Self+Management

1: Description of Strategy a) Self-management plans are used to teach students to independently complete tasks and take an active role in monitoring and reinforcing their own behavior. An important goal in education is to foster self-reliance and independence. Self-management strategies can be implemented before any problem behaviors occur. The ability to use self management strategies effectively is a skill that becomes very important for success as children grow. The critical elements of self-management include setting goals, monitoring behavior, and evaluating progress. Examples of self management include self monitoring, self evaluation, and self reinforcement. [|Self-Management]

b) This method is designed for students of all ages and can be adapted to fit the age of the students and their specific needs. It can also be used specifically for students with learning disabilities or problem behaviors.

c) Individuals who used this method need to complete the following to promote self-management: (1) conduct a functional assessment to identify the function maintaining the problem behavior, (2) encourage the student to list possible reinforcers that can be used and assist the team in creating the self management plan, (3) develop a recording form that is easy to use and will not create a lot of extra work for either the teacher or student, (4) initial training sessions may be necessary to assure the student understands how to use the recording form and implement the self-management plan, (5) designate a small amount of time to confirm that the student understands the self-management plan and evaluate the accuracy of the student's recording, (6) some self-management studies have included incentives to the student for high levels of accuracy in self-recording, and (7) review progress with the student on a regular basis and celebrate success.

d) This method can be used over a long period of time and is inexpensive to use.

e) If the self management plan requires more effort and does not result in the same outcome, the student will continue to engage in problem behavior because it is more efficient. There are factors that should be considered to make sure a self management plan will be more efficient than a problem behavior and to avoid any risks associated with this method. Make sure that the reinforcement a student receives occurs frequently enough to maintain his or her self management behaviors. The reinforcer chosen needs to be as powerful as the outcome previously associated with problem behavior and delivered quickly when it is earned.

f) Research studies show that self-management strategies can be used to improve academic performance, productivity, time on-task, and to decrease problem behavior. In fact, some self management plans are created specifically to replace a student's problem behavior with a more appropriate skill. Self management strategies are intended to build a student’s independence and ability to engage in self monitoring, self evaluation, and self reinforcement.

g) This method can be used in general classroom settings and special education classroom settings.

h) Many studies focusing on self-management techniques have shown the effectiveness of self-management procedures in behavior change and academic productivity. These studies included students from many different populations, ranging from average achievers to students with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities. Teachers have found many advantages in using self-monitoring procedures: These procedures improve target behavior, stress the student's role in behavior change, allow generalization to non-school environments, free teachers for other tasks, and teach students responsibility and self-determination (Frith & Armstrong, 1986). Of course, teaching students self-management skills should not be regarded as a substitute for a high-quality curriculum of instruction (Dunlap et al., 1991) that emphasizes academic and social learning skills.

2: Research Study Shogren, Karrie A., Lang, Russell, Machalicek, Wendy, Rispoli, Mandy J., O'Reilly, Mark. (2011). Self-Versus Teacher Management of Behavior for Elementary School Students with Asperger Syndrome: Impact on Classroom Behavior. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions. 13(2). 87-96.

a) Two 5 year-old children with Asperger Syndrome who were struggling to follow classroom rules participated in this research study. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of a token economy and a self-management intervention in an inclusive kindergarten classroom.

b) An ABACABAC (A = baseline, B = token economy, C = self-management) design with a maintenance phase was used.

c) The Dependent Variable is the appropriate classroom behavior and academic engagement.

d) The Independent Variable is the token economy and self-management phases.

e) Results show improvements in appropriate classroom behavior and academic engagement during the token economy and self-management phases. The improvements were maintained 2, 4, and 8 weeks after the study ended and the classroom teacher continued to use the self-management system with the target students and independently created and implemented a class wide self-management system. Social validity data suggested a strong teacher preference for the self-management intervention because of its ease of implementation and focus on student responsibility.