Implementation and Operation of a Contingency Management Program by the Elementary School Principal

Abstract

The proponents of contingency management have not developed ways to implement their procedures that are within the financial realities of most public schools and within which some degree of permanence of the procedures is planned. If the school principal could be trained as the behavior management specialist for his school, costs would be reduced and program longevity enhanced. In this study, elementary school principals were trained as contingency management specialists. Four principals were trained to supervise the implementation of a positively-oriented, token economy in all normal classrooms in their schools. Behavioral data, obtained in random samples of classes before and after implementation, indicated that the program was successfully implemented, and preliminary follow-up indicated that it was successfully in place beyond the novelty phase of the program introduction.