaviors. The intensity of the reprimands is one of
the significant factors in changing of behavior and the
lasting influence of the change (O'Leary and Becker, 1969).
Coping strategies have undergone some changes. Stendler
(1949) found that a large percentage of teachers who
responded to statements describing various behavior patterns
of elementary school children said that talking to the child
(or moralizing) and adjusting the classroom work were the

best ways of dealing with behavior problems. The

21

contrasting group of mental health workers felt that finding
the cause of the child's behavior was the best way of deal-
ing with the problem. The same statements were used by
Porter (1959) and his teachers responsed: take punitive
measures (17.3%), talk to the child (19.9%), adjust the
work (23.7%) and study the child (17.9%). Herman, gE_al,
(1969) found striking differences from the previous
studies.1 Teachers were found to be reluctant to deal with
pupils' problems by taking punitive measures. An appreciable
increaSe in trying to change behavior by adjusting the
environment was rated. These adjustments involved assign-
ing of work or offering opportunities for success and self—
reliance. Teachers were strongly supportive of this method
of responding to the timid or shy child or the one prone to

be dependent.

Behavior Modification Approach

The learning theory or behavior modification
approach Seems most conducive to narrowing the gap between
theory and classroom disciplinary practices for the follow-
ing reasons: 1) this approach is consistent with the
teacher's role as setter of society's standards, 2) it
offers practical and definable suggestions for classroom
problems, and 3) it enables the teacher to realistically
contribute to the educability and mental health of her
students (Clarizio, 1971). Hewitt (1968) feels that
behavior modification helps the teacher fulfill the role of

a learning specialist. Bijou (1966) concludes that if a

22

child fails, one cannot categorically explain the failure
in terms of the child's deficiencies, but must also consider
the inadequacies of the teacher.

Behavior modification may be defined as the use of
learning theory principles to change behavior. Behavior
modification.is structured and systematic. It 1) empha-
sizes the identification and description of the problem
behavior, 2) identifies the contingencies that reinforce
the undesirable and desirable behavior(s), and 3) suggests
conditions necessary to modify the behavior. The purpose
of the behavior modification procedure is to replace the
negative behavior with a positive behavior. This behavior
should be defined in objective and measurable terms.

Four strategies of intervention were emphasized in
this study. The strategies fall in two basic categories.

They are:

I. Behavior Formation Techniques

 

A. Positive Reinforcement.--Presentation of a
powerful and desirable stimulus that serves to establish
and/or maintain the strength of the desired response, e.g.
praise, tokens, feedback.

B. Modeling.--A condition where after observing a
model demonstrating a pattern of behavior:

1) the new pattern of behavior that previously did

not exist in the child's behavioral repertoire

is acquired by the observer.

23

2) inhibiting responses are either strengthened
or weakened in the observer as a result of the
consequences experienced by the model, or I

3) previously learned responses in the same
general category are facilitated to occur

(Bandura, 1969).

II. Behavior Elimination Techniques

A. Extinction.-—The decrease and eventual disappear-

 

ance of a reSponse learned under conditions of reinforcement,
when the reinforcement is withdrawn. The reinforcement

need not be positive for a response to be learned and
maintained.

B. Punishment.-—A condition where a learner shows

 

a decrease in behavior presumably due to the actual inflic-
tion of pain, e.g., spanking, pinching, or the withdrawal
of a pleasant stimulus, e.g., losing a privilege, missing

an.outing.

Summary

Little empirical research has been done in the
specific area of teachers' decisions and confidence in
handling classroom misbehavior when information about a
child increases.

The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers'
decisions regarding the use of various disciplinary
techniques and determine their level of confidence in

applying these techniques to the problems of an acting—out

24

youngster and a withdrawn youngster. The teachers were
.asked to make decisions from choices of behavior formation
and behavior elimination strategies. Three groups of
teachers were sampled: 1) an experienced group with
in-service training in behavior modification, 2) an experi-
enced group without in-service training in behavior
modification, and 3) an inexperienced group of student
teachers. After each decision, the teachers were asked to
rate how confident they were in the appropriateness of their
decision making.

Four broad categories were reviewed. First, the
empirical classification of children's behavior disorders
established a basis for the categories used in the ques-
tionnaire. All statistical studies which attempted to
classify behavior problems have shown the patterns involving
aggressive behaviors and withdrawn behaviors. A second
important area relates to supporting research from clinical
judgment. Clinicians have long held that with increasing
amounts of information about the person, the accuracy of
clinical judgment would increase. Oskamp (1965) found that
increasing the amount of information did not increase the
accuracy of clinical judgment. However, the level of
confidence about the accuracy of their judgment increased
with increasing amounts of information. In analyzing the
teaching situation, it was found that teachers‘ behavior
in relation to discipline choices would differ from that of

clinical judgment. The teaching situation was likened to

25

situations where subjects experience similar tasks repeatedly
and where minimal feedback is provided. The third area of
concern is in-service training of teachers. Much has been
written in the area of behaVior modification. Teachers
have changed their behavior after instruction, and con-
tinued performance by the teacher in the use of these
strategies is rewarded by the students'progress. The final
area concentrated on the particular strategies——positive
reinforcement, social modeling, extinction, and punishment.
'The results of this investigation should provide
information on teachers' judgments, given increasing amounts
of information, and the confidence levels in relation to
their decisions.‘ The findings should be of interest to
pupil personnel workers. Implications for pre—service and.

in-service training programs are important.

CHAPTER II

METHODOLOGY

Overview of the Study

 

The main purpose of this study was to investigate
the decisions teachers make regarding classroom discipline
and their level of confidence in handling discipline prob-
lems. Specifically, teachers of varying degrees of experi-
ence and training were asked to make decisions from choices
of behavior formation and behavior elimination strategies.
Two case studies, that of an acting-out youngSter and that
of a withdrawn youngster, were presented. Increments of
information regarding social, psychological and school
factors were furnished. After each increment of informa-
tion, teachers made their choice and assessed their
confidence in the appropriateness of that decision.'

This inveStigation was conducted in the Highland
Park City Schools. Highland Park City has some unique
characteristics that need to be described. It is surrounded
by Detroit and is totally urbanized. The working pattern
of the city is as follows: 33.7 percent work in manufac->
turing-industrial jobs; 40.6 percent work in white collar

occupations; and 18.3 percent work for governmental agencies.

26

27

The median income of families is $8,716 (Bureau of Census,
April 1972). The Detroit Free Press (1973) reported that
Highland Park has the lowest median family income of the

40 surrounding metropolitan municipalities. Familes
'receiVing less than poverty income constitute 14.5 percent
of the population, and of this, 32.1 percent are receiving
public assistance income. The elementary schools' popula-
tion, which constitutes 5.9 percent of the total population,
is 97.3 percent Black. The median for school years com—
pleted, of persons 25 years old and older, is 11.2. The
Michigan Department of Education reported that in 1971—1972
Highland Park City Schools spent $911.70 on instruction per
pupil. This compares very favorably with Detroit, which
spent $744.35 per pupil on instruction. Highland Park City
also has the highest crime rate in the country for cities
of its size (Detroit Free Press, 1973). On the 1972 Michi-
gan assessment tests given to about 326,000 fourth and
seventh graders, the Highland Park City fourth graders
tested had an average basic skills score of 42.7 and were
ranked in the first (lowest) percentile. ‘The seventh
graders had an average basic skills score of 41.7 and were
also ranked in the first percentile. This means that about
99 percent of other Michigan fourth and Seventh graders
posted higher scores than the Highland Park youngSters

(State Journal, 1972; Local District Results, 1972).

 

28

Hypotheses

 

Based.on the review of literature presented in
Chapter I, it was generally assumed that the group of
experienced teachers with in-service training'in behavior
.modification (group 1) would more frequently choose
behavior formation strategies (reinforcement and modeling)
and would be more confident about the appropriateness of
their decisions thantacontrast group of experienced
teachers without in-service training (group 2) and an
inexperienced group of student teachers (group 3). It was
hypothesized that for the three groups, the initial choice
of strategy based only on the classroom incident would
remain stable despite increasing amounts of information.
The confidence level would increase as information increased.

The responses on the questionnaire were used to
compare the three groups. The comparisons of responses
were in relation to the acting-out case only as information
increased; the withdrawn case only as information increased;
and the acting-out and the withdrawn cases after all the
information was given. A last comparison was between the
observational frequencies and the questionnaire responses.
Specifically, the following hypotheses were investigated.
In the acting-out case only, with increasing increments
of information:

1) The initial choice of strategy based on

the description of the classroom incident
will remain stable for all three groups.

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

29

Group 1 will choose behavior formation
strategies more frequently than group 2.

Group 1 will choose behavior formation
strategies more frequently than group 3.

Confidence in one's decision will continue
to rise for all three groups but differ-
ently as noted in hypotheses 5 and 6.

Group 1 will be more confident in its
decision than group 2.

Group 1 will be more confident in its
decision than group 3.

In the withdrawn case only, with increasing amounts of

information:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

The initial choice of strategy based on the
description of the classroom incident will
remain stable for all three groups.

Group 1 will choose behavior formation
strategies more frequently than group 2.

Group 1 will choose behavior formation
strategies more frequently than group 3.

'Confidence in one s decision will continue

to rise for all three groups but differently
as noted in hypotheses 5 and 6.

Group 1 will be more confident in its
decision than group 2.

Group 1 will be more confident in its
decision than group 3.

In comparing the acting—out and withdrawn cases,

after all the information was given:

1)

2)

3)

‘Group 1 will choose the behavior formation

strategy more frequently than group 2.

Group 1 will choose the behavior formation
strategy more frequently than group 3.

The behavior formation strategies will be
chosen more frequently for use with the
withdrawn child than with the acting—out
child.

4)

5).

30
Group 1 will be more confident in its
decision than group 2.

Group 1 will be more confident in its
decision than group 3.

In comparing the observational frequencies and the

questionnaire responses only in the experienced group

without in-service:

There will be a high degree of correspondence
between the questionnaire responses after all
the information was given and the most fre-
quently used classroom management strategy.

This will be true for both the actingaout and
the withdrawn case-studies.

Schedule of Experimental Procedures

The procedures are presented in graphic form in the

flow chart. The total schedule was completed during the

period of September,l972 to August,1973. The various

functions of the experiment were completed according to

the following schedule:

1)

3)

Conducted in-service workshop sessions from
September,l972 to Apri1,l973. There were

18 sessions in total.

Formulated the questionnaire. Identified

25 acting-out children and 25 withdrawn
children and gathered cumulative folder
information in December 1972. Devised
questionnaire in January,l973.

Selected the three groups to be used in this

study, March—ApriL 1973.

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32

4. Administered the questionnaires to the
three groups, April-May,l973.

5. ’Observed in the classrooms of teachers
in group 2, May,1973.

6. Analyzed the data, July,l973.

Subjects

Three groups of teachers were used in this study.
There were two experienced groups of teachers and an
inexperienced group of teachers. The experienced groups
constituted teachers who 1) taught at one of the three
elementary schools used in this study, 2) taught third,
fourth, or fifth grades, and 3) had a minimum of one year's
teaching experience. The cutoff of one year was felt to
be a minimum of time necessary for a teacher to become
acquainted with handling the routines and organizational
demands of the position. Hoy (1968) also found that one
year was sufficient in changing the pupil control idealogy
of beginning public school teachers to that more closely
related to the prevalent custodial pupil control ideology
of experienced teachers.

The inexperienced group was comprised of student
teachers from the teacher training program at Michigan State
University. Their contact with the classroom was limited to
a ten—week term, and their inclusion as subjects was after
a week in the classroom. This week was spent in observing

the children, writing lesson plans, observing the routines

33

of the classroom and getting acquainted with the children.
No actual teaching was done. The inexperienced groupwas
included in comparison to the experienced group to see
whether experience would contribute to any differences.
Student teaching was seen as an ideal period because all
.of the student teachers had fulfilled most of the basic
educational and professional requirements for an elementary
certificate but had Spent little time in the classroom.
Perceivably, professional training would not be a confound—

ing variable.

 

Selection of Teachers

Each cf the three groups was defined by certain
parameters. The experienced group with in-service training
(grOup l) numbered among those who attended workshop
sessions taught by Dr. H. Clarizio and the investigator.
There were 18 sessions in total. Teachers who attended
seven or more were included in group 1. Those who were not
included attended only four sessions or less. It was
believed that these teachers did not obtain sufficient
information about the use of the various behaviOr modifica-
tion strategies to permit effective application. Group 1
teachers were all from Liberty and Willard schools.

The other group of experienced teachers (group 2)
was selected from Cortland School. Cortland School was the
only remaining elementary school that had the same number

of grades as Willard and Liberty schools (K—6) and did not

34

have any contact with the in-service training sessions.
The principal was very cooperative.

The ineXperienced teachers (group 3) were all
student teachers assigned to Cortland School. All six of
the student teachers were from Michigan State University's
teacher training program. The student teachers were

assigned to either grades three, four, or six.

Characteristics of the Teachers

 

The experienced group of teachers (groups 1 and 2)
selected for this study consisted of 16 full—time teachers
from the third, fourth, and fifth grades from Liberty,
Willard and Cortland Schools. There were eight in group 1
and eight in group 2. Group 3 consisted of six student
teachers assigned for ten weeks at Cortland School.

The experienced groups were compared with respect to
their age and years of experience. A t—test for differences
of means was used for each comparison. All the teachers ‘
(groups 1, 2, and 3) were compared with respect to the
number of basic professional courses completed for an
elementary certificate.

Of the 16 experienced teachers, two were men and
14 were women. In group 1, five of the teachers were Black.
In group 2, six were Black. The subjects' mean age in
group 1 was 35.75 years and the average length of experience
was 5.5 years. Group 2 teachers' mean age was 40.5 years

and the average length of experience was 6.375 years. The

35

TABLE 2.1.--Teachers' age, years of experience, number of
courses of groups 1 and 2.

 

 

Variables Group 1 - Group 2 SDm df t p
Years of _ _
Experience x4 5.5 x= 6.375 2.4707 14 0.3542 >.05
Age §e35.75 §e4o.5 6.3238 14 0.7511 >.05
Number of _ _
Courses x= 8.625 x= 9.25 0.7719 14 0.6941 >.05
Race 5 Black 6 Black

3 White 2 White
Sex 1 Male 1 Male

7 Females 7 Females

 

5 scores were not Significant at the .05 level of
significance.

Group 3 was compared to the other groups only
in respect to the number of completed basic courses for
the elementary certificate. This comparison was necessary
to establish similarity of professional training between
the three groups.

