Effects of two teacher-presentation rates on off-task behavior, answering correctly, and participation.
Keep the lesson moving—fast teacher pacing alone cuts off-task behavior in early reading drills.
01Research in Context
What this study did
McKearney (1976) worked with three first graders during reading time.
The teacher tried two paces: slow with pauses, and fast with no gaps.
They flipped the conditions back and forth four times to see what happened.
What they found
When the teacher kept the pace brisk, off-task behavior dropped for every child.
One student also gave twice as many right answers and raised his hand more.
The gains came back each time the fast pace returned.
How this fits with other research
Lydersen et al. (1974) showed that paying kids with tokens for correct reading work slashed disruption.
W’s study says you can get a similar drop in problem behavior just by speeding up the lesson, no tokens needed.
Petursdottir et al. (2019) later blended both ideas: tokens plus fading, plus function checks.
Their package gave even bigger behavior cuts, showing fast pace can be one piece of a fuller plan.
Why it matters
You don’t need extra prizes or fancy tools. Simply cutting wait time and moving quickly from one question to the next can keep little kids engaged and reduce calling out. Try a rapid-fire drill for two minutes; if attention rises, keep the beat. It’s free, fast, and reversible if it doesn’t help.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Off-task behavior, correct answering, and participation during beginning reading instruction were recorded for two low-achieving first-grade children during two different rates of teacher presentation. A slow-rate presentation (A) was compared with a fast-rate presentation (B) in an ABABAB design. In slow-rate presentation, there was a delay between the children's response and introduction of the next task. In fast-rate presentation, there was no delay. A new teacher taught during the final AB phases, which allowed for a brief replication. Both teachers were reminded on a fixed-interval 90-sec schedule throughout all phases of the experiment to praise the subjects, thus preventing a confounding of social praise and rate of teacher presentation. Fast-rate presentation was accompanied by a lower per cent occurrence of off-task behavior for both Subjects 1 and 2. For Subject 1, correct answering and participation were more frequent during all three fast-rate phases. For Subject 2, correct answering and participation were more frequent during the fast-rate phases after the first reversal.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1976 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1976.9-199