Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Cheryl B. McNeil.
Abstract
The behavior of children in a preschool classroom was assessed to evaluate the effectiveness of two classroom management approaches: (a) strategies already employed by the teachers, and (b) the Level System. Strategies already employed by the teachers were those that they currently used in their preschool classroom. This phase was considered the baseline or "A" treatment phase. The Level System is a new program that utilizes strategies including a token economy, stimulating rewards, strategic attention, and labeled praise to manage a range of behaviors exhibited by children in the classroom. This was considered the "B" treatment condition. These two approaches were evaluated using an ABAB sequence where each was employed for a minimum of 17 observations with 4 male 4-year-old participants. Behaviors were assessed using unobtrusive classroom coding of activities and teacher report. Four main findings were obtained: (a) the Level System was more effective in managing disruptive behavior than previously-used classroom management strategies, (b) fewer time outs were given while the Level System was used in the class compared to while the typical classroom management strategies were used, (c) teacher report of satisfaction with the Level System varied, but parents reported high levels of satisfaction with the Level System, and (d) negative effects on "intrinsic motivation" with use of the Level System were not evident.
Recommended Citation
Filcheck, Holly A., "Evaluation of a whole-class token economy to manage disruptive behavior in preschool classrooms" (2003). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 1865.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/1865