The generality and social validity of a competency-based self-control training intervention for underachieving students.

Three fifth-graders who scored low in math got a short self-management course.

They learned to set goals, track their own work, and give themselves points.

The trainer watched only a little; the kids ran most of the steps alone.

All three children quickly solved more problems and made fewer errors.

Teachers and parents liked the plan and said they would use it again.

The skills moved to regular class time and stayed for weeks.

Todorov et al. (1984) tried a fuller package two years earlier and saw wide generalization. The 1986 study trims the steps and still keeps the gains, so brief can still work.

Castelloe et al. (1993) warned that self-management often sticks only while adults watch. Here, generalization held after the adult left, showing the warning can be beaten when you build in student choice and public goals.

Embregts (2000) later added video feedback to the same self-management bones and helped teens with ID cut social errors. The core parts stay; you can layer new tools on top.

You can hand the clipboard to the learner. A five-day mini-unit that teaches goal setting, self-charting, and quick self-rewards may lift math scores without extra staff. Try it next time a late-elementary student stalls on basic facts. Start small, measure daily, and let the student run the timer.