Student Self-Student Self-MonitoringMonitoring

Applied Field ProjectBy

Amber Verrall

What is Student Self-What is Student Self-Monitoring?Monitoring?

Self-Monitoring is a “procedure that actively engages a student in observing and monitoring his or her behavior” (Smith & Nelson, 1997, p. 92)

Self-Determination

Self-Management

Self-Monitoring

Self-Monitoring Looks Self-Monitoring Looks Like…Like…

• Stringing beads to mark number of times student raised hand• Chart to record number of problems completed• Checklist to mark number of correct problems• Tally sheet to record how many times a behavior occurs• Happy face/Sad face chart to mark how often student is

working on task

Typically used to record• Time on task• Inappropriate/disruptive behavior• Accuracy/productivity

Who can Self-Monitoring Who can Self-Monitoring Be Used With?Be Used With?

• Gifted Students• Non-disabled students• At-risk students• Students with disabilities including:

o Mild/Moderate Intellectual Disabilitieso Developmental Delayso Autismo Behavior/Emotional Disturbanceo Learning Disabilitieso Speech Disorders o ADHDo Other disabilities

All students!

My Big IdeaMy Big Idea• Assist students in developing ownership of their

behaviors

• Assist students in experiencing control over their intervention and behaviors

• Increase respectful communication

• Have a more peaceful classroom environment!

The StudentsThe Students• 9 students participated in the baseline phase (10 students

participated in the intervention)

• 6 boys and 3 girls participated, 2 students were second language learners

• Students were from 7 to 10 years old, 1st to 5th grade• All students were diagnosed as having emotional

disturbance• Other student disability labels include: ADHD, Language

Disorders, various Learning Disabilities, Visual Impairment

The PlanThe Plan• Students would self-monitor their use of respectful

communication using a happy face, so-so face, or sad face

• Students would compare their self-monitoring to the teacher’s monitoring, and earn classroom coins accordingly (happy faces=2 coins, so-so faces=1 coins, sad faces=0 coins)

• Bonus coins were awarded when the student’s self-monitoring sheet matched the teachers’ sheet

• Students would graph their incidents of positive communication at the end of the week

Before the InterventionBefore the Intervention

• Baseline data collection showed that as a whole the students utilized positive communication about an average of 44% of the time

The InterventionThe Intervention

• Positive Communication was broken into 3 parts:o Word Choice – the words you choose to sayo Voice Tone – how you say the wordso Body – what your body is doing while you say the words

• Students were trained in the use of respectful communication and self-monitoring in many wayso Role-playingo Pretend simulationso Reflection on real incidentso More role-playing

During InterventionDuring Intervention

+ In surveys and interviews, all students felt that the intervention helped them to see how their day was going

+ All students enjoyed the idea of earning things for their behavior

+ Most students initially expressed a belief that the self-monitoring would help them have a good day

- Some students felt that it took too long to complete

The DataThe Data• As a whole, the classroom’s observed use of positive

communication increased during intervention to an average of about 84% of the time

• 3 students experienced a large improvement (more than 10%)• 4 students experienced a moderate improvement (less than 10%)• 2 students experienced a slight decrease• 1 student had no baseline

- In the last round of interviews, many students felt that the intervention did not show them the progress they were making

The ResultsThe Results

More ResultsMore Results• Possible correlation between student attitude and their

performance with the intervention

o All students in the large improvement group initially or eventually expressed positive attitudes

o Students who maintained consistently neutral attitudes or who changed their attitude from positive to neutral typically fell into the moderate improvement group

o Of the students in the slight decrease group, 1 maintained a positive attitude and 1 student changed her attitude from positive to neutral

The LimitationsThe Limitations- My bias

- Students had some prior experience with self-monitoring (not systematic or trained very well)

- 1 student started the classroom during intervention, no baseline was established, so he may have skewed results

- School wide change in data monitoring forms between baseline and intervention types

Lingering QuestionsLingering Questions

• How can a progress monitoring component be added so that students can see and understand the progress they are making?

• How would setting their own goals and evaluating progress towards these goals effect students’ perceptions and performance?

DiscussionDiscussion

What value would student self-monitoring have for your students? For you as the teacher?

How could you implement student self-monitoring in your classroom?

• Track IEP goals• Use of social skills• Reading scores• Math accuracy• Completed assignment• Track completed homework

Take Home MessageTake Home MessageBenefits to Teacher Benefits to Students• Low cost

• Easy to use

• Adaptable to individual student’s needs

• Small time investment

• Benefits students immediately and in their future

• Increases sense of control

• Can be inherently rewarding and motivating

• Increases independence

• Involves students in managing themselves

• Teaches them skills that will benefit them later in life

Beneficial for teachers and students!

Take Home MessageTake Home Message• Steps to Set Up a Self-Monitoring System

1. Identify an area that student need improvement

2. Take baseline data on the desired area of improvement

3. Meet with student & determine method for monitoring & incentive (if any)

4. Teach student how to independently monitor

5. Practice! Practice! Practice!

6. Start self-monitoring (keep eye on student) & reinforce student

7. Meet with student to check on progress

8. Begin to fade if needed

Remember, the goal is for a student to self-monitor

without use of the intervention!

The ResourcesThe ResourcesCrawley, S. H., Lynch, P., & Vannest, K. (2006). The use of self-monitoring to reduce off-task behavior and cross-

correlation examination of weekends and absences as an antecedent to off-task behavior. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 28(2), 29-48.

Firman, K., B., Beare, P., & Loyd, R. (2002). Enhancing self-management in students with mental retardation: extrinsic versus intrinsic procedures. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 37(2), 163-171.

Ganz, J. B. (2008). Self-monitoring across age and ability levels. Preventing School Failure, 53(1), 39-48.

Jull, S. K. (2009). Student behavior self-monitoring enabling inclusion. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 13(5), 489-500.

Peterson, L.D., Young, K.R., Salzberg, C.L., West, R.P., & Hill, M. (2006). Using self-management procedures to improve classroom social skills in multiple general education settings. Education & Treatment of Children, 29(1), 1-21.

Rafferty, L. A. (2010). Step-by-step: Teaching students to self-monitor. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 43(2), 50-58.

Schoen, S.F., & Nolen, J. (2004). Action research decreasing acting-out behavior and increasing learning. TEACHING Exceptional Children. 37(1), 26-29.

Smith, D. J. & Nelson, J. R.(1997). Goal setting, self-monitoring, and self-evaluation for students with disabilities. In Agran, M. (Ed.), Student Directed Learning: Teaching Self-Determination Skills (pp. 80-110). Pacific Grove, Ca: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

Smith, D. J. & Young, K. R. (1992). The effect of a self-management procedure on the classroom and academic behavior of students with mild handicaps. School Psychology Review, 21(1), 59-72.

Vanderbilt, A. A. (2005). Designed for teachers: How to implement self-monitoring in the classroom. Beyond Behavior, 15(1), 21-24.

Zlomke, K. and Zlomke, L. (2003). Token economy plus self-monitoring to reduce disruptive classroom behaviors. Behavior Analyst Today, 4(2), 177-182.

Questions for Me?Questions for Me?