A Behavior Contract and Behavior Monitoring Tools

A Behavior Contract Form

This is a fairly straightforward form that can be used for most behaviors. There is room for only two behaviors: more than two behaviors may only confuse the student and dissipate the effort you need to place on identifying the replacement behavior and praising it.

After each goal, there is a place for "threshold." Here you define when the goal has been met in a way that merits reinforcement. If your goal is to eliminate calling out, you may want a threshold of 2 or fewer instances per subject or class.​

In these contracts, rewards come first, but consequences also need to be spelled out. The contract has a review date: it makes the teacher accountable as well as the students. Make it clear that a contract does not need to be forever.

A Behavior Level System for Secondary Students

A Behavior Level System creates a rubric for behaviors that evaluates a student's behavior and performance in a program, across a day or in a single subject/period. A student earns marks or "levels" from outstanding to unsatisfactory. The student's rewards are based on the number of each level he or she achieves during the class or day.

A Self Monitoring Behavior Contract

A self-monitoring behavior contract turns responsibility for behavior over to the student. Not a "one and done" it does require an investment of time to teach, model and evaluate the program before you turn it over to the student. In the end, the result involves teaching the student how to monitor and evaluate his or her own behavior.

Behavior Contracts for the School Bus

Students with disabilities often have trouble on the bus. They may trouble controlling impulses, they may have attention deficit disorder. Often they will misbehave to get the attention or acceptance of a peer group. These behavior contracts, with the support and cooperation of parents and your transportation department, can help your students succeed.

A Home Note Program

A Home Note Program provides feedback to parents and lets them help you, the teacher, support the kind of behavior that will help their child succeed. A home note can be used with a Behavior Level Program to provide success for students.

Behavior Record

The simplest form of monitoring is a simple check off form. This form offers a place to write the target behavior, and squares for each day of the week to record the occurance. All you need do is attach one of this forms to the students desktop and stop by when you need to remind the student that they have either performed the target behavior or have gone the designated period without exhibiting the behavior.

A Countdown for Raising Hands

This is a self monitoring tool to support appropriate participation in class by raising hands rather than calling out. Getting the student to not only mark when they have appropriately raised their hand, but also record when they forget, is a big challenge. The teacher may need to remind the child to tick off when they have called out.

A teacher asking a child to self monitor needs to be sure that he or she is not ignoring other students who call out. It might be helpful to have a teaching peer observe some instruction to be sure you don't let other calling out behavior slide by. I once observed a teacher for a graduate class and was surprised to see that she called on the boys more often than girls, to keep them engaged, but would ignore when girls would blurt out answers.

I Can Do It!

Another self-monitoring tool, with a place for positive behavior (the Replacement Behavior) as well as the problem behavior. Research has shown that attention to positive behavior is more likely to help that replacement behavior increase and the problem behavior disappears. Paying too much attention to the target behavior ends up reinforcing the behavior.

Race to 20-30

This worksheet offers two monitoring tools: a "Race to 20" and a "Race to 30." When a student reaches his or her "20" they earn preferred objects or preferred activity. The 30 page is to help students step it up to the next level.

This format is probably best for a child who has shown that he or she was able to monitor their behavior for shorter periods of time. You might want to create a "Race to 10" with Microsoft Word for students who need to have the self-monitoring modeled.

Race to 100

Another form of the self-monitoring tool: Race to 20, this one is for a student who has really nailed a replacement behavior. This form would be great for a student who is approaching mastery of the new skill but helps both of you, both student and teacher, to keep your eye on the behavior as it becomes habitual. What could be better than a child who "habitually" lines up quietly and keeps hands and feet to himself?

Positive Behaviors

This is a great monitoring tool for when you first begin to monitor success on a behavior contract. It has two rows, (divided into a.m. and p.m.) for two behaviors, with a smiley critter for the replacement behavior and a frowny critter for the target behavior. At the bottom, there is room for "student comments," a place for students to reflect, even when successful. Perhaps the reflection will be "It's easier for me to remember what to do in the morning," or even "I feel great when I have more marks on the smiley side than on the frowny side."

Meet My Target

Another great monitoring tool for behavior contract compliance, this document provides a place to write each of your replacement behaviors and give checks for the behavior. Designed to monitor the activities for a week, there is a row for each day and a place for parents to sign to show that they have seen that day.

Requiring a parent initial means that the parent is always seeing and hopefully always praising good behavior. You need to be sure parents understand the notion of "threshold." Often parents think that you can eliminate a behavior quickly entirely. Helping them understand what is reasonable will also help see that the result is successful across environments, not just school.