Contingency counseling by school personnel: an economical model of intervention.

One school counselor made short, written deals with kids who skipped school. If the student came that day, the counselor gave a reward like free gym time or a late pass.

The study used an ABAB design. First they tracked baseline absence. Then they tried the deals. Then they stopped the deals. Then they brought the deals back.

When the deals were on, attendance doubled. When the deals stopped, kids stayed home again. The pattern repeated in the second reversal.

Traditional talk-only counseling did nothing. The moment the counselor added a clear if-then reward, the same students showed up.

Harris et al. (1973) also used classroom social rewards, but they let peers deliver the attention. Both studies show you do not need extra teachers—people already in the room can run the program.

Weitz (1982) trained typical classmates to tutor withdrawn kids. Like Bailey et al. (1970), the work shows non-specialists can give effective behavioral help once you write a simple plan.

Simpson et al. (2001) warns that the wrong consequence can backfire. They tried physical restraint and problem behavior grew. Bailey et al. (1970) shows the opposite: pick a reward the student wants and you get quick gains with no side harm.

You can copy this Monday. Grab one truant student, ask what small privilege they want, write it on an index card, and hand it over when they walk in. No extra staff, no cost, and the 1970 data say it works in one day.