Reducing Escape-Maintained Behavior Through the Application of Classroom-Wide Practices and Individually Designed Interventions

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which two classroom wide instructional interventions, peer support and instructional choice, were able to reduce escape-maintained off-task and problem behaviors. This study also measured the extent to which these interventions, when coupled with individually designed function-based interventions, reduced escape maintained problem behaviors. A multiple baseline across settings design was used to measure the impact of the classroom-wide intervention and the function-based intervention for one student in a self-contained special education classroom and a general education classroom. Results indicated that implementation of these strategies reduced the escape-maintained problem behaviors. Practical applications of the results of this study include the effectiveness of providing both choices and one-to-one support during tasks requiring higher levels of language and social involvement.