Both special and regular educators

are currently wearing a self-inflicted

"black eye" known as the "disciplint
problem." Problems with discipline
have been the topic of magazines,
editorials, legislative debates, and conference proceedings. The fact is that a
large fraction of children in school
misbehave, and some of that misbehavior is injurious to property and
person and/or disruptive to class routine. The profession generally has
taken a "fight fire with fire" remedial
approach, and that is the root of our
problem. We have operated under the
mistaken idea that discipline is something you do to someone, and that
something is punitive.
There is an alternative strategy,
and that is to use our best instructional
technology to teach children to follow
rules, play cooperatively, work independently, and help others. The issue
here is not a philosophical one, although it might be argued that this
approach is more humane. The issue
is effectiveness; building positive skills
is far more effective than temporarily
suppressing rule violations (Worell &
Nelson, 1974). The behavioral groundwork we lay with young children in
terms of their ability to negotiate
various classroom environments is the
foundation for all future educational
experiences; thus, the focus on preventive discipline.

Establishing Class
Routines and Rules
In order to maximize instructional time
and minimize rule violations, the first
job in an early childhood class is to
make sure that the children know
what is expected, what is acceptable,
and what is not. Most early childhood
classes have posted schedules, but
some of our research at the University
of Pittsburgh suggests that there is
often little correspondence benween
the written and the actual

Preventive

Discipline

Early Childhood
Phillip S. Strain
Diane M. Sainato
schedule (Sainato & Lyon, 1983). As a
general rule, the more predictable the
schedule, the better for everyone.
However, a predictable schedule does
not imply an inflexible, redundant set
of activities.
By carefully scheduling the day
teachers can systematically arrange
enjoyable events back-to-back with
those that are less enjoyable. For
example, a structured language lesson
might be scheduled before free play,
with some fixed performance criterion
used as access to free play (Krantz &
Risley, 1977). This scheduling tactic is
particularly effective in dealing with
"dawdling" behavior.
Especially with young children, the
teacher's job is not done when the
schedule is written and on the wall.
Each day's schedule should be reviewed with the children until the
class can move from activity to activity
without repeated directions.
Class rules can also serve a preventive discipline function. Worell and
Nelson (1974) have offered the following guidelines for establishing rules:
1. Select the smallest possible number
of rules. Knowing the rules should
not be akin to memorizing the
Canterbury Tales. Think of including
only behaviors that are always
acceptable (look at teacher)

or always unacceptable (hitting classmates) on your list.

2. Use rules according to specific situations. For example, if you are only
interested in your children's sharing toys during free play, the rule
should specify the free-play period
as the appropriate context.
3. Rules should be stated behaviorally, and they should be observable
and enforce able. A rule that directs
children to "play nicely" is far more
difficult to understand than one
that directs them to "share their
toys" and "ask friends to play." If
you are not able to monitor children's compliance with certain rules
routinely, do not include those
rules. For example, a rule that states
"tell your parents what you did in
school each day" is difficult to
enforce.
4. Rules should have clear consequences for compliance and noncompliance. Without consequences,
they quickly become meaningless.
Following these guidelines for developing rules, one teacher in a mainstream preschool serving children with
severe behavior problems developed
the following rule chart:

26 TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

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1987

IN OUR CLASS WE:

1. Follow teacher directions.
2. Share toys during free-play.
3. Keep our hands to ourselves.
4. Walk in the classroom.
IN OUR CLASS WE DO NOT:
1. Throw materials.
2. Hit anyone.
3. Run in the classroom.
The teacher's work is not done
when the rule chart is posted. Rules
should be reviewed regularly with
students---every day when there is a
problem. Reviewing rules can be a
positive experience for children if the
teacher makes it clear that complying
with the rules will result in some
pleasant consequence.

