Guide to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth

CONSULTING PROGRAM FOR TEACHERS TO PREVENT VANDALISM

OVERVIEW

This consulting program is designed to prevent vandalism and problem behaviors in elementary and junior high school students. The program seeks to spread the knowledge and effects of the program through “model” teachers who are counseled in several areas of teaching, counseling, and problem-behavior reduction. The program was effective in increasing the amount of praise given to students by teachers, decreasing the amount of school vandalism, and also in reducing off-task behavior by students.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: Students in grades 4-8

This program is targeted at students in elementary and junior high schools which have significant problems with vandalism. Program staff select “model” teachers at each school and give these teachers a series of counseling programs to improve teaching behaviors, design effective antivandalism programs, and help improve the overall school environment. In the first year of the program, “model” teachers, principals, school counselors, and school psychologists meet in team meetings twice a month. In addition to the team meetings, “model” teachers are counseled by program staff twice weekly. All teachers in the school are also given the option of receiving counseling on an as-needed basis.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Mayer, G. R., Butterworth, T., Nafpaktitis, M., & Sulzer-Azaroff, B. (1983). Preventing school vandalism and improving discipline: A three-year study. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 16(4), 355-369.

Evaluated population: Twenty elementary and junior high schools from Los Angeles County. Students in grades 4-8 at these schools scored below the 45^th national percentile on average reading ability.

Approach: Schools were randomly assigned to either the treatment condition or a delayed treatment condition which did not receive the intervention until 1 year later. In each treatment school, two teachers were selected by principals as “model” teachers. These teachers had the responsibility of attending consulting sessions and helping to develop programs to help reduce vandalism at the schools. During the program, consultants conducted twice-monthly meetings with teachers, principals, and school counselors and psychologists. During these meetings, consultants presented on a range of topics including effective counseling, positive reinforcement methods, punishment and its side effects, antivandalism options and conditions for vandalism, effective modeling, and programs and activities to enhance school environment. All teachers at the treatment school also had the option of receiving consulting if they requested it. Schools in the control group could not receive any services until the second and third years of the program. Two “barometer” classrooms were selected at random in each school, and six at-risk students were selected randomly in each class to assess spillover effects on use of praise and student behavior.

Results: In the first year data collection, schools in the treatment condition were more likely to experience a decline in the cost of vandalism compared with the control schools. Elementary teachers in the control group were decreasing in the amount of praise delivered to students over the school year compared to their counterparts in the treatment group. Students in the treatment intervention had a larger decrease than those in the control group in off-task behavior.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

References

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: grades 4-8 / Program age ranges in the Guide: middle childhood; adolescence

Program components: school-based

Measured outcomes: behavioral problems