Grandma's Rule with Group Contingencies—A Cost-Efficient Means of Classroom Management

Abstract

A stop watch and a stop clock were utilized in two different versions of a classroom incentive program designed to reduce student disruptions and increase on-task behavior during a small group instructional format, in this case a reading circle. The present study investigated: (a) whether the two procedures would be effective in reducing disruptions and increasing task orientation among those students outside the reading circle who are relatively unsupervised by the teacher without being intrusive into the teacher's conducting his or her lesson and (b) whether the more expensive stop clock would be incrementally effective compared to the stop watch in order to justify the additional cost of the stop clock. A multiple baseline design with a reversal of the stop clock condition was employed with students of five regular elementary classrooms serving as subjects. Results indicated that both techniques reduced disruptions and that there was no systematic difference in effectiveness between the two procedures.