Efficacy and Social Validity of a Class-Wide Interdependent Group Contingency to Decrease Between-Class Transition Durations

Abstract

The time students spend actively engaged with instruction is positively correlated with their academic achievement (Dotterer and Lowe in J Youth Adolesc 40:1649–1660, 2011). Conversely, the time spent transitioning between activities is inversely related to the time spent in productive learning activities, thus limiting opportunities for student engagement (Cameron et al. in J Sch Psychol 43:61–85, 2005; Codding and Smyth in J Educ Psychol Consult 18:325–345, 2008). As such, there is a need for behavioral interventions that facilitate effective and efficient transitions. In this applied study, teachers and students implemented an interdependent group contingency to decrease durations of between-class transitions in 4 elementary school classrooms. The treatment package included explicit timing, visual performance feedback, and progressive performance criteria (Brogan et al. in Behav Modif 41:405–421, 2017) in which each class had to outperform its prior shortest transition time to earn rewards. Treatment effects were examined using an ABAB design. Classes demonstrated high implementation fidelity and teachers generally reported high acceptability of the intervention, although correspondence between indirect and direct measures of social validity varied.