• IRIS Center
Careers at IRIS
Donate to IRIS
  • Resources
    • IRIS Resource Locator
      Modules, case studies, activities, & more
    • Evidence-Based Practice Summaries
      Research annotations
    • High-Leverage Practices
      IRIS resources on HLPs
    • IRIS Alignment Tools
      HLPs, SiMRs, & CEEDAR ICs
    • Films
      Portrayals of people with disabilities
    • Children's Books
      Portrayals of people with disabilities
    • For Faculty
      Sample syllabi, curriculum matrices, & more
    • For PD Providers
      Sample PD activities, planning forms, & more
    • For Independent Learners
      Resources & tools for independent learners
    • Website Navigation Videos
      Getting around our Website & modules
    • New & Coming Soon
      Latest modules & resources
    • Glossary
      Disability related terms
  • PD Options
    • PD Certificates for Educators
      Our certificate, your PD hours
    • For PD Providers
      Sample PD activities, planning forms, & more
    • School & District Platform
      A powerful tool for school leaders
    • Log in to Your IRIS PD
  • Articles & Reports
    • Articles
      Articles about IRIS use & efficacy
    • Internal IRIS Reports
      Reports on IRIS use & accomplishments
    • External Evaluation Reports
      Evaluations of the IRIS Center
    • Learner Outcomes
      Summaries of module effectiveness
    • Consumer Satisfaction
      Feedback and testimonials from IRIS users
    • IRIS Stories
      Our resources, your stories
    • News & Events
      What, when, & where it's happening
  • About
    • Who We Are
      Our team, experts, & advisors
    • What We Do
      Our resources & process
    • Contact Us
      Get in touch with IRIS
  • Help
    • Help & Support
      Get the full benefit from our resources
    • Website Navigation Videos
      Getting around our Website & modules
  • Module
  • Challenge
  • Initial Thoughts
  • Perspectives & Resources
  • Wrap Up
  • Assessment
Challenge
Initial Thoughts
Perspectives & Resources

Why do you suppose Zach and Alexandra can't stay on task and are so easily distracted? (Opinion Question: No Resources)

What might Ms. Torri consider to help her students stay on task and also help her regain some lost instructional time?

  • Page 1: Self-Directed Versus Teacher-Directed Strategies
  • Page 2: Self-Regulation
  • Page 3: Guidelines for Use: Who, What, When, Where, and Why?

What techniques will help Alexandra and Zach become independent learners, and how can they gain those skills?

  • Page 4: Self-Monitoring
  • Page 5: Self-Instruction
  • Page 6: Goal-Setting
  • Page 7: Self-Reinforcement
  • Page 8: Multiplying Success

Resources

  • Page 9: References & Additional Resources
  • Page 10: Credits
Wrap Up
Assessment
We want to hear from you. Please complete our brief Module Feedback Form.

What might Ms. Torri consider to help her students stay on task and also help her regain some lost instructional time?

Page 1: Self-Directed Versus Teacher-Directed Strategies

There are many ways to manage student behavior. These strategies can be broadly categorized as either self-directed or teacher-directed.

Self-Directed Strategies

Self-directed behavior strategies are those that students use to monitor and regulate their own behavior. The teacher plays a role in guiding students in selecting and establishing appropriate self-directed strategies, but it is the students themselves who actually implement the strategies. Students are seen as controlling their own behavior.

Teacher-Directed Strategies

Teacher-directed behavior strategies are ones in which the teacher plays the central role in identifying, monitoring, and reinforcing student behavior. The teacher is seen as controlling the students’ behavior.

In order to implement either a self-directed behavior strategy or a teacher-directed behavior strategy, a teacher should follow the steps below. Keep in mind that though the teacher can participate in most of the self-directed steps, her or his involvement is substantially less than it would be in teacher-directed interventions. And in teacher-directed interventions, although the teacher plays the central role in each step, students are frequently involved in formulating parts of teacher-directed behavior strategies.

Key

student involvement icon Student involvement teacher involvement Teacher involvement

Steps

Self-directed Teacher-directed
Identifies the problem behavior teacher involvement icon

 

 

 

teacher directed

Collects baseline data teacher involvement icon
Selects a replacement behavior and determines the criterion student involvement icon and teacher involvement icon
Identifies possible strategies student involvement icon and teacher involvement icon
Implements a strategy student involvement icon
Monitors and evaluates progress student involvement icon and teacher involvement icon

For an illustration of how these two strategies would differ in a classroom setting, view the example below. Note that the way the steps are implemented differs for each behavior strategy.

Scenario: A middle-school social studies teacher has a student named Bob who does not consistently bring his textbook and other materials to class.

Steps Self-directed Teacher-directed
Identifies the problem behavior The teacher determines that Bob does not bring his textbook and other materials to class.
Collects baseline data The teacher makes certain that Bob has the necessary materials and skills for compliance. She collects two weeks of baseline data on whether he brings the book and other necessary materials to class. She determines that he came prepared to class on 2 out of 10 days.
Selects a replacement behavior and determines the criterion The teacher discusses the goal with Bob, and they decide that Bob will bring the book and other materials to class on at least 4 out of 5 days each week. The teacher decides that Bob will bring the book and other materials to class at least 4 out of 5 days each week.
Identifies possible strategies The teacher gains Bob’s cooperation in implementing self-monitoring and self-reinforcement strategies. The teacher decides to implement a positive reinforcement strategy. She will monitor the behavior and reinforce Bob when he brings the required materials to class.
Implements strategy After the teacher shows Bob how to monitor his own behavior, he tracks his progress. For his reinforcement, Bob chooses 15 minutes of extra computer time on Fridays. The teacher monitors Bob’s behavior. For his reinforcement, Bob chooses 15 minutes of extra computer time on Fridays.
Monitors and evaluates progress Bob is responsible for monitoring his success at bringing the supplies to class and showing the completed chart to the teacher each Friday before rewarding himself with extra computer time. The teacher prepares a simple monitoring chart and places it in her planning book. She tells Bob that she will review his compliance for the week and let him know whether he has earned extra computer time.

Benefits of Self-Directed Behavior Strategies

Although both self-directed and teacher-directed behavior strategies have proved effective in changing student behavior, the self-directed strategies have a number of additional benefits for less serious behavior infractions.

Self-directed behavior strategies not only free up the teacher’s time by directly involving the student in the more time-intensive step of monitoring his or her behavior but also have the benefits described below.

Benefits for Students

  • Crayons and notepaperProvide immediate feedback for the student
  • Encourage student responsibility
  • Empower the student
  • Encourage self-control
  • Teach valuable life skills

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Back Next
12345678910
Join Our E-Newsletter Sign Up
  • Home
  • About IRIS
  • Our Values
  • Sitemap
  • Web Accessibility
  • Glossary
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us
Join Our E-Newsletter Sign Up

The IRIS Center Peabody College Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 37203 [email protected] The IRIS Center is funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Grant #H325E220001. The contents of this Website do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Sarah Allen.

Copyright 2023 Vanderbilt University. All rights reserved.

* For refund and privacy policy information visit our Help & Support page.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

  • Vanderbilt Peabody College