The Impact of Check-In/Check-Out on Student Behavior and School Climate

Behavior problems impact student performance and the overall climate of a school building. Current school codes of conduct and discipline programs do little to improve behavior. Schools need a way to put interventions in place to help students who show behavioral difficulty. These interventions need to be supportive rather than punitive. The research questions; 'how do behavioral interventions impact student behavior and school climate in third through fifth grade students?' and 'how do teachers perceive the impact and effectiveness of the intervention?' provide the basis of the study. The purpose of this research study is to determine how Check-in/check-out as a behavioral intervention impacts student behavior and school climate. Student behavior was charted daily to monitor their progress toward goals established at the onset of the program. Students also completed the School Climate Survey {La Salle, McIntosh, & Elaison, 2018) before beginning the intervention and at the conclusion of the study timeframe. Teachers also completed a survey at the conclusion of the intervention to determine its impact from their perspective. The data was analyzed by looking for trends in behavior, trends in climate ratings, and trends in teacher ratings to determine effectiveness. The data showed that the intervention was effective from the teacher's perspective, had inconsistent results between increasing student positive behavior and decreasing negative behavior, and had no positive impact on the school climate rating. Further research is need to determine ways to increase behavioral consistency and to determine other factors contributing to school climate rating.