| According to Planty et al. (2009) in 2006, nearly 3.3 million students in the United States received out of school suspensions, demonstrating that exclusionary discipline is on the rise and a frequently used practice in schools across the country. Research shows that African Americans are suspended at higher rates and are more likely to receive multiple suspensions than students from other racial backgrounds and are in fact, two-to-three times more likely to be suspended than White students across all grade levels (Arcia, 2007; Children's Defense Fund, 1975; Wallace, Goodkind, Wallace, & Bachman, 2008). When examining gender, males are four times more likely than females to receive disciplinary actions (Mendez & Knoff, 2003; Skiba & Peterson, 2000; Imich, 1994). Studies have shown that behaviors such as disobedience, inappropriate language, disrespect, defiance, disruption and excessive noise are the most frequent reasons for office referrals (Imich 1994; McFadden, Marsh, Price, & Hwang, 1992). These studies also show the need for effective strategies to decrease disruptive behaviors. Mentoring programs have been found to be an effective academic and behavioral intervention for African American male youths. Furthermore, mentoring relationships that incorporate PBIS strategies are effective for a student who display disruptive behaviors in the classroom setting and decreases the need for more intensive levels of behavioral support. One specific mentoring intervention that has been used to decrease students' disruptive behavior is Check-in Check-out. Check-in Check-out (CICO) is a type of mentoring program used at both the elementary and secondary levels. This research-based intervention is a component of positive behavior support and is a secondary level of support for the 5--15% of students who have not responded to instruction on school wide expectations and are at-risk of dropping out. This study utilized a multiple probe across participants design to evaluate participates' performance on the academic planning and social skills checklist, which was used during morning and afternoon mentoring sessions. Results indicated that participants were able to increase their completion of the checklist. In addition, two out of three participates showed an increase and class grades. All of the participants had significant decreases in school disciplinary actions. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice are also addressed. |
