Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments behaviour charts

This breaks my heart. Those of you who are educators, is this method taught in college of ed courses? Is there actual research behind it?

I think animal trainers use positive feedback as it is more effective. This is what I (try) to do w/ my own kids. Praise the good and ignore the bad (unless it's really bad).

When my ds was in elementary they did this. He could get 5 notices per week before the parents were contacted. Almost regularly he would get 4 in day 1 or 2 and behave fine the rest of the week, unless he lost track of the count.

We get a weekly report with behavior charts for the whole week in a tabular column. It includes behavior, attitude in the classroom and things like "paying attention" etc. DS gets weekly tests and during one of those tests, he could not focus because his neighbor was a boy who could not keep still or quiet and made repeated annoying noises (like a dog's bark or a cat's meow according to DS) and DS told him to keep quiet and not disturb him during the test. And the teacher gave a bad report for both the boys for talking during the test when it should have been her fault for having poor crowd management skills.
My DS who tries to do his best in tests and finds noises distracting while focusing was in tears over the report and the unfairness of it. That was the day I told him to completely ignore the teacher's behavior reports and not worry about what rating he got. My child is a people pleaser and rule follower, so I tend to ignore any negativity in these reports because I know that he does not like to cause a stir at the school.
My advise: if you think that there is nothing bad in the report, ignore it and ask your DS to ignore it as well.

These charts have never, ever worked for DS. Not for potty training, not for behavior, nothing. I gave them up for good when DS (at age 3.5) said to me, "Mommy, I want to remember about going to the potty. But I can't. Stickers won't change that."

I know some kids just need a little reminder of some sort - but I question whether public humiliation is the best type of reminder. And make no mistake - even if the chart "reinforces good behavior" and is not on public display - every kid in the classroom knows that the child is being tracked and every kid will tell anybody they can - and particularly their parents - that the tracked kid is BAD. And if you are BAD because of something you sincerely cannot help, that puts you in a dark, dark place.

SO - before one of these charts is instituted, there must first be an assessment of the REASON for the tracked behavior. If a child is not acting willfully, the charts won't help. And they'll probably hurt because they will remind the child every day that he is broken, not good enough, BAD.

Can you tell we've struggled with this?

Last year in K, everybody wanted to sticker chart my son. It quickly became apparent the K-teacher was rigid and wouldn't listen to parental input. She assumed we didn't discipline our child and kept asking me to "talk to DS about expected behaviors." As if we didn't do that and more every day. She was brutal and frankly bullied my son in the way only an adult can do to a child. It was appalling and abusive.

Thank goodness the principal listened. She still wanted to use a "positive" chart, so I agreed on the grounds that she track whether it actually made any difference. And she was actually stand-up enough to admit that it didn't. Suffice to say I just kept my son away from school as much as possible to get past the end of the year.

This year, they started out wanting to sticker-chart, but the first grade teacher (who has 3 sons, two of whom are on the spectrum), dropped it as soon as it was obviously not making a difference, and moved to working with my son. She acknowledges his challenges, and tries to help him find workarounds. Then she compliments him when he uses the workarounds. When things aren't going well, she actually asks him why, and how she could help. Things are still bumpy, but instead of retreating into his "BAD" label and lashing out in frustration, DS is making progress and is learning in school. Mostly he's learning about himself and how to manage within a system (because he's already done with the year's curriculum). But that is what he needs most right now, so I'm OK with that. We can do actual learning of "stuff" at home.

So anyway - this is a huge long rant about sticker charts and how they can be so very, very bad for a child when the threshold issue is not addressed. You must first find out if the child is acting in a way he COULD control. If not, you must help the child learn the skills. And public humiliation via sticker charts, that assume he already has the skills, are an obstruction in that case, not an aid.

Rant concluded!
Sue

Behavior charts are not a bad thing, when done appropriately, though, unfortunately, suevv's child is not alone in having experienced inappropriate use.

1. You need to know the target behavior and its function, which includes the ABC's of the target behavior: behavior, antecedent, (natural & artificial) consequences. Then design a reinforcement system that addresses those needs/functions with replacement behaviors.
2. You need to have a child who is motivated by charts. Not every child is. Some are much more deeply motivated by relationships.
3. You need to have teachers & staff who implement the system consistently, calmly, and respectfully, as a support, and not a punishment.

My experience with the other students, btw, is that the perception of most of them is not really changed by the presence or absence of the chart/reward system. Everyone knows who "those" children are anyway. How the teacher manages their behavior (including charts and other interventions) will not affect identification as such, but it can profoundly affect how peers view children outside the norm, and especially whether they rally around the child, to support and encourage them, or ostracize them as being "bad". Most of this flows down from how the teacher views the student, irrespective of charts and behavior plans.

suevv's anecdote illustrates this last point rather well.

Thanks aeh. I love the way you took my wild-eyed rant and turned it into more useful advice! We're so lucky to have you here.

Praise the good and coach the bad is my approach. After DD is ready to talk about the behavior in a calm, rational manner, we discuss alternative ways she could have handled herself to achieve her goals without falling afoul of the rules.

As far as sticker charts go, DD has been told that, unless there's a phone call home, DW and I don't care about her behavior in school, that's between her and her teachers.

YES. I seriously debated sending my child to therapy over this between K and 1. They are ridiculous. My child came out of K afraid to ask teachers questions, afraid to take risks, completely confused about what she was doing wrong, totally anxious. This year it is better, but she still hates it and it makes her feel like a bad person.

The idea that reading can be taught but motor and executive function issues are behavior "choices" make me want to go seriously postal.

Is your child struggling with this or are you just curious? We've kind of figured out how to cope with it. Let me know if you want to know more.

From what I see they are super bad for highly sensitive gifted kids and children who can't control their bodies (even the most minor executive function/motor planning struggles).