The Daily Report Card and Check-in/Check-out: A Commentary About Two Siloed Interventions

Owens et al. (2024) wrote a think-piece, not an experiment. They lined up two popular school tools: Check-in/Check-out (CICO) and the Daily Report Card (DRC).

The authors mapped each step side-by-side to show they share the same bones: morning preview, point card, teacher ratings, end-of-day feedback, parent signature.

The paper finds no real difference in the core steps. CICO and DRC are two brand names for one idea: a daily behavior report card.

Calling them rivals keeps teams from mixing the best parts of each. The authors say treat them like Lego blocks instead of pick-one menus.

Ferris et al. (2025) extends this view. They chained a DRC block with Functional Communication Training (FCT) and got both high compliance and low problem behavior. The chain worked because the DRC step was already solid on its own.

Conyers et al. (2004) used a similar side-by-side design long ago. They compared response cost tokens with DRO tokens in preschool and showed one tool can beat the other once you track data. Owens makes the same plea: compare, don’t crusade.

LaFrance et al. (2019) warn that silos hurt teams across disciplines. Owens warns that silos hurt teams within one discipline. Both papers push the same fix: look at overlap, share language, merge tools.

If you run CICO or DRC now, stop asking “Which one?” Start asking “Which pieces do my student, teacher, and parent need?” Swap in any step—morning check, point period, reward menu—from either package. Your team meetings get shorter and your forms get simpler because you are speaking one common language: the daily report card.