Effects of Behavioral Support on Participation in Routine Classroom Activities : Support for an Individual Pupil and for the Class as a Whole

Abstract

In a second-grade class of a regular elementary school, an 8-year-old boy had behavioral problems in activities such as setting up for lunch, cleaning up after lunch, and cleaning the classroom. Support was provided first individually to the boy and then to the class as a whole, according to a multiple baseline design across activities. The support improved the boy's behavior; the improvement was greater and more stable when the entire class was supported than when the boy was supported individually. The class-wide support also improved the behavior of other students in the class. These results suggest that when behavioral support in a regular class is planned, providing support to the whole class should have a higher priority than providing support to an individual pupil. A questionnaire asking about the social validity of the present study revealed that the teacher thought that the support procedures were highly effective but also found some parts of the procedures to be burdensome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)