Implementation of Check-In/Check-Out to Improve Classroom Behavior of At-Risk Elementary School Students
Check-in/Check-out run by teachers and parents quickly lifts engagement and cuts problem behavior in at-risk elementary students.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Teachers and parents ran Check-in/Check-out with three elementary kids who were starting to slip.
Each morning the child set a daily goal. Each afternoon the teacher scored behavior and sent a note home.
The team used a multiple-baseline design. They started the program at different times to be sure any change came from CICO.
What they found
Academic engagement rose by a medium-to-large amount in every student.
Problem behavior dropped by a small-to-medium amount.
Gains showed up quickly and stayed while the program ran.
How this fits with other research
McIntyre et al. (2017) warned that CICO studies often lack rigor. The new paper answers that call by using clear single-case rules and parent-teacher teamwork.
Andrews et al. (2024) pooled past CICO cases and found the same thing: all effect measures say the program helps, but the size looks bigger or smaller depending on the ruler you pick.
Veenman et al. (2018) showed that broad classroom behavior plans help typical grade-school classes. Sottilare et al. zoom in on the few kids who need more than universal rules, proving CICO works as a tier-2 step.
Why it matters
You can train teachers and parents to run CICO in one short meeting. The daily sheet gives you data without extra testing. If a student is starting to act out, start CICO next week. Watch engagement rise and problem minutes fall.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The multi-tiered school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports offers a comprehensive model for the prevention of behavioral and academic problems in schools. This study evaluated Check-in/Check-out (CICO), a Tier 2 intervention, with three elementary school students from a high-need population, whose problem behavior was hypothesized to be maintained by teacher attention. The study employed a concurrent multiple baseline design across participants, a single case experimental design to examine the effects of CICO on student academic engagement and problem behavior during instruction. Results indicated that implementation of CICO with fidelity by the CICO coordinator, classroom teachers, and parents lead to increased academic engagement and reduced problem behavior in all three students. Tau-U Effect sizes were medium to large for academic engagement and small to medium for problem behavior across students. Data on two students indicate that systematically fading the number of times teachers utilize the daily report card has the potential for promoting maintenance effects. For one student, fading of the coordinator was successful. Social validity assessment indicated high levels of satisfaction with the CICO intervention by the participating students, teachers, and one parent.
Behavioral Sciences, 2023 · doi:10.3390/bs13030257