PROJECT ONWARD: REINFORCEMENT
Positive Classrooms Through Strategic Feedback
In this strand, we explore how intentional reinforcement strategies can transform student behavior, motivation, and classroom culture. Effective reinforcement goes beyond simple rewards to create meaningful connections between student efforts and outcomes. By implementing structured feedback systems, preference-based incentives, and graduated privilege models, educators can build a classroom where students feel valued, understood, and empowered to grow.
This strand provides practical, research-backed approaches to reinforcement that work for diverse student needs. Topics include delivering contingent, behavior-specific feedback that strengthens student-teacher relationships; implementing individualized check-in/check-out systems with consistent rating scales; conducting preference assessments to discover what truly motivates each student; and designing classroom or school store systems that teach real-world skills while reinforcing positive behaviors. Each module builds upon the previous one, offering a comprehensive framework for creating a supportive environment where all students, especially those with emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges, can experience success and develop lasting skills for self-regulation and independence.
PROJECT ONWARD
What's in the Reinforcement strand?
Creating Predictable Environments for Behavioral Growth
Structured for Success
Structured for Success focuses on establishing clear classroom expectations and using contingent, behavior-specific praise to create predictable environments where students with emotional and behavioral challenges can thrive. The content emphasizes the importance of immediate, specific feedback that follows the "Action + Outcome + Positive Reinforcement" formula to reinforce positive behaviors and provide students with clarity about expectations. By combining structured classroom expectations with consistent, meaningful praise, teachers create a supportive framework that reduces anxiety, prevents work refusal, and fosters intrinsic motivation in students who need additional behavioral support.
Crafting Feedback That Speaks to Each Student's Journey
Beyond Points and Praise
Beyond Points and Praise teaches educators how to transform standard Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) systems into powerful relationship-based interventions by delivering individualized contingent feedback that aligns with each student's specific behavioral goals and social-emotional learning targets. Through the strategic application of contingent, specific, and relevant feedback during daily check-ins and throughout the school day, teachers create meaningful connections that help vulnerable students feel seen, supported, and capable of growth. The module emphasizes that when feedback moves beyond generic praise to acknowledge a student's unique challenges and progress, it becomes more than a behavior management tool—it becomes a vehicle for building trust, fostering resilience, and helping students with emotional and behavioral challenges rewrite their personal narratives about who they are and what they can achieve.
Designing Reward Systems That Actually Work
Motivation Matters
Motivation Matters explores how to create effective classroom/school store systems and conduct preference assessments to develop meaningful reinforcement strategies for students with emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges. It teaches educators how to establish structured reward systems that create visible links between effort and outcomes while simultaneously building life skills like independence, responsibility, and financial literacy. The content emphasizes the importance of understanding individual student preferences through systematic assessment methods to ensure reinforcers are truly motivating, allowing teachers to move beyond generic rewards to personalized motivation strategies that increase engagement, ease transitions, and promote lasting learning.
Designing Systems That Empower Rather Than Restrict
Privilege with Purpose
Privilege with Purpose teaches educators how to create developmental level systems that guide students with emotional and behavioral challenges from external support to self-regulation through clearly defined phases of independence. It emphasizes designing meaningful privilege systems based on student input, with transparent criteria for advancement that focus on growth rather than compliance, incorporating tools like point sheets, self-monitoring forms, and preference assessments. The approach transforms traditional behavior management into a supportive framework where privileges reflect demonstrated readiness and personal meaning, helping students build self-regulation skills while maintaining clear expectations for progress.