The list of basic courses was compiled from infor-

mation obtained from the Elementary Education Program

 

Planning Guidebook, College of Education (Michigan State

 

University). The requirements in the Elementary Education
Program leading up to an elementary certificate are:
1) A minimum of 180 credits to complete a
B.A. degree;

2) Completion of the University College courses;

36

3) Completion of one certification major of at
least 45 credits and one minor of at least
30 credits; and
4) Completion of certain professional Courses
in Education.
Items 2, 3, and 4 vary according to the individual's pro—
gram and certification major and minor. Certain required
professional Courses in Education are listed in item 5.
These courses include:

1) Growth and development;

2) Individual and the school;

3) Methods of elementary educat—on;

4) Methods of teaching reading;

5) Language arts in elementary grades;

6) Children's literature;

7) Social studies for elementary grades;

8) Mathematics for elementary grades;

9) Science for elementary and middle schools; and

10) Student teaching.

The mean number of basic courses leading to the
elementary certificate was 8.625 for group 1, 9.25 for
group 2 and 8.33 for group 3. The E values were not
statistically significant at the .05 level.

The experienced groups compare closely in terms of
age, experience and number of professional courses.
Although some of the experienced teachers did not receive

their degrees from Michigan State University, as did the

37

 

 

 

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mo Honfisz

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38

student teachers, the basic requirements for the elementary
certificate were very similar. Programs of the individual
teacher might differ in the major and minor areas; however,
the courses that various universities feel would prepare a
prospective teacher are similar in content (Borg, 1970).
The two experienced groups were comparable in age.
The experienced group with in-service (group 1), however,
icomprised the younger segment of the two experienced groups.
Willard School had many teachers with 10—15 years of
experience; however, these teachers did not voluntarily
participate in seven or more in—service sessions. The
total staff of Liberty and Cortland Schools was comparable

in age and academic degrees.

Treatment

 

The In-service Training Sessions

 

The in-service training sessions on behavior modi-
fication were held weekly from September-December, 1972,
and from February-April, 1973. Each session lasted 1-1/2
hours and was divided into two parts: 1) discussion of
specific behavior modification strategies by the workshop
leader, and 2) discussion of teachers' problems regarding
classroom discipline in relation to the effective use of
behavior modification techniques.

The first series (September-December, 1972) con-
sisted of ten sessions and was conducted by Dr. H. Clarizio

and the investigator. The topics covered were:

39

I. Introduction
II. Glasser's Discussion on Individual Discipline
III. Types of Problem Children (Spaulding).
.IV. Behavior Formation Techniques
A. Positive Reinforcement
B. Modeling
V. Behavior Elimination Techniques
A.- Extinction

' B. Punishment

The second series (FebruarynApril, 1973) consisted
of eight sessions and was conducted by this investigator
and Mr. Ronald Jones. The topics covered were:

I. Introduction

II. Reinforcement and contingency contracting
III. Modeling and the peer group

IV. Extinction

V. Punishment

VI. The open classroom vs. Skinner
VII. Attitude learning

VIII. Evaluation of both sessions

The teachers were given the text, Toward Positive
Classroom Discipline, by H. Clarizio. Tapes, overheads
and handouts were used in the sessions. The sessions were
designed to help the teachers to recognize behavior requir-
ing the use of behavior modification strategies in their

classroom, and to evaluate the results of the strategies.

40

The discussion part of each session focused upon the

individual teacher's classroom problems.

Measuring Instrument

 

The Questionnaire--Case Studies I and II

 

For the purposes of this study, a questionnaire
that would determine the discipline decisions of teachers
was designed. The instrument was modeled after that used
in the Oskamp (1965) clinical judgment studies and other
educational case studyntype questionnaires. In contrast
to those studies, the questionnaire for the present research
was based on information found in the cumulative folders of
the student population to which the subjects were exposed.
The organization of the questionnaire was determined: 1)
by relating the information found in the fifty cumulative
folders; and 2) by basing the decision stems on the basic
behavior modification strategies; reinforcement, modeling,
extinction and punishment.

The queStionnaire consisted of two sections: the
withdrawn case study and the acting-out case study. Each
case study was organized as follows:

1) Classroom incident

2) Social history

3) Psychological history

4) School history

5) A follow-up and general description of

classroom behavior. Items 2, 3 and 4 were

41

systematically varied. This was done so as

not to have "types" confounded with incre-

ment of information.
The model used was the test Oskamp (1965) devised to
determine the diagnostic accuracy and confidence of
clinicians. ‘The information used in the Oskamp (1965)
study was from a published case which included the patient's
history, social and psychological, and the clinical diagnosis
of his illness.

The purpose of the questionnaire was to ascertain

the strategy that a teacher would select when confronted
with four classroom incidents, two for the actingwout

youngster and two for the withdrawn youngster.

Representativeness of the Two Case Studies

 

The information used in the case studies was
gathered by examining the cumulative folders of students
in the third, fourth, and fifth grades from the Highland
Park City Schools. The investigator asked the principals
of Liberty and Willard Schools, the two teachers of a
special behavior modification project, and five selected
teachers to nominate children Who exhibited aggressive
and acting-out behaviors and those who exhibited withdrawn
and quiet—passive behaviors. The five selected teachers had
two or more years of experience teaching in the respective
schools and were not part of the group of experienced

teachers with in—service training. Although the withdrawn

42

youngster was more difficult to identify because these
youngsters, in the teachers' perceptions, do not usually 1
require discipline decisions, and also rarely come to the
attention of special project teachers and administrators,
the school personnel were able to identify a representative
group of withdrawn youngsters.

The investigator accumulated folders of 25 aggres-
sive children and 25 withdrawn children. The distribution
of sexes was as follows: 17 boys and 8 girls for the
withdrawn group, and 4 girls and 21 boys for the aggressive
group. The information available in all the folders
included:

Place of birth

Birthdate

Number, names and birthdates of the children
in the family

Family data including state of birth, language,
education, occupation, marital status of the
mother and father ‘
With whom the child presently resides
Immunization history
School history of the child

Transfer history

Group test scores

Parent conferences reports

Report cards with teacher's comments

Psychological reports (only if the child had
previously been referred to the school's
diagnostician).

From the information obtained from the cumulative

folders, profiles of an acting-out youngster and of a

withdrawn were drawn.

43

1) Two behavior incidents

 

specific classroom incident
a general description of the classroom behavior

2) The School history

 

a general description of his past school
behavior '

reported attitudes of previous teachers
last report card information

3) The Psychological history
the teacher's referral statement

the diagnostician's report which included test
scores

the interpretation of the test scores
4) Social history

any parent conference reports

social worker's report

housing and neighborhood conditions

family's source of income

family's discipline methods

parental goals for the child
A piece of information was included in the profile only
if 75 percent of the children identified in the specified
groups exhibited the given behavior in their cumulative
folders. Detailed personality history information was
limited because not all of the 50 children were referred
(to the school's diagnostician. Fifteen of the aggressive
youngsters and ten of the withdrawn youngsters were referred

to the school's diagnostician. Of this information,

behaviors and characteristics displayed by 75 percent of

the childrenwere included in the psychological history

section of the questionnaire.

Table 2.3 breaks down the

information used in the description of the case studies.

TABLE 2.3.—-Frequently occurring behaviors.

 

Withdrawn

Acting-out

 

Incident

Rejected by classmates
Non-participation

Lacks self-confidence

Expresses feeling of
worthlessness

Daydreams

Lacks Motivation

School History

 

Transferred from another
school district

Report Card:
Work Habits-~Satisfactory
Health Habits--Satisfactory

Social Growth-—Needs
Improvement

Citizenship-~Fair

Reading

Spelling ' Sat—improving

Math, Handwriting

Comment:
Inhibited and reserved

Daydreams

Incident

Physically aggressive toward
other children

Destructive of school pro-
perty

Bullies other children

Disrupts classroom procedures

Resists directions

Uses abusive language

School History

 

Report Card:
Work Habits--need improving
Health Habits—-Satisfactory

Social Growth--Needs
Improvement

Citizenshipn-Fair—Poor

Reading
Spelling Sat—needs improv-
ing
Math, Handwriting
Comment:
Disturbing influence

Must establish authority

45

TABLE 2.3.--Continued.

 

‘Withdrawn

Actingéout

 

Comment--cont.:
Attention span short
Needs individual help

PsycholOgical History

 

Referral:
daydreaming
non-responsive behavior

constant reminders

Observations:
Intelligence: dull normal
Size: small and immature
Relational Skills:
needed directions
confused with noise
responded slowly

support from Mother
against the school

Social History

 

Neighborhood:
lower-income
single family dwelling
unkempt home

Marital Status:

Separated

Children living with Mother
Average number of children-4

Income--ADC

Comment——cont.:

Psychological History

 

Referral:
disruptivevbehavior
abusive language

physically aggressive

Observations:
Intelligence: dull normal

Size: average physical

Relational Skills:

verbal skills good

related well

strengths in non-verbal items

impulsive, aggressive
behavior shown

ambivalent attitude
toward adults

Social History

 

Neighborhood:
lower-income
single family dwelling
sparsely furnished home

Marital Status:
Separated

~Children living with Mother

Average number of children-4

Income—-Income Supplement

TABLE 2.3.--Continued.

 

 

Withdrawn Acting—out
Discipline Strategy: Discipline Strategy:
punitive "hit him" punitive-~"stick"
scapegoat
Parent conferences: Parent conferences:
Mother attends Mother didn't attend

 

Following are detailed descriptions of the infor-
mation and the actual increments of information used in
the questionnaire. The sections correspond to the divisions

found in the questionnaire.

Case Study I: The Withdrawn Youngster
Classroom Incidents

The classroom incidents were compiled from behavior)
descriptions found in the cumulative folders of the 25
identified withdrawn youngsters. These behavior descrip-
tions were in the form of anecdotal incidents written by
the teachers, from year-end report card descriptions and/or
based on general behavior descriptions that were checked
by the teachers. The information included in the incidents
was found in 75 percent of the cumulative folders. Below
are the actual classroom incidents used in the question—

naire.

47

Item 2.l.--C1assroom Incident——Withdrawn Youngster.--

 

 

Tom is in a class of 30 students. I am concerned about
him because he is so quiet, and some of the other children
take advantage of him. The class was divided into groups
of five, and they were all to work cooperatively on a mural
on "Keeping Our City Clean." Everyone was involved in the
project and also talking among themselves. Tom remained

on the fringe of his group; however, he was beginning to do
some of the drawing and coloring of the project. Tom is

very good in art.

 

 

Item 2.2.—-Classroom Incident--Withdrawn Youngster.--

 

 

Tom continues to daydream in the class. He is seldom with
other children and appears unhappy or depressed most of

the time. Whenever he is put in a group, he becomes
nervous and self-conscious. When I ask a direct question,
he will seldom answer. However, when there are no children
around, I can usually get him to answer some of my ques-

tions. Whenever I can get him to do his work, he does it

 

neatly and meticulously.

All the incidents were read by the same group that
nominated the 50 children whose cumulative folders were
used. These included the two principals, the special
project teachers and the five experienced teachers who.
were not part of the subject groups. They were to read and
judge the incidents for appropriateness and representa—
tiveness. Minor changes were suggested and these were

incorporated in the incidents.

48

Schoolinstory--Withdrawn Youngster

 

The school history information was gathered from

the student entrance information sheet, any anecdotal

notes, previous report cards and parent conference reports.

The format of the previous report cards included breakdown

of:

1) Attendance and tardy record

2) Work habits

a)
b)
c)
d)

e)

Follows directions

Works independently
Completes work on time

Takes pride in accurate work

Makes good use of time and materials

3) Health habits

a)

b)

Appears to get needed sleep

Practices habits of cleanliness

4) Social growth

a)
b)
C)

d)

Works and plays well with others
Uses basic manners
Respects rights and property of others

Respects authority and regulations

5) Citizenship which is interpreted as 1) good,

2)

fair and 3) poor.

6) Language Arts

Reading

a)

Reads with understanding

b) Uses word attack Skills

From these

were:

7)

8)
9)
10)
11)
12)

13)

l)

2)

49

c) Expresses ideas orally

d) Listens attentively

e) Expresses ideas in writing
Spelling

a) Spells correctly in written work
b) Spells assigned words correctly

Handwriting

 

Math

a) Knows and understands basic facts
b) Reasons well in problem solving
Science and Health

Social Studies

Physical Education

Music

Art‘

Record of regular teacher conferences.
Evaluation of sections 1-12 is divided into:
1) work is exceptionally good

2) satisfactory

'3) is improving

4) needs improving

sources of information the frequent descriptions

75 percent of the youngsters had a transfer
record from the Detroit schools.
Reports from teachers indicate a failure of

interaction with other youngsters.

50

3) Breakdown of school subject areas indicated that
work habits and health habits were satisfactory.
Social skills needed improvement and academic
skills were satisfactory or improving. '
Below is the actual school history increment used in the

questionnaire.

Item 2.3.--School History--Withdrawn Youngster.--

 

 

Tom transferred from the Detroit Public Schools. He WE?
seen by his previous teachers as shy and having difficul-
ties finishing his work. He was rarely noted to socialize
with other children and he seemed to have no friends.

His last report card indicated that his work
habits and health habits were satisfactory. However, his
teacher felt that his social growth, such as "works and
plays well with others" and "uses'basic manners," needed
improvement. His citizenship mark was fair throughout the
year.

Tom's reading, Spelling, handwriting and mathematics
were evaluated by the teacher to be satisfactory or improv-
ing. She felt that he could profit from outside help in
some of his academic areas. She also felt that he needed
to pay more attention to his work and to complete his
assignments, both in class and at home.

His 1aSt teacher's report card comment was: "Tom
is very inhibited and reserved. He daydreams constantly.
His attention span is very short. With more individual

help perhaps he will be more motivated toward school."

 

 

51
Psychological History-~Withdrawn Youngster

The referral data usually referred to general
behavior shown previously in classes. The withdrawn
youngsters were usually referred to the school diagnosti—
cian because of:

l) daydreaming behavior

2) constant reminders to get work done

3) non-participation
Of the ten youngsters who were referred to the diagnostician
~for psychological evaluation and help, the most frequently
given information was:

1) little emotion showed

2) following of directions very Specifically

3) usually in the dull normal range of

intelligence

4) felt pressure for more mature behavior

5) being overwhelmed by noise, confusion and

directions

6) support from mother over rules of school
The description was based upon the referral data and the
most frequently occurring behavior descriptions elicited
from the reports of the school diagnostician. Below is
the actual psychological history increment used in the

questionnaire.

