Programmed Reinforcement in the Classroom : The Effects of Tangible Reinforcement on Educational Achievement of American Indian Children. Final Report / Bruce A. Chadwick and Robert C. Day.

The report presented findings of an educational program utilizing systematically scheduled tangible reinforcement to improve the academic performance of underachieving American Indian children from extremely deprived backgrounds. Participants were 7th and 8th grade students in an all-Indian private school, St. Mary's Mission (Catholic), on the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington State. Data were collected from November 1969--May 1970. The 54 students were from economically deprived homes in which a majority of parents were separated by unemployment, emotional problems, serious drinking problems, divorce, or death. The results generally provided significant support for the effects of contingent tangible reinforcement on all the dependent variables. In addition, it was discovered that termination of the reinforcement after 14 weeks led to only minor reductions in academic performance and slight increases in classroom disturbances during the final post-experimental baseline period. Several possible interpretations for this resistance to extinction were offered. Finally, several findings on the relation of selected attitudes to performance variables were presented in tables. (FF)

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