Comprehensive Individualized Curriculum and Instructional Design

underlying math deficits should ultimately eliminate the need for student problem behavior. As Jackson demonstrates fluency with requesting breaks appropriately and refraining from slamming his hand on the desk and tearing papers, we would increase the expectation for requesting breaks. Instead of giving breaks freely, we might limit Jackson to three break tickets during math, and if he has any leftover tickets he can cross off two problems from his worksheet. As Jackson’s math skills increase, the expectation may be that he finishes at least five problems before he can request a break. When first increasing expectations and student responsibility, it is often necessary to increase reinforcement for engaging in the desired behavior to motivate the student to take the next step. As Jackson’s math skills increase and he can complete more problems, he is also accessing the natural reinforcement of pride in work completion. At first it is important to make this explicit by praising student progress, effort, and work completion by saying such things as, “You should be really proud of how many problems you completed today.” In Sophia’s case, she would need explicit instruction and practice in raising her hand and requesting attention. Requesting attention appropriately and reducing disruption are important, but over time it will be important to increase time between requests for attention to a schedule that is reasonable for the teacher. The next approximation may be to systematically reduce the number of requests for attention (three per carpet time to two, etc.). Additional social skills instruction on appropriate ways (e.g. conversation starters, eye contact, smiling) and times to obtain adult attention should increase Sophia’s access to positive social attention during non- instructional times. I ncreasing specific social skills paired with incentives (e.g., earning 71