 

52

Item 2.4.--P§ycholggical History-~Withdrawn Young-

 

§E§£::-Tom was referred to the psychologist for daydreaming"
and listlessness. At home he needed constant reminders to
get'dressed, and he seldom finished anything he started.
Tom objected to chores and schoolwork, and was irrespon-
sible about any task he was given. Below is the psycholo-
gist's report:

‘ Tom was small and frail. He talked slowly, showed
little emotion, occasionally misunderstood the questions,
and Seemed to think carefully before answering. He con-
tinually asked for directions and tried to make certain
that he did what was requested. Tom scored in the dull
average range of intelligence. His performance Scores,
however, were lower because of his slowness.

Tests showed that he felt pressured toward mature
behavior, and that he resisted by attempts to escape from
action. He wished that he might be able to change himself
into another person or animal so that, "I could hide from
anyone who tried to get me." Tom was overwhelmed by the
noise, confusion and lack of direction at home. Tom has
been supported in being allowed to stay indoors when the‘
other children were sent out to play, and he evaded
responsibility for schoolwork by gaining his mother's
concurrence in the validity of his claim, that he knew
everything the teacher was teaching and did not need to

complete his assignments.

 

F

 

 

53
Social History-~Withdrawn Youngster

The social history information was gathered from
three sources: 1) Child's entrance information sheet;
2) Parent-teacher conference reports that indicated the
parent's View of discipline and attitude toward school;
and 3) the social worker's or school worker's report of
neighborhood and home environment. The social worker's
report included whether mother and/or father were support-
ing family and the main income source. From these sources
the most frequently given descriptions were:
1) Neighborhood description:
run—down section of town
usually single dwelling houses

condition of house usually unkempt and
disorganized

2) Constellation of family:
mother was separated
receiving ADC payments
children lived with mother

3) Discipline at home:

mother usually punitive and would hit
yountsters when they got on her nerves

child described as not getting along with
siblings and frequently the scapegoat

4) Parent-conference information:
mother attended the conferences

teacher did most of talking

 

54

Below is the actual social history increment used in the

questionnaire.

Item 2.5.--Socia1 History::Withdrawn Youngster.—-

 

 

 

k

Tom lives in a run-down section of town. There are few
lawns, bushes and trees. The family lives in a single
family dwelling. The house is unkempt inside with items
of food, clothing and papers scattered around the floor
and on the furniture.

There are four children in the family. The parents
are separated, and Tom and his brothers and Sisters are
living with their mother. The mother receives ADC payments
and sometimes is able to get some work as a day maid.

The mother disciplines Tom usually by spanking:

"I hit him with anything I get my hands on." She feels

that she is very strict and that Tom rarely "lips off" to
her. She does not like noise in the house; however, because
she does not seem to have any organizational Skills, nothing
seems to get done on time.

The mother voiced some concern that Tom does not
get along well with his brothers. She feels that sometimes
he is too quiet and is usually the brunt of his brothers'
meanness. However, because he does not get into trouble,
she expects more mature behavior from him than from her
other children.

Tom's mother attended all the scheduled Parent-

Teacher conferences. Most of the conferences were spent

 

 

 

 

55

in discussing Tom's reluctance to speak in class and his
inability to make friends. The mother does not know what
to do with him; however, she often voices the belief that

the teachers are sometimes too hard on him.

 

 

1

Case Study II: The Acting-Out Youngster

 

Classroom Incidents

 

Most frequently checked behavior descriptions were:
1) Physically aggressive toward other children

2) Destructive of school prOperty

3) Bullies other children

4) Disrupts classroom procedures usually with
defiant and argumentative talk and actions

5) Resents directions and is irresponsible and
unable to follow through to completion of
assignment

6) Uses abusive language

The descriptions of the incidents involved a pattern of
abusive and defiant talk and actions toward the other

children as well as to the teacher. Below are the class-

room incidents used in the questionnaire.

Item 2.6.--C1assroom Incident—-Acting—Out

 

 

oungster.--The class is very quiet, and all are working on

 

the assignment outlined on the board. I am at my desk
correcting some papers; however, periodically I stand to

answer questions and to survey the room to see that the

 

students are working. Johnny is sitting next to Peter.

 

 

56

Peter drops his pencil. This causes Johnny to comment
about how clumsy Peter is. Peter gets angry and pushes
Johnny. Seeing this commotion, I quickly call both boys
to attention'and remind them of the assignment. At that

point, Johnny defiantly answers me back and says that it

 

 

 

was Peter's.fau1t for being so clumsy. He glares at me..

Item 2.7.--Classroom Incident-~Acting-Out

 

Youngster.--Johnny continues to disrupt the class by making

 

noises, or teasing and provoking others. He becomes

defiant and argumentative when I talk to him about his
behavior. He is very domineering, and most of the time
irresponsible and unreliable. I cannot count on him getting
all his work done. He has been caught fighting on the
playground and is often very cruel and a bully to the

smaller children in the class.

 

 

 

School History--Acting-Out Youngster

The information obtained for the school history was
basically gathered from the entrance information sheet,
anecdotal notes, previous report cards and parent confer-
ence reports. See explanation in the school history of
the withdrawn child for detailed description of categories
and evaluation ratings. The anecdotal notes indicated
that the acting-out youngster has been a problem throughout
his school history and has gained a reputation that is

handed down and recognized by the teachers before he enters

 

57

his classroom. For more detailed profile information
refer to Table 2.3.
Below is the actual school history increment used

in the questionnaire.

Item 2.8.--School History-~Acting-Out Youngster.--

 

'thnny has been a problem throughout his school history.

He has a record of absences and tardiness. His past
teachers have all felt that he was a disorderly and dis-
ruptiVe influence in the school. His behavior and attitude
have often been a subject of conversation among the
teachers.

A 'His last report card indicated that his work habits,'
such as follows directions, works independently, takes
pride in accurate work, needed improvement. His health
habits were satisfactory. His social growth, such as
works and plays well with others, uses basic manners,
respects rights and prOperty of others, needed improvement.
His citizenship mark fluctuated between fair and poor
throughout the year.

Johnny's reading, spelling, handwriting and mathe-
matics fluctuated between satisfactory and needs improve—
ment. His performance in gym was very satiSfactory.

His last teacher's report card comment was:

"Johnny doesn't cooperate in the classroom. He doesn't
do his school work and often does things to disturb those
who are trying to do their work. You have to establish

yourself as the boss or he will take over."

 

 

 

 

 

58

Psychological History-~Acting-Out Youngster

 

Of the 25 acting-out youngsters identified, 15 had
previously been referred to the school diagnostician for
psychological assessment. Referral problems usually
centered around the aggressive and abusive behavior and
language directed toward the other children. The testing
involved an assessment of his intelligence functioning and
how he would react in situations that involve interactions,
'both toward his peers and adults. Below is the actual

psychological history increment used in the questionnaire.

Item 2.9.--Psychological History-~Acting—Out

ufli

 

 

Youngster.:;Johnny was referred to the psychologist because

 

of his disruptive behavior in the classroom. Many times
during the day he hits the other children, knocks them down
and calls them "profane" names. He constantly ignores
classroom rules and directions. The psychologist's report
follows:

Johnny was a handsome boy of average physical build.
He was pleasant and related quite well. His verbal skills
were good.

His test results Showed that Johnny is presently
functioning in the Dull Normal Range of intelligence. He
seemed to Show strength in non-verbal items requiring him
to distinguish essential from non—essential environmental

details.

 

59

[ Johnny's projective test material indicates that in
certain situations he reacts so impulsively that he loses
his realistic judgment of a Situation and behaves inappro-
priately. At such times, he gives vent to a great deal of
anger and resentment. This inappropriate, aggressive and
impulsive behavior occurs almost always when peOple are
involved. In non—interpersonal situations he shows an
ability to recover his hold on reality and to perceive
situations in an undistorted way.

Johnny seems unable to cope with his own emotional

 

feelings. He reveals tremendous ambivalence toward adults.
He feels anger and resentment towards them, while at the
same time he craves attention and nurture. The result is
that his behavior towards adults is unpredictable and

inconsistent.

 

 

 

 

Social History--Acting-Out Youngster

 

The information sources for the social history
description were 1) the student's entrance information
sheet, 2) parent conference reports and 3) the social or
school worker's report. The main emphasis in the social
history is the discipline strategy used in the home and
the reaction of the child in relation to these procedures.
Below is the social history increment used in the ques-

tionnaire.

Item 2.10.--Socia1 History--Acting—Out Youngster.--

 

iJohnny's family resides in a lower income neighborhood inj

 

60

(a single family dwelling. The yard is neat and clean. The
house is neat, but simply and sparsely furnished. There
are four children in the family. The parents are separated
and Johnny and his brothers and sisters are living with
their mother, who works as a clerk at a general hospital.
The family receives food stamps as an income supplement.

The mother describes Johnny as one who is easily
distracted and needs constant praise. When he doesn't get
his way, he becomes angry and strikes out. His younger
sister is afraid of him. The mother minds the fighting
among the children only if they hurt each other.

The mother disciplines Johnny with the "stick."

She found that raising her voice does not seem to have any
impact on Johnny. The mother feels that Johnny's one main
problem is that he always wants to have his own way.

She would like to see him be less active and angry.

Because the mother works, whe has never attended any
of the Parent-Teacher conferences. Teachers are unable to
get her cooperation with regard to Johnny's behavior.

The choices of strategies that followed each
behavior incident and each increment of information were
based upon the four strategies of behavior modification:
positive reinforcement, modeling, extinction and punishment.
The choices were written by the investigator and checked
by two independent judges for l) purity of strategy, 2) the
feasibility of the strategies in relation to the incidents
and 3) the desirability of strategies in relation to each

“other.

 

 

61

Collection of Data

 

General Procedures

 

In brief, the subjects were composed of three
groups: eight experienced teachers with in-service train-
ing, eight experienced teachers without in-service training
and six inexperienced student teachers. The selection of
these teachers was limited to three elementary schools in
the Highland Park City Schools. The in—service training

sessions totaled 18, and the teachers who comprised the H

 

n...-_

in-service group attended seven or more sessions. The
‘other group of experienced teachers was from an elementary
school that had no contact with the in—service programs
and the investigator. The principal was cooperative and
willing to have both the administration of the questionnaires
and the observations done in his school. The student
teachers were from Michigan State University's teacher
training program and were assigned to the school without
contact with the in-service programs for Spring term, 1973.
The questionnaire was the source of the data and
determined the choices of strategy and the confidence levels
in relation to the acting—out case—study and the withdrawn
case-study. The questionnaire was based on information
gained from cumulative folders of identified youngsters.
These youngsters were identified by the two principals,
five teachers who had two years or more experience and who

were not part of the subject groups, and two special project

62

teachers. The information gathered for each case-study

was divided into school, psychological and social histories.
After each classroom incident, the teachers were asked to
make a strategy decision from the choices of reinforcement,
modeling, extinction and punishment. Confidence levels
about the appropriateness of the strategy were determined

after each increment of information.

Administration of the Questionnaires

 

 

The questionnaires were individually administered.

 

The questionnaires were handed to groups 1, 2 and 3 during
the months of April and May 1973, no more than a week
apart. The explanation and the handout that accompanied
the questionnaire implied that this was part of the evalua—
tion process of an existing school project. The question-
naire was seen by the school personnel as having a
"legitimate" part of an existing school project. The
already existing positive relationship between the director
and the schools made this cooperation from principals and
teachers possible. The investigator's role was already
established in the schools as 1) co-instructor of the
in-service sessions and 2) a member of the evaluation team
of an existing school project. All the subjects were asked
to answer the questionnaire, and mail it to the investiga-
tor. Envelopes for mailing were enclosed. All the ques-

tionnaires were returned.

63

The questionnaires for the group with in—service
training (group 1) were administered a week after the last
training session. .There were four from this group who
needed repeated reminders before completing the question-
naire. The questionnaires for group 2 were administered
a week before Easter vacation and the observations in
their classrooms were conducted a week after Easter vaca-
tion. The investigator had no prior knowledge of the
teachers' choices on the questionnaire at the time of the
observations. There were two from this group who needed
reminders before completing the questionnaire. The ques—
tionnaires for group 3 were administered to them after a
week in their assigned classrooms. The student teachers
spent most of this time in observing the children and
classroom procedures, and not in actual teaching. It was
believed that this was sufficient time to give the student
teachers exposure to the classroom but not experience in
teaching. Four student teachers needed one reminder before

completing the questionnaire.

Observational Procedures

 

The observations in the classroom were conducted
to do a comparison between the prevalent discipline mode
of the teacher in relation to an identified acting-out
youngster and a withdrawn youngster, and her prevalent

choice of strategy in the questionnaire.

64

There are three major approaches available for
observation in the classroom:

1) Numerical occurrence which involves a

frequency count

2) Time duration which involves logging time

the behavior lasts

3) Numerical occurrence in terms of time which

specifies a time interval.
Each has a place in classroom observations and each also has
certain limitations.

The type of observational approach used in this
study was the frequency count approach. The number of times
a particular behavior occurred was tabulated. Limitations
,for this method are:

1) Difficulty in delineating the beginning and

end of an instance of behavior

2) Different instances of a behavior may not be

equivalent.

Unless a behavior to be observed specifically
demands the use of either a frequency or duration type of
assessment, it makes little difference which method you use.
As measurements of behavior they are highly correlated
(Adam, 1970; Williams and Anandam, 1973).

The observations were confined to the eight teachers
in the experienced group without inaservice training (group
2). The investigator had no previous contact with this

school and with the teachers. The teachers in group 1 were

65

not included. Because the investigator helped conduct the
in-service training sessions, it was felt that her presence
in the classroom would bias the results of the in-service
training group (group 1). In other words, the teachers
might feel that they should interact with their Children

in a certain prescribed manner. .

Letters stating in effect that these observations
were not to beused for evaluation purposes were distri-
buted to the eight teachers in whose rooms the investigator
planned to observe. Permission was obtained from all. ‘The
letter is found in Appendix II. Two sessions of 20 minutes
each, on different days (one in the morning and one in the
afternoon), were scheduled, The number of observations
was limited because of 1) the tolerance level of the
teachers to having visitors in the classroom and 2) the
principal's request that the observations be kept to a
minimum.‘ Before the investigator went into the classroom,
two children, an acting-out youngster and a withdrawn
youngster, Were selected as follows: ‘each teacher to be
observed suggested two aggressive youngsters and two with—
drawn youngsters from her class and these four youngsters
were submitted to the principal for reconfirmation. The
principal supported the teachers' choices. From these four
identified children, two were selected for observation.

The teacher was not informed about the two selected. How
the teacher interacted with these children was to be the

focus of the observations.