Making Transitions
Most teachers report that children are
most disruptive during transition
timesbetween activities, and as much
as 20% of the preschool day is spent
in transition from activity to activity
(Sainato & Lyon, 1983). It stands to
reason that if children make rapid
transitions there will be less opportunity for disruptive behavior. Three
approaches have proved to be particularlyeffective.

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First, teachers can establish task

completion, not the passage of time
alone, as the criterion for release from
an activity. Of course, this means that
children will finish tasks at different
times, and teachers or assistants will
have to be present at two stations
most of the time. As children finish
one activity, they go to the next, with
the "receiving" teacher or aide prompting them to come quickly to the new
area and begin work. This individualized release from activity with its
accompanying staffing arrangement is
known as the "zone defense," (See
Le Laurin & Risley, 1972, for more
details.)
A second strategy, which we have
validated in Pittsburgh, Sainato,
Strain, Lefebvre, and Rapp (in press),
relies on a buddy system to help
children make transitions more
quickly. Children who have no difficulty making transitions are assigned
as buddies for youngsters who dawdle
and become disruptive. The buddies
receive brief role-play training in taking
other children by the hand and leading
them to the next area. We have also
taught buddies to give
their peers verbal
reminders to

engage in appropriate behavior during

the transition. Many times the transition directions given by teachers are
rather complex (e.g., "Put your paper
in your cubby, get a book, and go to
the reading comer,"). The buddies'
role in these complex transitions is to
cue their partners verbally (e.g., "Put
your paper here,") at each step of the
transition.
A final procedure that has proved
to be effective is, ironically, the least
elaborate. Prior to their release from
one area, the teacher tells the children
to "go to (any area) and ring the bell,"
The autistic children on whom this
procedure was evaluated liked ringing
the bell, and thus were motivated to
go quickly and ring it. The bell itself
is incidental to the intervention; any
brief pleasurable activity could be
substituted. For more information on
this intervention, see Sainato, Strain,
Lefebvre, and Rapp (1986a).

Working in Groups
One benefit of providing group instruction for handicapped preschool
children may be its effect on their
behavior in the classroom. Children
who are actively engaged in an instructional group and are called upon to
respond to frequent teacher instruc-

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27

tions do not have many opportunities

to misbehave. This preventive measure is easily employed within the
demands of a teacher's busy schedule.
In a study at the University of
Pittsburgh, (Sainato, Strain, & Lyon,
1986), we found that when teachers
implemented a group or choral responding procedure, children's rates of ontask behavior increased significantly.
Teachers reported that the children
were so engaged in the activity they
"had no time to misbehave."
Teachers should reexamine the
type of instructional settings in which
discipline problems occur and consider altering thep- instructional methods to promote attention and response and prevertt problem behavior.
They should consider:
1. Is there too much waiting time
during instruction?
2. During a 5-minute block of time,
does each child have an opportunity to respond to either teacher
instructions or materials?
3. During group instruction, does the
rest of the group have something
to do while the teacher is working
with a particular child?

Working Independently
In addition to promoting young children's on-task behavior during group
instruction, teachers must also foster
the ability of children to work independently.
The ability to do tasks without
constant teacher supervision is a prerequisite to successful adjustment in
regular early childhood settings (McConnell et al., 1984; Vincent et al.,
1980). Often, however, when young
exceptional children are left on their
own, they do not do their work and
their behavior quickly deteriorates. To
deal with this situation, teachers can
either employ a one-to-one staff ratio
or somehow teach children to monitor
and control their own behavior. We
have chosen the later approach.

