Using a Simple Reinforcement‐Based Intervention to Improve Performance on Reading Comprehension Assessments
A teacher-run sticker chart lifted a second-grader with ADHD from failing to grade-level reading comprehension in weeks.
01Research in Context
What this study did
A second-grade teacher gave a boy with ADHD a simple token plan. Each correct answer on a reading quiz earned a sticker. After ten stickers he picked a prize.
The study used a changing-criterion design. The teacher raised the score needed for a sticker every few days. The boy had to keep beating his last score to keep earning.
What they found
The boy’s quiz scores climbed from below grade level to the same level as his classmates. Scores stayed high even after the prizes stopped.
The teacher did the whole plan alone during regular class time. No extra staff or gear was needed.
How this fits with other research
Williams et al. (2002) showed the same thing on the playground. Tokens plus praise turned rowdy kids with ADHD into good sports. Wells moves the same idea into reading.
Friedling et al. (1979) looks like a clash. Self-talk lessons did nothing for hyperactive second-graders until the teacher added tokens. That match shows kids with ADHD need external rewards, not just words.
Shawler et al. (2021) tried a different path. Drilling keywords helped kids with ID read words faster, but comprehension stayed flat. Wells proves tokens can lift comprehension when the child has ADHD, not ID.
Why it matters
You can raise reading scores without a new curriculum. Pick a clear daily quiz, set a reachable score, and hand out a sticker or point right away. Raise the bar every week. One teacher did it in five minutes a day. Try it on any kid with ADHD who can read the questions but scores low.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
ABSTRACT In elementary school contexts, students may have difficulties performing at grade‐level on academic progress monitoring assessments, and these deficits may be more prevalent for students who have disabilities such as attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). For some students, their poor performance may be due to behavioral and motivational considerations and not a specific skill deficit in the skill domain, thus highlighting the need to evaluate simple, reinforcement‐based interventions that can be used to address performance issues due to behavior. In the current brief report investigation, researchers employed an AB design with embedded changing criterion components to evaluate the effects of a contextually appropriate intervention to improve performance on reading comprehension assessments for a second‐grade student receiving special education services in a rural public‐school context. The participant demonstrated an increase in accurate responding on reading comprehension assessments after implementation of the intervention and he maintained performance at or above the specified criterion throughout the intervention condition. Further, all intervention procedures were implemented by the resource and inclusion classroom teacher and the participant's performance during the intervention condition aligned with the performance of his same‐age peers.
Behavioral Interventions, 2026 · doi:10.1002/bin.70087