Date of Award

Winter 12-29-2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Organizational Leadership

First Advisor

Phillip Pendley

Second Advisor

Julia Hadden

Third Advisor

George Sziraki

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify strategies that are successful within a school-wide extrinsic rewards system to improve alternative school student behavior in the alternative school setting. A second purpose was to rate the effectiveness of the identified strategies for improving alternative school student behavior in the alternative school setting.

Methodology: This study used a Delphi method, consisting of 3 rounds, to collect data from alternative schoolteachers who are experts in implementing strategies within a school-wide extrinsic rewards system. In Round 1, participants were asked to identify strategies to improve student behavior in the alternative school setting. In Round 2, a Likert scale survey was used to rate the effectiveness of the strategies from Round 1. In Round 3, expert respondents provided activities to implement the five highest rated strategies to improve student behavior.

Findings: The expert participants identified 26 strategies to improve student behavior in the alternative school setting. These strategies were rated for their effectiveness. The top 5 strategies are (a) build relationships; (b) create a culture of care and respect; (c) consistent implementation of procedures and resources; (d) make the classroom environment about the students; and (e) free pass to early out, early lunch, or free period for identified positive behavior. The expert teachers recommended 19 activity categories for implementation of the top 5 strategies.

Conclusions: To improve student behavior in alternative schools, a variety of strategies should be implemented within an extrinsic reward system from 4 categories: social emotional, rewards, academic and curriculum, and behavioral. Additionally, it is important to understand that changing student behavior does not happen overnight, but by utilizing strategic activities that build relationships, create a culture of care and respect, and make the classroom environment about the students, while consistently implementing procedures and resources and rewarding students with passes for early lunch or free time can build trust and engagement for behavior improvement.

Recommendations: Based on the findings from this study, 2 recommendations were presented for further research to determine the effectiveness of suggested strategies to improve maladaptive student behavior in alternative schools.

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