Student Interview-Informed Behavior Contracts for High School Students Identified as at Risk

Abstract

Addressing the challenging behavior of students requires evidence-based interventions that can be implemented in school settings; however, there is a relative lack of literature investigating effective strategies for high school students in secondary settings. Behavior contracts have been used to address challenging behavior in elementary and middle settings but less so in high school settings. Furthermore, the extent to which they have involved student input at the high school level has been unclear despite research indicating that collaborative intervention development processes may be associated with several additional benefits beyond effectiveness. Despite these empirical shortcomings, behavior contracts may be well suited to address individual high school students’ challenging behavior given their flexibility, collaborative nature, and use of goal setting and clearly stated contingencies (i.e., rules) to promote behavior change. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the acceptability and effectiveness of a structured interview-informed behavior contract intervention to address the disruptive behavior of high school students. Specifically, we used a multiple baseline design across three students and found that the interview-informed behavior contracts were effective in increasing their academically engaged behavior (Tau = .62) and decreasing disruptive and passive off-task behavior. Limitations and future directions are discussed.