66

The teachers were not told that the questionnaire
and the observations were connected. The questionnaires
were distributed a week prior to Easter vacation and were
given as an evaluation instrument of an established school
delinquency program. A cover letter was enclosed (see
Appendix II). The observations were scheduled a week after
the Easter vacation. The investigator felt that this was
sufficient time for the children and the teachers to become
re-established in their routines and to recover from the
excitement of the holdiays. The observations took two
weeks to complete. Each teacher was notified that an
observation was scheduled for the morning or the afternoon
but the Specific times were not indicated. All the teachers
were cooperative. The investigator stationed herself in
the classroom so that she could observe the auditory and
physical interaction of the teacher and the withdrawn and/or
aggressive child, and yet not be part of the ongoing acti—
vities of the class. It is suggested that in order to
re-establish'hormalcy" in the classroom, the observer sit
near the back of the room and out of the direct line of
vision of the person(s) being observed (Williams and

Anandam, 1973).
Behavior Modification Observation Form

The observation form was divided into the four
major behavior modification strategy categories—epositive

reinforcement, punishment (disapproval), modeling, and

67

extinction. These were further subdivided into the appro-
priate and inappropriate use of the strategies. The
disapproval category was divided into removal of reward
and presenting disapproval. The observation form is found
in Appendix III.

'A mark was entered in the appropriate category when
the behavior was displayed by the teacher. No differentia-
tion was made within the categories as to the particular
type of response the teacher made.

In analyzing the data, the most frequently occurring
strategy was indicated. Using the dichotomous categories
of behavior formation and behavior elimination, the same
"0" and "l" representations were used to indicate the
prevalent mode being used by the teacher in relation to the
acting-out child or the withdrawn youngster. The appro-
priate and inappropriate categories were combined to
determine what prevalent strategy was being used in the
classroom. The form was subdivided to make coding and
categorizing of behavior simpler to define.

'The categories correspond in definition with the
four choices given in the case—studies. The descriptions
of the categories are:

Appropriate reinforcement:

 

1) Appropriate social reinforcement: a verbal,
physical, or gestural approval response to an
appropriate behavior. Feedback for appro—

priate behavior from the teacher is very

2)

3)

68

important. For example: "Good" in response
to a correct answer, "That's a good job,"

"That's fantastic." Includes also reponses
such as a smile, nod, or any approving
gesture.

Apprgpriate tangible: presentation or acknow-
ledgement of future presentation of food, toys,
tokens or anything material after the desired
behavior has been displayed. Includes check
marks, stars, smiling faces, grades, cookieS“
or candy.

Appropriate activity reinforcement: Use of
activities or games as reinforcement for desir-
able behavior. Includes picking an interesting
game or working on a special project or going

to a Special activity center.

Inappropriate reinforcement:

1)

2)

Inappropriate social reinforcement: Rewarding
the child by verbal feedback, or physical-
gestural actions, when appropriate behavior is
not displayed; for example, responding favorably
to a child who blurts out an answer when one of
the classroom rules is that you must raise your
hand before you answer.

Inapprgpriate tangible reward: Administration
of tokens, toys, food or any other material

things when the desired behavior is not

3)

69

performed. Includes giving stars or check
marks when established criteria have not been
met.

Inappropriate activity reinforcement: Child is

 

allowed to participate in chosen activity and/or
game, in spite of his behavior not meeting

criteria Specified previously.

Appropriate Disapproval

l)

2)

Removal of reward: Removal of the child or

 

removal of reward from the child when behavior
is not appropriate or under conditions pre—
viously spectified: the place, length of time,
a particular infraction. Includes sending the
child to the "hallway" or "cool corner" for
time-out or a loss of privilege because of
inappropriate behavior. This is done in a calm
and rational manner.

Presenting disapproval: Presentation of mild

 

verbal or physical disapproval for inappropriate
behavior. Includes calling child to attention,
setting him back in his seat, correcting his
mistakes ("No, that is not the right answer"),
or administering mild restraint, e.g., putting

hand on shoulder.

Inappropriate disapproval

 

1)

Removal of reward: Removal of child or removal

 

of reward from child for behavior not previously

70

forbidden or not inappropriate. For example,
child is sent out of the room for minor
infraction that was not previously enforced,
or sent out of the room with a loud, harsh,
angry voice or for an unspecified length of
time.

2) Presenting disapproval: Use of harsh, sarcastic,

 

haranguing and/or shouted verbal responses. Also
includes use of physical punitive actions by the
teacher, e.g., pinching, slapping, paddling,
shoving.

Appropriate Modeling

 

1) Teacher as a model: Teacher presenting appro-

 

priate modeling behavior. Includes teacher
showing enthusiasm for activity and verbally
encouraging her students to follow her example.

2) Child as a model: Teacher commenting on appro-

 

priate behavior displayed by a peer in the
group in the hope that the misbehaving child
will display like behavior. For example: "I
like the way Johnny's Sitting in his chair."

Inappropriate Modeling

 

Use of either teacher's or student's behavior as
an example, but inappropriate for the situation.
Examples are (1) teacher displaying angry and

hostile behaviors when confronted with child who

is talking to his neighbor, or (2) calling attention

71

to a child who is acting inappropriately or
infringing on the rules of the classroom.
Apprgpriate Extinction
Ignoring or non-reinforcement: Both positive and
negative ignoring of behavior that is inappro-
priate. Includes not paying attention to the
child who blurts out his answer but attending to
the child who raises his hand. The teacher must
be aware of the inappr0priate behavior and that
she chooses to ignore this behavior.
Inappropriate Extinction
Non-reinforcement of appropriate behavior that the
teacher Wants to increase, or inappropriate use Of
extinction when behavior is definitely disruptive
and destructive. An example of this would be a
child hitting other youngsters and throwing things,
and the teacher choosing to ignore this behavior

rather than intervene.

Inter-rater Reliability

The investigator did all the observations used
in this study. However, to establish the reliability
(of these observations, two other observers were used
to obtain a measure of rater agreement. One observer
‘was Mr. Ronald Jones, a doctoral student in child
development at Michigan State University. He helped cone
duct the second series of inservice workshops. The other

Observer, a former teacher with six years experience, was

72

working for an organization that provided behavior modifi-
cation consultation in the schools.

Arrangements were made for the three raters to
together observe a teacher in her classroom to check the
similarity of their ratings. Prior to these observations,
the observers discussed the definitions of each of the
categories, pre-tested the observation form using a 30
minute video tape of a teacher conducting a language
exercise, and at that time revised any unclear categories
or definitions.

The three raters observed the selected teacher in
her classroom and used the revised observation form. The
teacher was teaching a combination second-third grade
classroom, and was not part of any of the subject groups.
Three 20-minute observations on different days, were
conducted. The inter-rater reliability for the total score
on each of the categories for the three 20-minute observa-
tions was determined by the use of the Pearson product
:moment correlation method. The raw scores for each rater
are found in Appendix IV.

These reliability coefficients are presented in
frable 2.4. These high reliability coefficients indicate
that the raters had clearly defined the categories on the
observation form and had high agreement among themselves

as to the recorded behaviors displayed by the teachers.

73

TABLE 2.4.--Pearson product moment correlations of Raters

 

 

1, 2, and 3.
Rater 2 Rater 3
Rater l .9877 .9999
Rater 2 .9893

 

Treatment of the Data--Analysis Procedures

The responses of the subject teachers were analyzed
using the analysis of variance for a two factor experiment
with repeated measures. The fixed effects model had
teachers nested under different experienced groups and
crossed with the repeated measures. Mandeville (1972)
suggested that repeated measures analysis of variance is
recommended when one wishes to retain the item response as
the basic datum in the analysis. The repeated measures
were the increments of information. Six separate analyses
were made, three for the frequency of strategies chosen
and three for the confidence level.

The strategies were assigned a value of one for
behavior formation strategies (reinforcement and modeling)
and zero for behavior elimination strategies (extinction
and punishment). The responses were combined into dichoto-
mous categories, because the analysis of variance for a two
factor experiment with repeated measures could not handle
the multitude of choices given within the individual

repeated measures. In order to separate the choices, a

74

design of repeated measures within repeated measures would
be necessary. Lunney (1970) has empirically concluded that
dichotomous data can be appropriately analyzed using the
analysis of variance method in fixed effects models. The
confidence level values were determined by a 1-5 rating
scale; 1 being not confident to 5 being very confident.

The level of significance for testing all the hypo-
theses was set at the .05 level. That is, in testing of
all hypotheses in this study, only those differences which
occur five times in 100 (p = .05) will be accepted as being
statistically significant.

The Scheffe' post hoc technique was performed in
those instances where the analysis of variance test revealed
significance and comparisons of the groups were necessary.

Pearson product moment correlations were performed
to obtain the correspondence between the questionnaire
responses after all the information was given and the

classroom observations.

Summary

Highland Park is a uniquely urbanized city. It has
a 97.3 percent Black school population. Highland Park City
also has the highest crime rate in the country for cities of
its size, and in the 1972 state assessments tests, the
fourth and seventh graders ranked in the first percentile.

Three groups of teachers were selected from the

Highland Park City Schools. Group 1 consiSted of experienced

75

third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers with in-service
training and group 3 consisted of student teachers. The
teachers responded to a questionnaire that asked them to
make discipline decisions concerning an acting—out young-
ster and a withdrawn youngster. They were also asked to
rate their confidence in the appropriateness of their
decisions.

The information included in the case-studies was
obtained from the cumulative folders of 25 withdrawn
youngsters and 25 acting-out youngsters identified by
school personnel. The information contained in the case-
studies included the school, psychological, and social
history of the child.

It was generally hypothesized that for all groups, the
initial choice of strategy would remain stable and the
confidence level would increase as information about the
child increased. The experienced group with in-service
training was hypothesized to choose behavior formation
strategies more frequently and be more confident than
either the group without in-service training or the
inexperienced group.

Twenty-two questionnaires were distributed. All of
the questionnaires were returned. The responses were
analyzed using the analysis of variance for a two factor
experiment with repeated measures. The strategies were
given a value of l for behavior formation strategies

and 0 for behavior elimination strategies. The confidence

76

level values were determined by a 1-5 rating scale. The
level of significance for testing the hypotheses was deter-
mined at the .05 level. Pearson product moment correlations
were performed to obtain the correspondence between the
questionnaire responses after all the information was given

and the classroom observations.

CHAPTER III

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The findings of this study are based upon the data
of the questionnaire that asked the teachers to make
discipline decisions and to rate their confidence in the
decisions. Group differences on strategy choices and
confidence levels were determined through analyses of
variance for a two factor experiment with repeated measures.
Comparisons of the observation frequencies and the ques-
tionnaire responses were calculated by Pearson product
moment correlations.

The hypotheses for this study can be divided into
five main sections. For ease of explanation, this chapter
will be divided into five respective sections. Part one
will cover the general hypotheses that initial strategy
will remain stable and that confidence level will increase
as increments of information are increased. This is held
for all three groups. Part two will focus on the acting-out
case only. It is hypothesized that group 1, the experienced
group with in-service training, will choose behavior
formation strategies more frequently and be more confident

as compared to groups 2 and 3. Part three will focus on

77

78

the withdrawn case only. In this instance, too, it is
hypothesized that group 1 will chosse behavior formation
strategies more frequently and be more confident than
groups 2 and 3. Part four will present the findings of

the follow-up classroom incidents. A comparison will be
made of the responses of the teachers in the acting-out

and withdrawn cases after all the information about the
child has been presented. It is hypothesized that group 1
will choose behavior formation strategies and be more con-
fident than groups 2 and 3. The behavior formation strate-
gies will be chosen more frequentlwaor use with the
withdrawn child as compared with the acting-out child.
Finally, part five will compare the questionnaire responses
and the observed response frequencies of group 2. The
strategy most frequently used by the experienced teachers
in their classrooms in relation to selected acting-out

and withdrawn youngsters will be compared to the respective
questionnaire responses.

Analyses of variance techniques for a two factor
experiment with repeated measures were used to test the
main effects, increments of information, grOups and their
interactions. The fixed effects model had teachers nested
under groups and crossed with the repeated measures,
increments of information. Scheffe' post hoc method of
comparisons was carried out when significant F ratio

differences existed between group means (Hays, 1963). The

79

Michigan State University Computer programs were used in
the statistical computations.

The three main sets of data to be analyzed were
1) the choices of strategies chosen by the teachers, 2)
the ratings of confidence they had in the appropriateness
of the strategies, and 3) the observational frequencies of
the teachers without in-service training (group 2). The
questionnaire responses were tabulated for the two cases,
that of an acting-out youngster and of a withdrawn young-
ster, across four increments of information and after all
information was given. Separate analyses of variance
were carried out for these two dependent variables,
choices and cOnfidence levels, across all cases and incre-

ments of information.
Part One-~Genera1 Findings

The general hypotheses indicated that for all three
groups, the initial strategy would remain stable and that
the confidence levels would increase as information
increased. The F ratios of interest were calculated across
the increments of information. The F scores for all the
analyses of strategies and confidence levels were not
significant at the .05 level. These are found in Tables
3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4. The means did not differ signifi—
cantly. Essentially, this supports the hypothesis that
the initial strategy will remain stable in that there were

no significant differences in the choices across the

80

TABLE 3.l.--Analysis of variance of frequency of strategies

in the acting-out case with four increments

repeated measures.

 

 

Sources of Variance df MS F
Groups 2 1.03125 3.044
Increments 3 .07576 .591
Groups X Increments

Interaction 6 .12829 .598

 

TABLE 3.2.--Analysis of variance of frequency of strategies

in the withdrawn case with four increments

repeated measures.

 

 

Sources of Variance df MS F
Groups 2 .07670 .630
Increments 3 .04167 1.226
Group X Increments

Interaction 6 .031250 .919

 

TABLE 3.3.--Analysis of variance of frequency of confidence
level in the acting-out case with four increments

repeated measures.

 

 

Sources of Variance df MS 4F
Groups 2 8.57765 5.803*
Increments 3 .64773 1.854
Groups X Increments

Interaction 6 .64836 1.856

 

*Significant at the .05 level.

81

TABLE 3.4.--Analysis of variance of frequency of confidence
level in the withdrawn case with four increments
repeated measures.

4%

 

Sources of Variance _' df MS F
Groups - 2 3.23958 2.688.
Increments ' h . 3 .25379' .937_

Groups X Increments ,
Interaction 6 .34186 1.262

 

repeated measures. This was true for both the acting-out
case and the withdrawn case and for the three groups.
However, the confidence level across repeated
repeated measures showed no significant differences with
increasing amounts of information. Contrary to what was
expected, ratings of more confidence did not occur as the
increments of information increased. The increase in con-
fidence level from initial choice to fourth increment was
not found for all groups. The teachers, like the clini-
cians, were consistent with their responses. They initi—
ally made their choice on very little information and the
increasing amounts of information just reconfirmed their
choices. There were no significant differences between the
three groups. The experienced groups did not differ from
the inexperienced group or from each other in relation to
the stability of choices. The reason for no differences
between the groups was that the teachers intuitively deter“
mined what choice they made and did not change their minds

about their choices. The different groups of teachers did

82

not seem to utilize the different amounts of information to
determine their choice of strategy.

