Good Behavior Game

The Good Behavior Game is a practical, straightforward method for managing disruptive behavior via rewarding children for engaging in on-task behaviors during instructional periods in elementary and younger middle school classroom settings. This program was first experimentally tested in 1969 by researchers at the University of Kansas, and several subsequent research studies substantiate its effectiveness.

Implementing the game is relatively easy, given that some preparatory time is allocated to becoming familiar with the main steps and identifying which classroom-accessible, effective reinforcers will be used for the “winning team.” Prior to introducing the game to students, teachers must (a) determine during which daily instructional periods the game will be played, (b) identify specific negative behaviors to monitor via use of a “marking” procedure (i.e., “leaving one's seat,” “talking-out behavior,” and “other disruptive behavior”), and (c) select suitable rewards that [Page 869]can be given on a daily (e.g., less homework, extra recess time) and weekly and/or monthly basis (e.g., early dismissal on Friday, watching a preferred movie one afternoon, afternoon to complete projects usually assigned only as homework).

After these matters are settled, the game can be introduced and implemented via the following steps:

• 1.
  Introduce the Good Behavior Game to the class. Introduce the concept of playing a game to reward good behavior. A schedule should be prepared to indicate during which class instruction periods the game will be in effect and which behaviors will be monitored.
• 2.
  Inform the students that whenever a student engages in one of the targeted behaviors, the team to which that student belongs will receive a mark on the board. Explain that both teams may win if they earn no more than a set number of marks while the game is in effect. When the game is played for more than one instruction period, the maximum number of marks can be increased due to the lengthier “monitoring” period. If both teams exceed the maximum number of marks, the team with the lowest total number at the end of the day is the winner. If there is a tie, then both teams earn the reward. As the students and teacher become more practiced at playing the game, introduce challenges in which team(s) that accrue less than the maximum number of marks by the end of the week and/or month can win a presumably more difficult to attain highly desirable reward.

The Good Behavior Game is both effective for increasing on-task behavior and works well even with especially disruptive children, as the team that has such children can “vote” to not include them in the game. This provides an incentive to “stay in the game” and further promotes on-task behavior.