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1987

Sainato and her colleagues (1986b)

taught three young handicapped children to monitor their behavior using
(a) self-assessment checks, (b) matching between self-ratings and teacher
ratings, and (c) reinforcement for accuracy of ratings. The teacher used a
nine-item scale to rate the children
throughouttheindependentseatwork
session (see Figure 1). Initially, the
teacher asked the children at 2- to
4-minute intervals whether or not they
were working quietly and neatly. However, as the children began to be more
accurate in their self-assessments,
these prompts were faded. After they
had completed their work they used a
self-rating "book" to mark whether or
not they had performed well throughout the seatwork period. These books
listed nine phrases corresponding to
the items on the teacher rating scale.
In addition, a picture of the child
performing the behavior was presented along with each item. In the
self-rating books, the children were
asked to mark a happy face for a "yes"
answer or a sad face for a "no" answer
to each of the nine-item scale shown
in Figure 1. After the children had
marked their own rating scales, the
teacher showed each child his or her
"official" rating scale and reported
whether or not the child had been
accurate. Each child who met the
criterion number of "matches" for the
day received a "prize."

Classroom Implementation
Teachers who wish to implement this
procedure in their own classrooms
should keep in mind the following
considerations.
The Setting. First, a quiet corner of
the room should be set up with tables
and chairs for the children. A 15minute block of time can be set aside
for independent seatwork, based on
the students' abilities. This is not a
time for teachers to leave children on
their own without any teacher supervision or feedback.
Materials. Use materials that the
children have already mastered. This
is a time for practice work, not for
introducing new skills. Tasks such as
tracing letters, matching letters to
pictures, counting objects, or sorting

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1987

are all good independent seatwork

tasks for preschool children. Be careful
not to choose materials that encourage
disruptive behaviors, for example, sorting items that easily roll onto the floor.
Prerequisite Behavior. Children engaged in independent seatwork should
be able to attend to one task for short
periods of time and sit at a table with
their peers without disturbing
anyone's work. Extremely disruptive
children are not ready for group
seatwork time.
Assessment. To facilitate self-assessment, the teacher should:
1. Review the items on the rating scale
at the beginning of the period.
2. Show the children their pictures in
the book and explain that at the end
of the seatwork time they will be
asked to tell how they did.
3. Place a card containing two items
on the table at each child's place to
help the children learn to assess
their behavior. (Items we have
typically used are "working quietly" and "working neatly.")
4. At short intervals, ask the children
whether or not they are working
quietly and neatly. If a child is
accurate, put a star on the paper
and provide verbal praise. If the
child's assessment is not accurate,
say, "No, you need to work quietly
(or neatly)." Gradually lengthen
the amount of time between
"checks."
5. While the children are working,
rate each child on the rating scale.
6. After they have finished working,
have them bring their self-management books to you and ask each
child to evaluate his or her performance on each item. Go through
the book and tell the child whether
or not you agree. After reviewing
the ratings, tell the child what items
matched with yours. It is important
to give credit for accurate matches,
not necessarily for perfect performance during work. Set a crite-

rion for performance and matching

teacher ratings.

Reinforcement and Fading. If a

child reaches the day's criterion, the
teacher should reward with a simple
reinforcer such as a preferred activity,
token, or prize. For some children, it
will not be necessary to continue all
of the components listed here. After
the children have performed well over
a period of time, the teacher can try
eliminating first the reinforcer and
then the matching component.

Being a Good
Disciplinarian
Depending on how the word "disciplinarian" is defined and operationalized, it can be a noble or shameful
status. Being a good disciplinarian in
early childhood settings should mean
1. Punitive controls are seldom, if
ever, used and never the first option.
Punitive controls include events
that are spontaneous (e.g., yelling,
name-calling, nagging) and those
that are planned (e.g., timeout, loss
of points earned).
2. Schedules, goals, and expectations
are clear to all adults and children
in the classroom.
3. The curriculum includes skills that
keep children out of trouble (e.g.,
making quick transitions, working
independently, sharing toys).
4. Application of discipline and rewarding children for good behavior are
one and the same.
This four-part definition of a good
disciplinarian is an unrealized, yet
achievable, goal for our profession.
When being a good disciplinarian is
defined as being quick with punitive
sanctions, we inflict injury on our
profession, make schooling something
to avoid, and provide children with
models of some of the very behavior
we are trying to correct in them. On
the contrary, when being a good
disciplinarian is defined as this article
suggests, school is a pleasant place to
be, and we are teaching young children by our own example a most
important lesson for life: that
being in control need not be
at the expense of others.