The absence of differences between the groups
might be accounted for by the small numbers in each group
and the similarities of age, experience and professional
background in groups 1 and 2. The number of professional
courses taken by group 3 compared favorably with groups 1
and 2. These similarities might account for the stability
of choices that were found. Different experiences and
educational backgrounds might have influenced some changes
in the groups' response patterns.

Secondly, it may be that the choices did not change
with increasing increments of information because after the
teachers had made their initial choice, the information
that followed might not have added any crucial information
that would bring about a different behavioral or attitu—
dinal response from the teacher. For example, if a family
that constantly beat the child was mentioned in relation to
the acting-out child, the teacher might change her strategy
to one which would provide more rewarding and reinforcing
Situations. There was no means of controlling what impact
or influence the information provided had on the strategy
choice of the teacher.

The three groups of teachers did not Show an
.increase in confidence levels with increasing amounts of
:information. This is contrary to what Oskamp (1965) and

Ryback (1965) found in their studies. The clinicians

83

became more confident with increasing amounts of informa-
tion.. Unlike the clinicians, the teachers indicated a
high level of confidence initially and the increasing
information only reconfirmed their high levels of confi-1
dence. Most of the teachers in all three groups initially
were marking that they were moderately confident (3) to
very confident (5) about the appropriateness of their
decision (see Appendix II for precise information). Teachers
with experience had a tendency to rate higher confidence
levels than the inexperienced group. This tendency per—
ceivably might have resulted because having been exposed
to like behavior or classroom situations, and having had
moderate or very high success in modifying behavior, the
teacher would naturally be very confident about the appro-
priateness of the strategy used.

The four classroom incidents had a very high degree
of representativeness and association to classroom problems.
A largernumber in each of the sample groups, an Open-ended
format for the strategy choice, and more incidents might
have produced more variability within and between the
groups.

Part Two--The Acting-Out Case with Increasing
Increments of Information

It was hypothesized that the experienced group with
in-service training would more frequently choose behavior
formation strategies than groups 2 and 3. This hypothesis

was not confirmed (see Table 3.1). There were no significant

84

differences between groups in their choices of strategies
in the acting-out case.

The percentages of frequency of behavior formation
choices in the acting-out case is graphically portrayed
in Figure 3.1. Percentages were computed because the
inexperienced group differed in number from groups 1 and 2.
Graphic differences might look vast; however, because of
the small numbers in the samples the contrast might
represent only one or two different responses. Conclusive
statements, even in terms of a trend, cannot be concluded
from these graphic representations.

The teachers in all three groups chose behavior
formation strategies more frequently than behavior eliminia-
tion strategies (see Appendix IV). The frequencies of
strategy choices for the acting—out case study are shown
in Table 3.5. The graphic representation portrayed the
strategies lumped into dishotomous units. Because of this
factor, some of the variability of choice was masked. For
example, in the Project Identificatin and Correction of
Problem Behavior in Pre-High School Age Students (1973),
teachers with in-service training in behavior modification
differed significantly from a group of teachers without
in-service in terms of appropriate use of modeling and
extinction techniques. There were no statistically signi—
ficant differences between the two groups in terms of the
appropriate use of positive reinforcement or punishment.

The in-service groups and the contrast groups were the same

85

% 100
90 . x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

// .11
80 11\ Z A/L—Az- J»
‘(i 27' Group 1 -------
'70 1 \v
’ Group 2 -——-———-
60 «V .
Group 3
50
3 4o
0
m
E; 30
m 20
10
0
1 2 3 4 II
All information was
Increments given

Figure 3.l.--Percentages of subjects choosing behavior
formation strategy in the acting-out case.

86

TABLE 3.5.--Strategy choices for the acting-out case.

 

 

 

Increments

I 2 3 4 II

Group 1 Reinforcement 5 5 5 6 7

Extinction 1 -- -— 1 1

Modeling 2 l 2 l --
Punishment -— 2 l -- --

Group 2 Reinforcement 5 7 8 7 7
Extinction 3 l -- -- --

Modeling -- —- —- —- l
Punishment -- -- —- 1 ~-

Group 3 Reinforcement l 2 2 2 6
Extinction -- l -- -- --
Modeling 2 l 1 1 --
Punishment 3 2 3 3 --

 

groups as those used in this study. In light of the finding
that more appropriate use of extinction and modeling was
used in the in-service group, the use of dichotomous units
in this study might possibly mask this variability. For
example, if a particular teacher used reinforcement, and
then changed her choice to extinction after additional
information, then the scoring of her responses would change
from behavior formation to behavior elimination. On the
other hand, if a teacher first chose reinforcement, and
then changed her choice to modeling, the scoring of her
responses would not indicate a change. The variability of
her responses would be lost.

There were significant differences between groups

in confidence level across increments of information at

87

the .05 level (see Table 3.3). The Scheffe' method of

post hoc comparisons was used to examine relevant compari-
sons. The comparisons are reported in Table 3.6. The
Scheffe' method was used because it has the advantages of
simplicity and applicability to groups of unequal sizes.

In the Scheffe' method, the comparison is said to be
significant if the lower and upper limits fail to cover
zero. No significant comparisons were obtained. This does
not necessarily say that there are no significant compari-
sons, only that there was not enough information available

to determine the particular significant comparisons.

TABLE 3.6.--Post hoc comparisons for the confidence level
of the acting—out case only.

 

Group 2 Group 3 Group 1
Group 1 - .8010,l - .7221,
2.4260-2 2.7635
Group 2 -l.5346,
1.9510
Groups 1 & 2 -l.8607,
4.3185

Groups 2 & 3 -4.7044,

1Lower limits of contrast at .05 level.

2Upper limits of contrast at .05 level.

88

Figure 3.2 is a graphic presentation of the means
of the confidence levels across increments of information.
Group 1 was graphically higher than groups 2 and 3.
However, the extreme difference was only 1.6 differenCe.
Conclusive statements cannot be deduced. However,
because the in-service training sessions were geared to
1) identifying individual problems and 2) using behavior
modification strategies as a means of modifying student
behavior, the Slight elevation might conceivably be a

reflection of this training.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.0
K
4.5 ,4 x
/ “ )
a 4.0 ____ /' .fi
> L—_._ ) ______
3 3.5 //A ///Group 1
Group 2-—— -——
g 3.0
0 Group 3
'3 2.5
w.
8 2.0
o
m: 1.5
o -
M 1.0
0
l 2 3 4 II
All information
Increments was given

Figure 3.2.-—Means of confidence level in the acting-out
case.

89

The confidence levels 1 and 2 were rarely picked
by the teachers. The choices of fairly confident (3) to
very confident (5) were frequently circled. The elevation
of confidence levels shown by the groups can be looked
upon as a reflection of two factors: 1) the rating scale
and 2) the problem format. The rating interval might not
have had sufficient numbers of intervals that would
differentiate finer differences in the confidence level.
In constructing the graph, the assumption is made that if
two teachers circled three (moderately confident), they
were equally confident in their choice. This cannot be
assumed to be true.

The problem format might have contributed to the
elevation of confidence levels. Because of the
distance, the teacher did not have the emotional involve-
ment with the child being described. It was an academic
exercise, and confidence in the deCiSion reflected the
ability of the teacher to figure out the answer to the
question and not her ability to handle the actual problem
in her classroom. When the teacher is, in essence, involved
with the decision and the actual implementation of that
decision in her classroom, a greater variability between
the groups in terms of confidence levels might occur.

Part Three--The Withdrawn Case with Increasing
Increments of Information

 

It was hypothesized that the experienced group with

in-service training would more frequently choose behavior

90

formation strategies and be more confident than groups 2.
and 3. This was not confirmed at the .05 level of signifi-
.cance._ No Significant differences were found between the
three groups (see Tables 3.2 and 3.4). I

The graphic representations of Figures 3.3 and 3.4
showed that the responses were closely distributed between

the three groups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

% 100 '_ fi
90 \y ,I’ y ‘\
V’ \N ‘V.
80 \
70 \A
60 ‘\\L Group 1 ------
m 50 Group 2 —— ——
'g 40 Group 3
‘fi
8 30
m
20
10
0 l
l 2 3 4 II
All information was
Increments given

Figure 3.3.--Percentages of subjects choosing behavior
formation strategy in the withdrawn case.

91

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.0
4.5 [/‘lf
W ‘~————1V/ \ \
4.0 ‘_’_ n
r‘ ‘y’ \N __ Group 1 ------
3.5 I“*
Group 2 -——--——-
3.0
Group 3
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0
1 2 3 4 II
All information was
Increments given

IFigure 3.4.--Means of confidence level in the withdrawn
case.

Very little variability in choices of strategy can
loe seen in Table 3.7. Most of the choices were in the
(Bategory of reinforcement. Generally the responses were
laehavior formation choices more frequently than behavior
Eilimination choices. Higher mean confidence levels for
i111 the groups were found with the withdrawn youngster
tfllan with the acting-out youngster. The withdrawn youngster
<1id not seem to present a confounding problem for the
'teacher. The behavior pattern is such that all teachers
‘Want to increase participation and cooperative behavior

through reinforcement and modeling. Because this youngster

92

TABLE 3.7.--Strategy Choices for the Withdrawn Case-Study.

 

 

 

Increments
I 2 3 4 II
Group I Reinforcement 8 7 7 8 7
EXtinCtion —- —- —— —— 1
Modeling -- —— 1 __ __
Punishment -- 1 —— __ __
Group 2 Reinforcement 8 8 8 7 5
Extinction -— —- —— 1 3
Modeling -— —— -_ __ __
Punishment -- —- __ -_ __
Group 3 Reinforcement 6 5 5 5 5
Extinction -- l l l 1
Modeling -— -— __ __ __
Punishment —— -- —— __ __

 

rarely acts out of turn and disrupts the classroom pro-
cedures, the teachers view this youngster from a more open
and less defensive position. In the previously cited
delinquency prevention project (Clarizio, 1973), it was
found that positive reinforcement and punishment are the
most commonly used behavior modification strategies.
However, when punishment was used, the teachers relied
heavily upon the presentation of painful experiences such
as criticism, the "evil eye," and verbal reprimands to
change behavior. With a withdrawn youngster this method
would rarely be used. Except for a general reminder to
"get to work" or "to stop daydreaming" most of the inter-
actions would be positive. Because of the general positive

approach in handling the withdrawn child, the teachers, of

93

course, would be more confident in the appropriateness of
their choice.
Part Four-—The Follow-Up
Classroom Description
In the last two analyses of variance, the responses
of both the acting-out and withdrawn cases were compared
after all the information was given. It was hypothesized
that group 1 would choose behavior formation strategies
more frequently than groups 2 and 3. Also, for all the
'groups, the behavior formation strategies would be chosen
more frequently for use with the withdrawn child. There
were no Significant differences between groups and between

cases in their choice of strategies (see Table 3.8).

TABLE 3.8.—-Analysis of variance of frequency of strategies
after all information was given in the acting-
out and withdrawn case—studies.

 

 

Sources of Variance df MS F
Groups 2 .18371 -.376
Cases 1 .02272 .155

Groups X Cases
Interaction 2 .34280 2.333

In comparing the choice of strategy over incre-
ments and after all information was given, the group with

in-service training did not vary in their choices of

‘ 1 I
'1'. .I.I--

94

strategy. Both case-studies showed a Similar pattern.
However, the other groups had variations in their choices,
especially after all the information was given (see
Appendix IV). The inexperienced group generally was
split between behavior elimination and formation strategies
as information increased. However, this group showed the
highest behavior formation frequency as compared with
groups 1 and 2 after all information was given. In the
withdrawn case study, group 2 decreased in frequency of
(choice of behavior formation strategy after all informa-
tion was given. It seems that for groups 2 and 3, those
without in-service training, the problem per se had most
impact on the choice of strategy. Because of the general
focus of the in—service training, the classroom incidents
of a particular child would be analyzed together, and
the strategies used would be consistent over incidents.
The tendency would be to analyze the situation and not
to intuitively make a choice. The above statements were
{based upon the graphic representations. The reader is
cautioned again about the conclusiveness of these state-
Inents. Small sample size makes it impossible to make
definite statements, even in relation to trends that might
ibe shown.

There were significant differences between groups
in confidence levels at the .05 level after all the infor-

lnation was given (see Table 3.9).

.II‘ 1'11 lull!

95

TABLE 3.9.--Analysis of variance of frequency of confidence
level after all information was given in the

acting—out and withdrawn cases.

 

 

 

Sources of Variance df MS F
Groups 2 15.94792 6.078*
Cases 1 1.11364 .795
Groups X Cases '
Interaction ’ 2 .39110 .279
*Significant at the .05 level.
The Scheffe' post hoc method was used to examine

the comparisons. These comparisons are reported

Table 3.10.

in

TABLE 3.10.--Scheffe' method of post hoc comparisons for the
confidence levels after all information was
given in the acting-out and withdrawn cases.

 

 

Group 2 Group 3 Group 1
Group 1 - .33731 - .6135
3.96232 4.0305
Group 2 -2.426
2.218
Groups 1 & 2 -3.518
5.721

Groups 2 s 3 -7.346
.3046

 

1Lower limits of contrast at .05 level.

2Upper limits of contrast at .05 level.

96

No significant comparisons were obtained because
zero fell between the upper and lower limits of each
comparison.

Graphically, the in-service training group appeared
more confident than the other groups. However, the dif-
ferences are too small to warrant any kind of conclusion
statement. In the Highland Park delinquency prevention
study (1973), it was concluded that the inaservice trained
teachers were able to be more positive in their approach,
despite having an apparently more acting-out student
population to manage than group 2. Because the focus of
the in—service training was on analyzing problems and
learning how to manage these problems with specific behavior
modification strategies, the group with in-service training
would hopefully be more confident about their choice
after receiving and analyzing all the information given
about the child. Ryback (1965) concluded that increased
familiarity with a task or a situation would manifest
itself in higher confidence ratings. The majority of the
problems discussed in the workshop dealt with children who
defied rules and disrupted the order and performance of
the class.

Part Five--Corre1ations of Observational
Frequencies and Questionnaire Choices

The classroom observations were limited to the

experienced group without in-service training. This group

was observed because the principal was cooperative and

97

willing to have his teachers participate in the study.
Also the investigator had had no previous contact with

the teachers in this school. An observation form was used
(deScribed in Chapter II). Each teacher was observed for
two 20-minute sessions. The observation data were coded
identically with the questionnaire responses. The.most
frequently occurring strategy was coded. If the teacher's
most frequent interaction pattern was behavior formation
strategies, a "l" was assigned. However, if the ratio

was 3 reinforcement responses to 13 punishment and extinc-
tion responses, a "0" for behavior elimination was
assigned.' The most frequent mode of interaction over the
two observations was coded.

