Eliminating discipline problems by strengthening academic performance.

Five boys in a regular third-grade class kept getting kicked out for talking out and leaving their seats.

The teacher gave each boy tokens when he read a page with no more than two errors. Tokens bought 15 minutes of free play. The researchers flipped the rule on and off four times to be sure it worked.

When reading earned tokens, the boys did twice as much work and disruption fell from a large share to almost zero. When tokens stopped, problems shot back up. When tokens came back, calm returned.

Petursdottir et al. (2019) ran the same idea 45 years later. They added a quick FBA and then slowly faded the tokens. Disruption still dropped a large share, showing the trick holds up and can be weaned.

Rapport et al. (1982) pushed the idea further. They paid inner-city teens with tokens for praising their tutees. Both tutors and tutees read better and stayed on task, proving the power spreads to older kids and peer pairs.

McKearney (1976) looks like a clash but isn’t. That study cut disruption by having the teacher talk faster, not by handing out tokens. Two tools, one goal: keep kids busy so trouble can’t start.

You don’t need a fancy plan for “behavior.” Just tie rewards to the work you want seen. Pick a clear academic response—reading a page, solving five math facts—and pay tokens for that. Disruption melts while skills grow. Start today with one learner and a pocket of stickers or points; the 1974 data say you’ll see change by lunch.