Effects of Response Cards on the Disruptive Behavior of Students

Abstract This study examined the effects of response cards (RC) on student disruptive behavior, responding, and accuracy of responding during whole-class guided-reading instruction in a first-grade classroom. The authors combined two baseline conditions with an alternating treatments design and then replicated the effects across four teacher-nominated students. The first baseline condition was the teacher\u27s typical instruction format, where one student who raised his/her hand was called upon to respond to the teacher\u27s question. The second baseline condition (BL\u27) was the same as the first baseline with an additional control for the number of teacher-delivered questions to the class per session. The RC condition was the same as BL\u27 except students were expected to write their answers on the laminated card and then display upon the teacher\u27s cue. Response cards and BL\u27 conditions were alternated each session. The results revealed that RC implemented by a classroom teacher did reduce students\u27 disruptive behaviors and increased their responding and accuracy during class