It was hypothesized that there would be a high
degree of correspondence between the questionnaire response
after all the information was given, and the most frequent
classroom management strategy used by the teacher.
Separate Pearsonprcduct moment correlations were calcu-
lated for the withdrawn case study and the acting—out
case study. Negligible or near zero correlations were
obtained.

The collapse of the response choice and the
observation data into a dichotomy of behavior formation
and behavior elimination categories might have masked some
of the correspondence of strategies used by the teachers.
In the prevention project using the same groups of teachers

(1973), the teachers in the in-service training group

98

TABLE 3.ll.—-Correlations of questionnaire response and
classroom observations.

 

N X 6 r
XY

Withdrawn case study

Questionnaire response 8 6.00 0.3535 0.00

Observation of teacher

and withdrawn youngster 8 7.00 0.2165
Acting-out case study

Questionnaire response 8 7.50 0.1653 0.1428

Observation of teacher

and acting-out youngster 8 0.50 0.1653

 

differed significantly from the contrast group in terms

of appropriate use of modeling and extinction techniques.
Positive reinforcement and punishment were the most
commonly used behavior modification strategies used to
change behavior. The reward-punishment ratio for the
group with in-service training was three rewards for every
two punishment; and for the group without in—service
training, the reward-punishment ratio was nearly equal.
Because the observation data in this study was limited

to the group without in-service training, and because of
the use of dichotomous units, the correspondence of
strategies would be limited. The questionnaire responses,
as shown graphically (Figures 3.1 and 3.3), were more .
behavior formation choices. This was especially true with

the withdrawn case-study.

‘0'.

Iltli

99

A greater correspondence between the questionnaire
responses and the observed classroom behavior might have
been evidenced with the group with in-service training.
Transfer was programmed more carefully with this group.
Appreciation of specific behavior modification strategies
in relation to frequently occurring problems was dis—:
cussed at the afternoon sessions. The previously cited
finding of l) the more frequent use of modeling and 2) the
higher use of reward in relation to punishment by group 1
'would lend credence to expecting more general corres-
pondence between the questionnaire responses and classroom
observational data. White, e£_gi. (1969), in studying v
the impact of in-service information in changing classroom
behavior, found that a teacher takes more from an in—service
program when She is aware of the appropriateness of the
techniques and the approval of the administration for her
to use in the classroom the knowledge gained from the
in-service training. The principals in both in—service
schools, Liberty and Willard, were very supportive of the
in-service workshops. Each of the principals encouraged
the teachers in the use of the strategies in their class—
rooms, and were also cooperative and lent credibility to
the workshop leaders. On the other hand, no direct support
for the basic ideas was obtained from the Cortland school

principal.

100

Summary

Group differences on strategy choices and confidence

levels were determined through analyses of variance for a

two factor experiment with repeated measures. Comparisons

of the observation frequencies and the questionnaire

reSponses were calculated by Pearson product moment corre-

lations.

The results of this study included:

1)

2)

3)

4)

There were no significant differences between
the repeated measures of the choice of
strategy. It was concluded that the teachers
did not change their initial choice of strategy
with increasing amounts of information.

There were no significant differences across
the repeated measures of the confidence level.
The teachers did not increase their confidence
levels in the appropriateness of their deci-
sion with increasing amounts of information.
The teachers with in—service training did not
differ significantly in their choices in
either the acting-out case or the withdrawn
case.

Significant differences were found at the .05
level between groups in their confidence level
in the acting-out case. Using the Scheffe'
method of post hoc comparisons, none of the

comparisons were signifiCant.' No

5)

6)

7)

101

significant differences were found between
groups in their confidence level in the
withdrawn case.

After all the information was given, there
were no significant differences in either case-
study in the choices the three groups made.
After all the information was given, there
were significant differences in the confidence
level between groups. All Scheffe' post hoc
comparisonsiwere insignificant.

Negligible or near zero correlations were
obtained between the questionnaire responses
of the teachers without in-service training

and the actual classroom observation

frequencies.

CHAPTER IV

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Summary

Teachers, both beginning and experienced, have felt
frustrated and uncertain in handling discipline concerns
of the acting-out youngster and the withdrawn youngster.
The acting-out youngster impairs both the group's progress
hand his own functioning, while the withdrawn youngster

only impedes his own classroom functioning. Teachers,

traditionally, have access to a variety of information
about the youngsters in their classroom and also a multi-
tude of ways to handle misbehaviors. This information
comes from neighborhood information, teacher lounge
information, formal cumulative records, assessment tests
and professional school workers' information. The tech—
niques of handling misbehavior have ranged from very
punitive methods to humanistic and supportive interven-
tions.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine
the responses and confidence levels of teachers, with
varying amounts of experience and in—service training,

to specific classroom incidents of an acting-out youngster

102

103

and a withdrawn youngster. The choices from which the
teachers decided were behavior formation strategies
(reinforcement and modeling) and behavior elimination
strategies (extinction and punishment).

This study was conducted with eight third, fourth,
and fifth grade teachers without in-service training
(group 2), and six student teachers (group 3), from the
Highland Park City Schools. The eight teachers of group
1 attended seven or more behavior modification in—service
training sessions. Total in—service sessions were 18.

The eight experienced teachers who comprised group 2 were
from another elementary school and had no previous contact
with the in-service program or the investigator. The

six student teachers were also housed in this elementary
school. They were all from the Michigan State University
Teacher Training program. T-scores, for differences of
means, on the age, years of experience and number of
professional courses completed were not significant at

the .05 level for the two groups of experienced teachers.
The t-score for differences of means was not significant
at the .05 level for the number of professional courses
completed between the experienced groups and the inexperie
enced group.

The questionnaire administered consisted of two
case-studies, that of an acting-out youngster and of a
withdrawn youngster. Each of the casewstudies was divided

into five distinct sections: classroom incident,

104

psychological history, school history, social history and
a follow-up classroom incident. The psychological, school
and social histories were systematically varied, for the
study was interested in the increments of information and
not whether particular information would bring about a
change in the responses. The particular increments of
information were based upon information found in 75 per—
cent of the cumulative folders of 25 identified acting—out
'youngsters and 25 identified withdrawn youngsters.
Selected experienced teachers, principals, and two special
project teachers nominated these youngsters. They also
judged the classroom incidents for their representative-
ness,.appropriateness and sufficiency of information in
relation to their experiences.

After each increment of information, the teacher
was asked to make a choice from behavior formation
strategies (reinforcement and modeling) and behavior
elimination strategies (extinction and punishment). The
stems were judged by two independent raters for 1) purity
of strategy, 2) the feasibility of the strategies in
relation to the incidents, and 3) the desirability of
strategies in relation to each other. The teacher was also
asked to rate her/his confidence in the appropriateneSs’
of the particular decision.

This study hypothesized that generally the group of
inexperienced teachers with in-service training would

choose behavior formation strategies more frequently, and

105

be more confident about the appropriateness of their
decision, than the contrast experienced group without
in-service training and the inexperienced group of student
teachers. It was also hypothesized that for all groups,
the initial choice of strategy, based only on the class-
room incident, would remain stable despite increasing
amounts of information. The confidence level for all
groups would increase as information increased. A final
hypothesis involved the comparison of responses observed
in the classroom and the questionnaire responses of the
experienced group without in—service training. It was
hypothesized that there would be a high degree of corres-
pondence between the questionnaire responses after all the
information was given and the most frequent classroom
management strategy used by the teacher.

The data collected were primarily analyzed using
analysis of variance procedures for a two factor experiment
with repeated measures. Six separate analyses were made
for each of the two dependent variables, choice of
strategies and confidence level. The Scheffe' method
for post hoc comparisons was used for testing Specific
hypotheses. Pearson product moment correlations were
performed to obtain the correspondence level between the
questionnaire responses after all the information was given
and the classroom observations.

The results indicated that there were significant

differences in the confidence levels between groups. These

106

differences were found 1) in the acting-out case study
with increasing increments of information and 2) comparing
the acting-out and withdrawn cases after all the informa—
tion was given. Comparisons using the Scheffe' post hoc
method revealed no significant comparisons. No significant
differences across repeated measures of the choice of
strategies were obtained. Because of this finding, the
hypothesis of the stability of the initial response across
increments of information was confirmed. Increasing levels
of confidence with increasing increments of information
was not supported. The teachers with in-service training
did not differ significantly in their choices of strate-
gies in either the acting-out case or the withdrawn case.
After all the information was given, there were no
significant differences in the choices the three groups_
made in either case.

The questionnaire responses of the teachers without
in-service training were compared with actual classroom
observations. Two 20-minute observations were obtained
on different days. All the observations were done by
this investigator. The correlations were 0.00 for the.

withdrawn case study and 0.1428 for the acting-out case

study.

107

Conclusions

Limitations of the Study

 

The limitations of this study included the follow-

ing:

1.—-The Subjects.--Because of the parameters set

 

for the experienced group with in-service training, this
group had a relatively small number. Also because it
was an after school, voluntary program, the teachers who
were included in this study might not have been representa-
tive of the other teachers who did not attend the sessions.
The experienced group without in—service training,
although comparing very closely in age, years of experi—
ence and number of professional courses completed with
the experienced group with in-service training, came from
a school with observable positive differences. These
differences included a more positive staff-principal rela—
tionship, a more modern and open building and a more highly
evaluated teaching staff. This group, however, was the
only other contrast group available in the school district
because the other elementary school had only grades 1-3.
Also, the principal of this school was cooperative and
willing to let the investigator administer the question-
naires and to observe in the various teachers' classrooms.
There were difficulties in the student teachers'
group. All the students were from Michigan State University's

teacher training program, while most of the experienced

108

teachers were from other Michigan universities. Also, the
student teachers were limited to grades three, four and
five. They were all assigned to the school that had no
in-service training and were working on an elementary

certificate.

2.—-The Questionnaire.-—The questionnaire prepara-

 

tion was based upon the information obtained from the
cumulative folders of only 25 identified acting—out and

25 identified withdrawn youngsters from the Highland Park
City Schools. Highland Park is a highly urbanized setting
and has a distinctive racial and economic make-up. Infor—
mation found in the questionnaire might by applicable only
to settings similar to that of Highland Park. (See des-
cription in Chapter II.)

In the identification of the children, selected
teachers, the special project teachers and the principals
were asked to nominate children in the two categories.

Two problems were encountered using this system. One,
because of the nature of the two categories of children,
the aggressive acting-out youngsters were more visible

to the authorities. Thus, in the drawing of the two lists,
there was an overabundance of names in the acting-out
categories. The children selected were those who were
repeatedly identified. Therefore these children were among
the most aggressive and troublesome in the school and might
have been different from those who were acting—out but not

seen by a multitude of school personnel. Two, the school

109

personnel had some difficulty generating names of children
identified as withdrawn or quiet. They felt that the
quiet ones were seldom referred to Special proqrams or to
the office because teachers did not see them as needing
help; and that because of severe competition and harass-
ment by peers, the children soon learned out of necessity

to display more overt coping behavior.

3.--The Format of thegguestionnaire.

a. The limited number of classroom incidents.--The
representativeness of these incidents was determined by
choosing the incidents found in 75 percent of the cumulae
tive records of the 50 identified youngsters. After the
specific incidents were written, they were read by the
teachers and principals who initially nominated the list
of identified youngsters. They were asked to read them
for appropriateness and representativeness of classroom
incidents. Although the incidents were based on the
records of identified youngsters, when a teacher is
answering a question on a questionnaire, it is seemingly
difficult to respond to and generalize without relating
it to an individual child and to other behaviors not
specified. This might cause a teacher to make her decision

a certain way.

b. The strategy choices.-—A1though the choices are

 

easily classified, they limited the range of responses the

teacher could make. An open-ended answer form might be

i.‘1.l|

110

preferable. Raters would then indicate the type of

response made.

I c. The confidence ratings.--The teachers had a
tendency to circle only numbers 3—5 (moderately confident
to very confident). Also, the question must be raised as
to whether a particular rating on the scale has the same

meaning to each individual teacher.

'4.--The Observations.——The observations of the

 

teachers were limited to apprOpriate—inappropriate fre—
quency ratings on reinforcement, modeling, extinction,
and punishment. This does not necessarily reflect the
total interaction pattern of the teacher-student rela-
tionship. For example, non-verbal actions and interactions
of teachers over the routines of the classrooms were diffi-
cult to categorize with this system.

The frequency of the observations also was limited.
The observations were limited to two 20—minute sessions
because of the limited time of the investigator and the
tolerance of the teachers in having so many visitors in
their classrooms. Although the observations were done on
different days and different times, it is possible that
two samples were not sufficient to be representative of
how the teacher interacts with her children. An ideal
amount of observations would be to have samples of behavior
for each subject period of the day. It would seem that a

teacher would react differently to a child during a

lll

structured activity than during a free time activity.
Likewise, the child might react differently to a struc-
tured activity and to the minimum restraints of a free
time activity. Cobb (1969), however, has found that a 30-
minute observation period could constitute an adequate
sample of classroom behavior for the entire school day.

Another limitation was that classroom observations
were not obtained for the teachers with in—service train-
ing and the inexperienced group. It is not known if the
same results of negligible or no relationship between

the response and the observations would be obtained.

5.--The Analysis Of the Data.4-Using dichotomous

 

representation in the coding of the strategies and the
observation data limited the interpretation of the
responses. For example, a teacher who changed from a
reinforcement to a modeling choice was represented with
a "l" on both instances, which would be interpreted as no
change. The frequency of each strategy could not be
determined using this system.

The use of a two factor analysis of variance with
repeated measures limited the analysis to one case study
at a time. The interactions between the cases with

increasing increments of information were not obtained.

Outcomes From This Study
In spite of the above-mentioned limitations, three

interesting outcomes were obtained from this study. The

112

first outcome focused on the choices of strategies. It
'was concluded that the teachers did not significantly
change their initial choice of strategy with increasing
increments of information. It seems that teachers, like
clinicians, made their initial choice on very little
information. The succeeding increments of information
only served to justify their initial choice. This
conclusion might indicaterthat the teacher, when confronted
with a discipline problem, will act immediately upon the
problem and will use increasing amounts of information
about the child to reconfirm her actions. Teachers might
be seen as reacting to misbehavior in a rather superficial
manner.

