Fundamental Skill Sheet

High-Probability Requests

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What Is It?

High-probability (high-p) requests are a sequence of requests to which a student is highly likely to respond. High-p requests are made before the teacher provides a low-probability (low-p) request—one with which a student infrequently or never responds—to promote student compliance for a target behavior.

What Do We Know About This Skill/Practice?

• High-probability requests can be used in both general and special education settings.
• This strategy operates on the assumption that students are more likely to comply with teacher directives if they are already engaged in compliant classroom behavior.
• High-p requests can be used to proactively reduce the likelihood that problem behavior will occur.
• High-p requests can be used to increase compliance with low-probability requests for a range of students, including those with developmental disabilities, autism, or emotional or behavioral disorder (EBD).
• Teachers can implement this strategy to address a range of situations and behaviors, including:
  • Completion of academic work
  • Initiation of appropriate social interaction
  • Compliance with teacher instructions
  • Challenging behavior during transitions

Procedures

1. Identify a frequent problem behavior. Consider instructional or behavioral requests with which a student infrequently (i.e., less than 40% of the time) or never complies.
2. Create a list of high-p requests. Identify three to five high-probability requests—those with which students comply 80% to 100% of the time—that relate to the context of the low-p request (i.e., problem behavior).
3. Deliver a request sequence. To encourage a student to comply with a low-p request:
   • Give three to five high-probability requests in quick succession (i.e., with five seconds or less between each request and the student’s compliance).
   • Provide brief, verbal praise after the completion of each high-p request.
   • Give a low-p request and immediately praise the student when he complies.

Things to Keep in Mind

• High-p requests are particularly beneficial for students who engage in problem behaviors to escape from or avoid a task or activity.
• High-p requests should be appropriate for the student’s age, developmental level, and skill sets.
• All requests, whether high-p or low-p, must be requests that students are capable of completing independently. Because of this, the lists of high-p and low-p requests that teachers create will vary from student to student.
• For some students, verbal praise in response to compliance with high-p requests may not be sufficient. Instead, these students may need to be given a tangible reinforcer (e.g., a sticker, preferred item, token) following compliance, which should be faded over time.
• Once a student has begun to comply with a low-p request at an acceptable rate, the teacher should begin to reduce the ratio of high-p to low-p requests (i.e., fade over time). For example, if the teacher starts by issuing four high-p requests before each low-p request, she should reduce that over time until no high-p request is required to achieve compliance.

Implementation Examples

The table below provides examples of high-p request sequences that teachers could use to encourage students to comply with the target behaviors. Note how the high-p requests in each example relate directly to the low-p request.

Problem/Target Behavior	Request Sequence
Problem behavior: Emily refuses to put on her coat before going out for recess. Target behavior: Putting on coat	High-p requests Emily, touch your nose. [student response, teacher praise] Wiggle your fingers. [student response, teacher praise] Emily, pick up your coat. [student response, teacher praise] Low-p request Put on your coat. [student response, teacher praise]
Problem behavior: Josiah typically refuses to come to the carpet during group instruction when asked. Target behavior: Sit on carpet for group instruction	High-p requests Josiah, put your pencil on your desk. [student response, teacher praise] Please tell me the science word of the week. [student response, teacher praise] Give me five. [student response, teacher praise] Low-p request Josiah, sit on the carpet for group instruction. [student response, teacher praise]
Problem behavior: Raheim has great difficulty beginning math instruction after lunch. Target behavior: Open digital textbook	High-p requests Raheim, please meet me at the back table. [student response, teacher praise] Raheim, please pass out these four electronic tablets to your tablemates. [student response, teacher praise] Return to your seat. [student response, teacher praise] Low-p request Raheim, open your digital textbook to the page marked multiplying fractions. [student response, teacher praise]

Elementary Video Example

High School Video Example

In the video below, Mrs. Ward wants to use high-p requests to encourage Virginia to begin her independent writing assignment. Note the procedures Mrs. Ward uses to implement high-p requests in the example and where her delivery falls short in the non-example.

About the Author

Caitlyn Majeika is a former special education resource teacher for students in elementary and middle school. Currently, Caitlyn is a PhD student in the Special Education Department of Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on using principles of data-based decision making to enhance the implementation of behavior interventions for students who display challenging behavior in the classroom.