The Good Behavior Game in preschool classrooms: An evaluation of feedback

Wiskow et al. (2019) tested two kinds of teacher feedback during the Good Behavior Game in two preschool rooms. They tried vocal reminders alone, vocal plus a point chart, chart only, and no feedback at all.

Each condition rotated daily so the same kids served as their own control. Teachers still ran the standard GBG rules; only the way they told students about rule breaks changed.

When teachers spoke the reminders, disruptive behavior dropped the most. Adding the point chart helped a little, but chart-only or silence did far less.

In short, saying the rule reminder aloud beat quietly marking tallies every time.

Dadakhodjaeva et al. (2020) picked up the same GBG tool in kindergarten and showed you can later thin it to a few days a week without losing gains. Together the two papers give a mini manual: start daily with vocal feedback, then ease the schedule once behavior is steady.

Plant et al. (2007) seems to clash at first—they found visual feedback works, but they gave the sheet to teachers, not kids. Visual data helps adults reflect; young children still need to hear the cue.

Foster et al. (1979) also used audible feedback paired with rewards and likewise cut hyperactive motor behavior, showing the power of sound cues spans ages and topographies.

If you run the GBG in preschool, skip the silent board. A quick, calm verbal reminder—"check your rule"—drives the biggest change. After a few weeks you can scale back to a few game days, as Kamila et al. showed, but keep the vocal part. One simple shift: talk, don't just tally.