Secondly,/the three groups of teachers did not
differ significantly./ The graphic representation in
Figure 3.4, showed that the three groups' frequencies of
specified responses were very close together.{iIn the
acting-out case study, significant differences at the .05
level were found between the three groups in their confi-
dence level. The group with in-service training appeared
to have a higher level of confidence in their choices than
the other group. Future research, based on a larger
sample, may confirm the tentative conclusion of this study.
that in-service training will raise the level of the
teachers' confidence in the appropriateness of their
response to behavioral problems. As teachers gain fami-

liarity with the various choices of strategy, with the

113

method of analyzing problems, and with applying strategies
for behavior modification, their confidence level might be
expected to rise. The findings of this study cannot be
conclusive because of the small size of the sample and
because the groups were not randomly assigned.)
Finally,ithere was little or no relationship between
the questionnaire responses of the teachers without in-
service training and their observed classroom responses.
In the classroom observations, the teachers used behavior
formation strategies more frequently in their interactions
with the withdrawn youngster than they used with the
acting-out youngster. Reprimand types of comments such
as "Sit down," "Are you finished with your work?", were
directed more frequently to the acting—out youngster.
The teachers were also more apt to pay attention to the
acting-out youngster because he usually was disrupting the
on-going task of the group and/or he was the center of the
disruption. The interaction of the teacher with the

acting-out child was more frequent and the majority of

contacts were mild reprimands and reminders.

{The day-to-day demands of the job, the pressure
to impart a specified amount of the curriculum, and to
work with a large group tempt the teacher to use reprimands
and reminders to obtain immediate compliance from the
child. In relation to the acting-out youngster and the
disruptions he presents, the frequency of behavior forma—
tion strategies will conceivably remain low unless the

teacher is actively reminded and encouraged to use them.

114

Focusing on the desired and competing behaviors will have

to be encouragedq

Implications for Teacher Pre-Service and
In-Service Education

 

This study has provided some evidence that teachers
are cognizant of the use of behavior formation strategies
in handling specific behaviors of the acting-out youngster
and the withdrawn youngster. The evidence points out that
teachers, when answering questionnaires or inventories,
are likely to answer as they think they should, rather
than in accordance with what they do. This was brought
out in the comparison of the responses on the questionnaire
with the classroom observations. Educators must be
cognizant of this point, and must rely more heavily upon
direct observation of the desired behavior they are focus-
ing upon in their training prOgrams. _Some procedures for
direct observations must be part of every evaluation
process of a training program, both pre-service and
in-service. In the planning of an in—service session,
one must program for transfer and not leave this process
to chance. Transfer of behavior from the training setting
to the job settingfimust occur.

White, EE_El' (1969), found that changes in the
classroom depend upon the attitude of the principal. The
administration, whether they are to attend the sessions or

not, must understand and support your ideas if new programs

115

of behaviors are to be implemented in the classrooms.
This is most important with teachers with experience..

Another important aspect is the format of the
in-service training. It has been found that behavioral
changes occur in programs that l) involve release time
from the teaching situation and 2) provide practice and
encouragement in the use of the new techniques (Schmuck,
.1968). In these programs the transfer from an academic
situation to the classroom is programmed.

Training programs should attempt to assess the
attitude teachers hold about 1) whether they feel the
information being offered is worthwhile, and 2) how
confident they are about the "correctness" and usefulness
of such information in their dealings with the children.
Questions assessing this attitude will, of course, vary
with the experience of the group. The inexperienced group
will not be able to assess accurately the impact the
information will have on children. To help the inexperi-
enced group, and to counteract the trend Hoy (1968) found
of the shifting of beginning teachers to more custodial
pupil control ideology, more supervised contact with
children, more instruction in teaching technique, and
more individualized and supportive instruction in the use
of discipline strategies might be helpful.

The trends of the results of this study also seemed
to indicate that teachers, when confronted with a discip-

line problem, will make a decision on very little information,

116

and Will probably continue to act upon this decision in
spite of increasing amounts of information. Teachers in
in-service and pre-service programs would benefit from
instruction that would specify behaviors and institute
procedures for the utilization of increasing amounts of
information. The process of handling a discipline behavior
should be based upon more variables and information than,
upon just an intuitive assessment of the situation.
Teachers should be provided with more specific practical
information by the pupil personnel staff. This might
include the child's strengths, weaknesses, his reactions
to various types of stress, rewarding conditions and the
best learning environment. The results indicate that
perhaps much of the information presently available to
the teacher, has little or not particular meaning for
the day-to-day activities in the classroom. A change
might be warranted in the present report writing and
information dissemination procedures by the pupil per-
sonnel staff. In the present form, teachers are 1) not
gaining practical information for their day-to-day acti—
vities or 2) not able to transfer the information into
practical solutions for behavior problems.

The graphic representations (Figures 3.1, 3.2,
3.3, and 3.4) of the strategies and confidence levels
indicate that teachers of varying degrees of experience
and training agree closely with each other in the with-

drawn case. In this case, teachers were more apt to use

117

behavior formation strategies.in their approach. Teachers
see the withdrawn child as less of a threat to their_
ability to manage the class, and that this child's problem
would be aggravated by the more punitive strategies.
However, in the acting-out case there were more
discrepancies in the teachers' choices of strategies.
The experienced groups were more positive in their approach
than the inexperienced group. The experienced group with
in-service training was consistently higher in their level
of confidence in the appropriateness of their decision.
The actions of the acting-out child engenders various
reactions on the part of the teacher. If the child is
behaving, the teacher often adopts a "wait and see" atti—
tude. If the child is disrupting, the teacher is torn
between punishing the child for his behavior and overlook—
ing the behavior and rewarding the competing desired
behavior. Because the teacher with in-service training
was able to see that some of the positive strategies do
bring about changes in the child in her classroom, confi-
dence in these strategies were seen as higher. Confidence
in the information given in pre-service and in-service

programs should be assessed.

Implications for Further Research

 

The review of the literature in the area of class-
room management failed to produce many reports of

experimental research studies on the choices and the

118

confidence level of teachers with varying experience and
training in handling deviant behaviors of the acting-out
youngster and the withdrawn youngster. This study indi-
cated that there was a slight difference between the
groups in the way they handled and perceived the appro-
priateness of the response to the acting-out child, but
there was less difference evident in their responses to
the withdrawn youngster. A variety of incidents and
open-ended questions might produce more differences between
the groups.

~Further research needs to be conducted to determine
whether a certain type of information about the child would
bring about changes in the teacher’s handling of the
discipline behavior. Research of this type would entail
a large sample of subjects. The increments would have to
be systematically varied and the data would have to be
analyzed by looking not only at the placement of the incre—-
ments but also the type of information being presented.

This study was conducted using small groups and

in a highly urbanized setting. Suburban and rural chil-
dren would have different types of information included
in their histories. Given this difference in information,
would teachers differ in handling discipline behaviors of
the acting-out youngster and the withdrawn youngster?
Along this same line of approach, it would be interesting
to investigate groups with different and/or no professional

education. Would parent groups differ significantly from

119

groups of teachers? Would counselors or school psycholo-
gists who see the child usually on a one-to—one basis
differ significantly from groups of teachers? These
differences or similarities would be useful knowledge for
school consultants.

A question that might be of value to trainers,
pre-service and in-service, is "Does confidence in the
appropriateness or usefulness of the information increase
the consistency with which the information is used in the
classroom?" From the workshop discussions, the investi-
gator felt that the teachers tried to become more consis-
tent in their approach to discipline problems. Extensive
classroom observations would be necessary to assess the
validity of this impression.

There is still much to be accomplished in assess-
ing the variables in the area of classroom management.
In-service and pre-service training programs would profit
from any information that would help teachers to become
more positive in handling their problems, to know how to
utilize more effectively the available information about
the child, and to be more confident and consistent in

their approaches.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ackerson, L. Children's Behavior Problems. Chicago:
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Adams, R. S. "Duration and Incident Frequencies as
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Anthony, E. J. "Taxonomy is Not One Man's Business."
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Ausubel, David P. "New Look at Classroom Discipline."
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Bandura, A. Principles of Behavior Modification. New
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Beilin, Harry. "Teachers' and Clinicians' Attitudes
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Bijou, S. W. "A Functional Analysis of Retarded Develop—
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Borg, Walter R. Mini Course: A Microteaching Approach
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Buys, C. J. "Effects of Teacher Reinforcement on Elemen-
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Clarizio, Harvey F. Identification and Correction of
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Clarizio, Harvey F. Toward Positive Classroom Discipline.
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Cobb, J. "Prediction of Academic Achievement from
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'Hospital Struggles for Life." Detroit Free Press,
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APPENDICES

APPENDIX I

THE QUESTIONNAIRE

APPENDIX I

THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Case Studies-~I and II

 

Each teacher when faced with a discipline problem
has varying amounts of information available to her.
Sometimes, the teacher must make a decision on very limited
amounts of information. Following this page, there are two
different cases for which you will be asked to decide which
strategy or method you as a teacher would use when con-
fronted with the particular problem. Each case study is
divided into four sections.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Do only one page at a time. Answer all the ques-
tions on each page before proceeding to the next
page. Do not return to the previous pages after
you have completed them.

2. Read the information given to you and determine the
method or strategy you feel you would use to handle
the problem. Be sure to answer each question as
you really think that you would handle the situa-
tion as described. The "I" in each situation

refers to you as the teacher.
3. There are no right or wrong answers to the questions.
4. After each answer, mark the degree of confidence

you have about the appropriateness of the method
you chose.

 

1 2 3 4 5
NOT FAIRLY VERY
CONFIDENT CONFIDENT CONFIDENT

This will take about 30 minutes to complete.

126

127

Classroom Incident

 

The class is very quiet, and all are working on the
assignment outlined on the board. I am at my desk correct-
ing some papers, however, periodically I stand to answer
questions and to survey the room to see that the students
are working. Johnny is sitting next to Peter. Peter drops
his pencil. This causes Johnny to comment about how clumsy
Peter is. Peter gets angry and pushes Johnny. Seeing this
commotion, I quickly call both boys to attention and remind
them of the assignment. At that point, Johnny defiantly
answers me back and says that it was Peter's fault for
being so clumsy. He glares at me.

I. Choose one of the below that typifies what you would do
in this.situation to change Johnny's defiant, sassing
behavior.

a. I would send Johnny out of the room for answering
back and for causing a disruption in the classroom.
He will have to stand in the hallway until he can
behave in the classroom.

b. I would ignore Johnny's defiant statement and his
glare because he wants me to get angry at him.

c. I would approach Johnny's desk and would comment on
the work he has done. I Would remark about the
progress he showed on the assignment and try to get
him working again.

d. I would make some statement to the class about how
certain pOpular leaders are working. "Joe and Jim,
I like the way you are continuing with the assign—
ment. You will certainly be finished by the time
class is over in fifteen minutes."

II. Circle the number indicating your confidence in the
appropriateness of the decision you made above.

 

l 2 3 4 5
NOT FAIRLY VERY
CONFIDENT CONFIDENT CONFIDENT

Be sure that you have marked both questions.

128

School History

 

Johnny has been a problem throughout his school
history. He has a record of absences and tardiness. His
past teachers have all felt that he was a disorderly and
disruptive influence in the school. His behavior and
attitudes have often been a subject of conversation among
the teachers.

His last report card indicated that his work habits,
such as follows directions, works independently, takes
pride in accurate work, needed improvement. His health
habits were satisfactory. His social growth, such as works
and plays well with others, uses basic manners, respects
rights and property of others, needed improvement. His
citizenship mark fluctuated between fair and poor through-
out the year.

Johnny's reading, spelling, handwriting and mathe—
matics fluctuated between satisfactory and needs improve-
ment. His performance in the gym was very satisfactory.

His last teacher‘s report card comment was:
"Johnny doesn't cooperate in the classroom. He
doesn't do his school work and often does things to disturb

those who are trying to do their work. You have to estab-
1iSh yourself as the boss or he will take over.“

Go on to the next page and answer the two questions.

129

Based on what you know about him now:

 

 

I. Would you change the way you would handle the classroom
misbehavior?

yes

no

If you are changing your strategy, mark the choice you

would now make:

a. I would send Johnny out of the room for answering
back and for causing a disruption in the classroom.
He will have to stand in the hallway until he can
behave in the classroom.

b. I would ignore Johnny's defiant statement and his
glare because he wants me to get angry at him.

c. I would approach Johnny's desk and would comment
on the work he has done. I would remark about the
progress he showed on the assignment and try to
get him working again.

d. I would make some statement to the class about how
certain popular leaders are working. "Joe and Jim,
I like the way you are continuing with the assign-
ment. You will certainly be finished by the time
class is over in fifteen minutes.

II. Circle the number indicating your confidence in the
appropriateness of the decision you made above.
1 2 3 4 5
NOT FAI RLY VERY
CONFIDENT CONFI DENT CONFIDENT

Be sure that you have marked both questions.

130

Social History

 

Johnny's family resides in a lower income neighbor-
hood in a single family dwelling. The yard is neat and
clean. The house is neat, but simply and sparsely furnished.
There are four children in the family. The parents are
separated and Johnny and his brothers and sisters are
living with their mother, who works as a clerk at a general
hospital. The family receives food stamps as an income
supplement.

The mother describes Johnny as one who is easily
distracted and needs constant praise. When he doesn't get
his way, he becomes angry and strikes out. His younger
sister is afraid of him. The mother minds the fighting
among the children only if they hurt each other.

The mother disciplines Johnny with the "stick."
She found that raising her voice does not seem to have any
impact on Johnny. The mother feels that Johnny's one main
problem is that he always wants to have his own way.

She would like to see him be less active and angry.
Because the mother works, she has never attended

any of the Parent-Teacher conferences. Teachers are unable
to get her cooperation with regard to Johnny's behavior.

Go on to the next page and answer the two questions.

131

Based on what you know about him now:

I. Would you change the way you would handle the class-
room misbehavior?

yes

no

 

If you are changing your strategy, mark the choice
you would now make:

a. I would send Johnny out of the room for answering
back and for causing a disruption in the classroom.
He will have to stand in the hallway until he can
behave in the classroom.

b. I would ignore Johnny's defiant statement and his
glare because he wants me to get angry at him.

c. I would approach Johnny's desk and would comment
on the work he has done. I would remark about
the progress he showed on the assignment and try
to get him working again.

d. I would make some statement to the class about how
certain popular leaders are working. "Joe and Jim,
I like the way you are continuing with the assign-
ment. You will certainly be finished by the time
class is over in fifteen minutes."

II. Circle the number indicating your confidence in the
appropriateness of the decision you made above.

 

l 2 3 4 5
.NOT FAIRLY VERY
CONFIDENT CONFIDENT CONFIDENT

Be sure that you have marked both questions.

132

Psychological History

 

Johnny was referred to the psychologist because of
his disruptive behavior in the classroom. Many times
during the day he hits the other children, knocks them
down and calls them "profane" names. He constantly
ignores classroom rules and directions.

