EFFECTS OF TOOTLING ON CLASSWIDE DISRUPTIVE AND ACADEMICALLY ENGAGED BEHAVIOR OF GENERAL‐EDUCATION HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. Issue 4 (15th February 2017) - Lum, John D. K.
Abstract : Considered the opposite of tattling, Tootling is a positive peer‐reporting procedure in which students report their classmates' positive prosocial behavior instead of inappropriate behavior and employs other well‐established behavior analytic principles. This study examined the effects of Tootling on students' behavior in three general‐education high school classrooms. Students wrote and then submitted tootles into a marked container. Teachers recorded the number of tootles on publicly posted progress charts, and read a sample of tootles at the end of the class period. An interdependent group contingency procedure was used along with a class goal of the number of tootles needed to earn the class a reward. An A‐B‐A‐B withdrawal design with follow‐up found decreases in classwide disruptive behavior and increases in academically engaged behavior across classrooms. Results suggest that Tootling can provide high school teachers a method for positively reinforcing students' prosocial behavior, and function as a preventative measure against disruptive behavior. Issues related to social validity and directions for future research are discussed.