A Comparison of Accumulated and Distributed Reinforcer Arrangements in a Classroom

Though effective classroom management can increase student academic achievement and decrease disruptive behavior (e.g., Beaman & Wheldall, 2000; Marzano et al., 2003), many classroom teachers receive inadequate training on effective classroom management strategies (Reinke et al., 2011; U.S. Department of education 2000). Reinforcement-based interventions using differing reinforcer arrangements (e.g., accumulated, distributed) have been shown to be effective at reducing disruptive behavior (Fulton et al., 2019; Robinson & St. Peter, 2019); however, previous studies have not evaluated the relative efficacy of different reinforcer arrangements as teacher implemented classroom management strategies. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of accumulated and distributed reinforcer arrangements, used within a classroom setting, on decreasing disruptive and increasing on-task behavior. Results indicated that the accumulated arrangement led to a greater reduction in off-task behavior for both participants