The psychologist's report follows:

Johnny was a handsome boy of average physical
build. He was pleasant and related quite well. His verbal
skills were good.

His test results showed that Johnny is presently
functioning in the Dull Normal Range of intelligence. He
seemed to show strength in non-verbal items requiring him
to distinguish essential from non—essential environmental
details.

Johnny's projective test material indicates that
in certain situations he reacts so impulsively that he
loses his realistic judgment of a situation and behaves
inappropriately. At such times, he gives vent to a great
deal of anger and resentment. This inappropriate, aggres-
sive and impulsive behavior occurs almost always when
people are involved. In non-interpersonal situations he
shows an ability to recover his hold on reality and to
perceive situations in an undistorted way.

Johnny seems unable to c0pe with his own emotional
feelings. He reveals tremendous ambivalence toward adults.
He feels anger and resentment towards them, while at the
same time he craVes attention and nurturance. The result
is that his behavior towards adults is unpredictable and
inconsistent.

Go on to the next page and answer the two questions.

133

Based on what you know about him now?

I. Would you change the way you would handle the class-H
room misbehavior?

yes

no

 

If you are changing your strategy, mark the choice
you would now make:

a.

I would send Johnny out of the room for answering
back and for causing a disruption in the class-
room. He will have to stand in the hallway until '
he can behave in the classroom.

I would ignore Johnny's defiant statement and his
glare because he wants me to get angry at him.

I would approach Johnny's desk and would comment
On the work he has done. I would remark about
the progress he showed on the assignment and try
to get him working again.

I would make some statement to the class about how
certain popular leaders are working. "Joe and
Jim, I like the way you are continuing with the
assignment. You will certainly be finished by

the time class is over in fifteen minutes."

II. Circle the number indicating your confidence in the
appropriateness of the decision you made above.

 

l 2 3 4 5
NOT FAIRLY VERY
CONFIDENT CONFIDENT CONFIDENT

Be sure that you have marked both questions.

134
Classroom Incident

Johnny continues to disrupt the class by making
noises, or teasing and provoking others. He becomes
defiant and argumentative when I talk to him about his
behavior. He is very domineering, and most of the time,
irresponsible and unreliable. I cannot count on him
getting all his work done. He has been caught fighting
on the playground and is often very cruel and a bully to
the smaller children in the class.

I. Choose one of the below that typifies what you would
do in this situation to change Johnny's noisy and
provocative behavior.

a. Every time Johnny disrupts the class or hits
another youngster, I would send him to the
principal and let him discipline Johnny. The
principal could suspend him from school.

b. I would praise him about any sportsmanship-like
behavior he displays. Every time I can "catch"
him being good, I will make him monitor for that
period because he seems to like this privilege.

c. 'I would just ignore his behavior and would try to
get the other children not to pay attention to him.
If he doesn't have anyone to play or talk with
him, he won't be so disruptive.

d. Because Mark is one of the leaders of the class and
Johnny admires Mark for his ability to get along
with the other children, I would make a comment
such as "Look how quietly Mark and the others
around him are working."

II. Circle the number indicating your confidence in the
appropriateness of the decision you made above.

 

l 2 3 4 5
NOT - FAI RLY VERY
CONFIDENT CONFI DENT CONF I DENT

Be sure that you have marked both questions.

135

Case StudinI

 

Classroom Incident

 

Tom is in a class of 30 students. I am concerned
about him because he is so quiet and some of the other
children take advantage of him. The class was divided
into groups of five and they were all to work c00perative1y
on a mural on “Keeping Our City Clean." Everyone was
involved in the project and also talking among themselves.
Tom remained on the fringe of his group, however, he was
beginning to do some of the drawing and coloring of the
project. Tom is very good in art.

I. Choose one of the below that typifies what you would
do in this situation to help Tom become more actively
involved with the group's activity.

a. I would not comment about his participation. He
is working quietly. I would leave him alone.

b. I would remind him that if he didn't work faster
with the group that he would not finish his part
of the project and that he would have to remain
in at recess to finish.

c. I would comment to Tom about how well the other
children are working, especially his friend,
Marshall, who is actively involved with the group
project. '

d. I would comment favorably on his performance,
expecially the drawing and coloring he has com-
pleted. I would mention something about how well
his drawing fits into the completion of the total
group project. '

II. Circle the number indicating your confidence in the
appropriateness of the decision you made above.

 

1 2 3 4 “ 5
NOT FAIRLY VERY
CONFIDENT CONFIDENT CONFIDENT

Be sure that you have marked both questions.

136

School History

 

. Tom transferred from the Detroit Public Schools.
He was seen by his previous teachers as shy and having
difficulties finishing his work. He rarely was noted to
socialize with other children and he seemed to have no
friends.

His last report card indicated that his work
habits and health habits were satisfactory. However, his
teacher felt that his social growth, such as works and
plays well with others and uses basic manners, needed
improvement. His citizenship mark was fair throughout the
year.

Tom's reading, spelling, handwriting and mathe-
matics were evaluated by the teacher to be satisfactory or
improving. She also felt that he could profit from outside
help in some of his academic areas. She also felt that he
needed to pay more attention to his work and to complete
.his assignments, both in class and at home.

His last teacherbreport card comment was:
"Tom is very inhibited and reserved. He daydreams
constantly. His attention span is very short. With more

individual help perhaps he will be more motivated toward
school."

Go to the next page and answer the two questions.

137

Based on what you know about him now:

I. Would you change the way you would help Tom?

yes

no

 

If you are changing your strategy, mark the choice
you would now make:

a.

b.

I would not comment about his participation. He
is working quietly. I would leave him alone.

I would remind him that if he didn't work faster
with the group that he would not finish his part
of the project, and that he would have to remain
in at recess to finish.

I would comment to Tom about how well the other
children are working, especially his friend,
Marshall, who is actively involved with the group
project.

I would comment favorably on his performance,
especially the drawing and coloring he has com—
pleted. I would mention something about how
well his drawing fits into the completion of the
total group project.

II. Circle the number indicating your confidence in the
appropriateness of the decision you made above.

 

1 2 3 4 "" ' ' 5
NOT FAIRLY VERY‘
CONFIDENT CONFIDENT CONFIDENT

Be sure that you have marked both questions.

138

Social History

 

Tom lives in a run-down section of town. There
are few lawns, bushes and trees. The family lives in a
single family dwelling. The house is unkempt inside with
items of food, clothing and papers scattered around the
floor and on the furniture.

There are four children in the family. The parents
are separated and Tom and his brothers and sisters are
living with their mother. The mother receives ADC payments
and sometimes is able to get some work as a day maid.

The mother disciplines Tom usually by spanking:
"I hit him with anything I get my hands on." She feels
that she is very strict and that Tom rarely "lips off" to
her. She does not like noise in the house, however because
she does not seem to have any organizational skills, nothing
seems to get done on time.

The mother voiced some concern that Tom does not
get along well with his brothers. She feels that some-
' times he is too quiet and is usually the brunt of his
-brothers' meanness. However, because he does not get into
trouble, she expects more mature behavior from him than
from her other children.

.Tom's mother attended all the scheduled Parent-
Teacher conferences. Most of the conferences were spent
in discussing Tom's reluctance to speak in class and his
inability to make friends. The mother does not know what
to do with him, however she often voices the belief that
the teachers are sometimes too hard on him.

Go on to the next page and answer the two questions.

139

Based on what you know about him now:

I. Would you change the way you would help Tom?

yes

no

 

If you are changing your strategy, mark the choice
you would now make:

a.

b.

I would not comment about his participation. He
is working quietly. I would leave him alone.

I would remind him that if he didn't work faster
with the group that he would not finish his part
of the project and that he would have to remain
in at recess to finish.

I would comment to Tom about how well the other
Children are working, especially his friend,
Marshall, who is actively involved with the
group project.

I would comment favorably on his performance,
especially the drawing and coloring he has
completed. I would mention something about how
well his drawing fits into the completion of the
total group project.

II. Circle the number indicating your confidence in the
appropriateness of the decision you made above.

 

1 2 3 4 ‘ 5
NOT FAIRLY VERY
CONFIDENT CONFIDENT CONFIDENT

Be sure that you have marked both questions.

140
Psychological History

Tom was referred to the psychologist for daydream—
ing and listlessness. At home he needed constant reminders
to get dressed, and he seldom finished anything he started.
Tom objected to chores and schoolwork, and was irrespon-
sible about any task he was given.

Below is the psychologist's report:

Tom was small and frail. He talked slowly, showed
little emotion, occasionally misunderstood the questions,
and seemed to think carefully before answering. He con-
tinually asked for directions and tried to make certain
that he did what was requested. Tom scored in the dull
average range of intelligence. His performance scores,
however, were lower because of his slowness.

Tests showed that he felt pressured toward mature
~behavior, and that he resisted by attempts to escape from
action. He wished that he might be able to change himself
into another person or animal so that, "I could hide from
anyone who tried to get me." Tom was overwhelmed by the‘
noise, confusion and lack of direction at home. Tom has
been supported in being allowed to stay indoors when the
other children were sent out to play, and he evaded
responsibility for schoolwork by gaining his mother's
concurrence in the validity of his claim, that he knew
everything the teacher was teaching and did not need to
complete his assignments.

Go on to the next page and answer the two questions.

141

Based on what you know about him now:
I. Would you change the way you would help Tom?
yes

no

 

If you are changing your strategy, mark the choice
you would now make:

a. I would not comment about his participation. He
is working quietly. I would leave him alone.

b. I would remind him that if he didn't work faster
with the group that he would not finish his part
of the project and that he would have to remain
in at recess to finish.

c. I would comment to Tom about how well the other
children are working, especially his friend,
a Marshall, who is actively involved with the group
project.

d. I would comment favorably on his performance,
especially the drawing and coloring he has com—
pleted. I would mention something about how well
his drawing fits into the completion of the total

group project.

II. Circle the number indicating yourconfidence in the
appropriateness of the decision you made above.

 

l 2 3 ' ' '4"' 5
NOT FAIRLY VERY
CONFIDENT CONFIDENT CONFIDENT

Be sure that you have marked both questions.

 

142

Classroom Incident

 

Tom continues to daydream in the class. He is seldom
with other children and appears unhappy or depressed most
of the time. Whenever he is put in a group, he becomes
nervous and self-conscious. When I ask a direct question,
he will seldom answer. However, when there are no chil-
dren around, I can usually get him to answer some of my
questions. Whenever I can get him to do his work, he
does it neatly and meticulously.

I. Choose one of the below that typifies what you would
do in this situation to help Tom interact more fre- L
quently with the other children.

a. I would leave Tom alone whenever he is playing
with the other children or approaches others.
He will play with them when he is ready.

 

b. I would encourage Tom to enter play with other
children, and would get the other children to
accept him. Every time he is with other chil—
dren, I will give him some of my attention.

c. Marshall, one of the more popular boys, seems to
get along with Tom. Whenever Tom is near Marshall,
I would make a comment such as "Marshall is play-
ing the game very well" or "Marshall seems to be
having a good time playing with the other children."

d. Whenever Tom is not interacting with the other
children when the activity calls for it, or day-
dreaming I would give him a mild reprimand about
the importance of being in a group.

II. Circle the number indicating your confidence in the
appropriateness of the decision you made above.

 

1 2 3 4 5
NOT FAI RLY VERY
CONF I DENT CONF IDENT CONF I DENT

Be sure that you have marked both questions.

 

4. .«. AI-A’? J , .

,4...

--4

 

143

At what school are you presently teaching?

 

How many years have you taught
(include this year)?

What is your certificate major?

 

minor?

 

Degrees that you have earned? B.A.
BOS.

M.A.

*

other; specify

 

Check the courses you have completed:
Growth and development of children

Individual and the School: Introductory
Educational Psychology

Methods of Elementary Education

Methods of Teaching Reading

Language Arts for the Elementary Grades
Children's Literature

Social Studies for the Elementary Grades
Mathematics for the Elementary Grades
Science for the Elementary Grades

Student teaching

Thank you for your time and cooperation.

 

 

APPENDIX II

LETTERS TO TEACHERS

 

 

' APPENDIX II

LETTERS TO TEACHERS
April 16, 1973

Dear Teacher,

Please complete the enclosed questionnaire as
soon as possible. It should take about 30
minutes to complete.

Please return the completed questionnaire in
the accompanying envelope. Thank you for your
cooperation.

Sincerely,

May E. Polk
Director
Criminal Justice Program

Myrtle Yoshinaga
Consultant
Criminal Justice Program

144

w “math” ‘

 

YT-

APPENDIX III

OBSERVATION FORM

 

145

 

 

coapocflyxm

 

mcflamcoz

 

@cflucmmmum

 

cumsmm mo Hm>OEmm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hm>oummmmHQ
ucmEmoHOMcwmm
Hmuoa HH H
um>ummno muma
Honomme Boom Hoocom

zmom‘ona4>mmmmo

HHH NHQmem¢

.4 all“... mu... 1.24:1. I]
l

'E‘

 

APPENDIX IV

STRATEGY CHOICES
MEAN CONFIDENCE LEVEL RATINGS
INTER-RATER RELIABILITY OBSERVATION FREQUENCIES

CONFIDENCE LEVELS

STRATEGIES

Acting-Out

 

Withdrawn

 

 

ucmcfiocH
.smw

Increments
3

 

ucmcflocH

usmcflocH
.smo

Increments
3

 

pcmcwocH

mmsouo

 

 

 

Choices:

Reinforcement

M = Modeling

R:

Extinction

Punishment

P:

E:

146

147

CONFIDENCE LEVELS

Acting-Out ‘

 

Withdrawn

 

 

ucmcwocH
.smw

Increments
3

 

DcocflocH

pcmcflocH
.Gmo

Increments
3

 

ucmcfiOcH

mmsouu

 

 

 

Not confident

1:

Fairly confident

3:

5 = Very confident

148

X Confidence Level for Withdrawn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Increments
I 2 3 4 II
Group 1 4.5 4.4 4.4 4.6 4.2
Group 2 3.9 3 8 4.0 3.8 3.6
Group 3 4.5 4.0 4.0 3.7 3.7

X Confidence Levels for Acting-Out

Increments
I 2 3 4 II
Group 1 4.0 4.0 4.8 4.5 4.4
Group 2 3.2 3.8 3.8 3.2 3.5
Group 3 3.3 3.5 3.2 3.2 3.8

 

 

Total Observation Frequencies for Three
20-Minute Observations

149

 

 

 

Raters
Strategy I II III
Positive Reinforcement 95 90 92
Modeling 5 9 13
Punishment 40 45 48
Extinction 0 0 0

 

 

‘M

 

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