Special Education K-5 ELA and Supplemental Guide

Behavioral Instructional Priorities TIER 1 Implementation Guide

Link to Tier 1 - Instructional Guide document

TOKEN ECONOMIES A system whereby participants earn generalized conditioned reinforcers (e.g., tokens, chips, points) as an immediate consequence for specific behaviors; participants accumulate tokens/chips/points and exchange them for items and activities from a menu of backup reinforcers.

Rationale:

Implementation Guidelines: ● Determine which behavior will be

Use of a token economy ties immediate reinforcement for expected or replacement behaviors. Students earn tokens for engaging in appropriate behaviors. Can be used with varying frequency, very moldable for individualization and shaping behaviors and reinforcing new skills. Token economies address both escape maintained and attention seeking behaviors. They can be used for working towards short and long term goals. They are visual so that students can easily monitor their own progress. Token Economy as an intervention is: individualized to the student’s needs. If used for the whole class, it is intensified for the target student. The intervention is tied to specific targeted behavior change and skill acquisition. Use of token economies to reinforce student behavior should include an identified (and defined) target behavior, an intentional schedule of reinforcement, and collection of data on the target behavior and acquisition of tokens. Token Economy as an intervention is not: b ribery or randomized reinforcement. Token economies work toward earning only, not costing (if a student earns a token, it is not taken away). Implementation Example(s): ● Penny boards ● 5-frame ● 10-frame ● Punch card ● Class Money/Class Store ● Dot-to-Dot ● Electronic - PBIS Rewards ● Any currency that earns the student access to rewards contingent on their behavior Fidelity Check ❏ S tudents can explain how they earn tokens, when they can spend their tokens, and what they can buy with their tokens. ❏ Students can see the tokens they have earned. ❏ No response cost is used (tokens are not taken away once they have been earned) ❏ Tokens are given at a consistent rate and occur more frequently than inappropriate behaviors.

addressed with the token system ● Select what the tokens will look like (check marks, stickers, smiley faces) ● Define the backup reinforcers (what the student will be working toward or earning access to) by assessing the student’s interests and motivation. ● Determine the criteria for success: determine how many tokens are needed to earn the backup reinforcer (i.e., 10 pennies, 5 stickers, a 10-hole punch card, 7 pieces of a puzzle, etc.) ● Provide the student with correctly, award a token or place a token on the student’s token board. ● Continue this process until the student has earned all the tokens; then provide the backup reinforcer. becomes familiar with the system, introduce new goals as needed. ● Over time, gradually increase the criteria for earning tokens (i.e., the number of correct responses ). ● After the student an opportunity to respond. When the student responds

Checklist created by: The University of Washington. Additional resources can be found here