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29

Fi~ure 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

References
Krantz, P., & Risley, T. (1977). Behavior
ecology in the classroom. In K. O'leary
& S. O'leary (Eds.) Classroom management: The successful use of behavior modification. (349-366). New York: Pergamon Press.
l.eLaurin, K., & Risley, T. R. (1972). The
organization of day-care environments:
"Zone" versus "man-to-man" staff
assignments. Jrnl of Appld Bhvr Anlys,
5,225-232.
McConnell, S., Strain, P., Kerr, M., Stagg,
V., Lenkner, D., & Lambert, D. (1984).
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a comprehensive treatment program.
Behavior Modification, 8, 451-473.
Sainato, D. M., & Lyon, S. R. (1983,
December). A descriptive analysis of the
requirements for independent performance in handicapped and nonhandicapped preschool classrooms. In P. S.
~train (Chair), Assisting behaviorally hand-

lCIlpptd preschoolers in mainstream settings:

A report of research from the Early Childhood Research Institute. Paper presented
at the HCEEPIDEC Conf., Wash., DC
Sainato, D. M., Strain, P. S., Lefebvre, D.,
& Rapp, N. (in press). Facilitating
transition times with handicapped preschool children: A comparison between
peer-mediated and antecedent prompt procedures. Jrnl of Appld

havior-Analysis.

INDEPENDENT SEATWORK RATING SCALE

Yes

No

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

I listened to the teacher's direction.

I sat in my chair with my feet on the floor.
I worked quietly.
I raised my hand with a question or when I finished a question.
I finished my worksheets.
I worked neatly.
7. I put my paper and pencil in my bin.
8. I found my work job and went quietly to the table.
9. After I check my work, I put my work away.

Sainato, D. M., Strain, P. S., Lefebvre, D.,

& Rapp, N. (1986, May). Facilitating
performance of independent seatwork
in handicapped preschool children. In
F. Kohler (Chair), Programmatic research

in the educ. treatment of handicapped

preschool children. Presented at the Conf
of Assn for Behavior AnIys. Milwaukee.
Sainato, D. M., Strain, P. S., & Lyon, S. R.
(1986). Increasing academic responding
of handicapped preschool children. Submitted for publication, Univ of Pittsburgh, Early Chldhd Res. Inst.
Vincent, L., Salisbury, C, Walter, 0.,
Pansy, B., Greenwald, L., & Powers,
M. (1980). Program evaluation and curriculum development in early childhood!
special education: Criteria of the next
environment. In W. Sailor, B. Wilcox,
& L. Brown (Eds.) Methods of instruction
for severely handicapped students. (pp.
303-328). Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks
Worell,

J.,

Phillip S. Strain (CEC Chapter #0255) is

Assoc. Prof. of Psychiatry and Special Educ.,
and Director of The Early Childhood Research
Inst. at the Univ. of Pittsburgh. Diane M.
Sainato (CEC #0255) is Principal Research
Assoc. with The Early Childhood Research Inst.,
and Co-Director for The Mathilda H. Theiss
Child Dev. Project at the Univ. of Pittsburgh.
Preparation of this paper was supported in part
by Contract No. 300-82-0368 (Early Childhood
Research Inst.) from the Dept. of Education and
by Grant No. MH3711O-D1A1 from the Natl.
Inst. of Mental Health to the Univ. of Pittsburgh. However, the opinions expressed herein
do not necessarily reflect the position or policy
of the u.s. Dept. of Education or the Natl. Inst.
of Mental Health, and no official endorsement
should be inferred.

Copyright 1987 CEe.

Photographs by Mark A. Regan.

& Nelson, C (1974). Managing

instrctnl problems. NY: McGraw-Hill.

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1987