Incentive Systems

Why should I do it:

• Provides encouragement, engagement, and makes tasks more fun

• Provides visual and tangible indicators of progress and success

• Increases motivation and sustained effort

• Gives students goals and milestones to work towards

• Creates a positive atmosphere among students when they work together to accomplish a goal

When should I do it:

Adult Considerations

When I have reflected on the following questions and have modified my own behavior/expectations when needed:

• Is the behavior that I'm seeing developmentally appropriate, even if misaligned with the expectations?

• Were our classroom expectations created in community? Do they reflect the values of the students and their families?

• Is my personal bias impacting the way that I view this behavior?

• Am I regulated and able to respond to the student in a calm, supportive manner?

Student Considerations

• When you want to increase expected behaviors and student outcomes

• When you notice the need to increase classroom unity

  • Consider establishing a whole class incentive system. The structure of it may vary throughout the year (it is natural for students to lose interest and desire something new), but it is best practice to have one in place at all times. 

How do I do it

• Whole group classroom incentive systems can be used strategically to increase motivation and expected behaviors of individual students of concern. For example, if the incentive is 100 squares, and you notice ten students exhibiting the expected behavior and one of them is a student who struggles in that area, choose the struggling student to cross off the number on the chart. Use the incentive system to reinforce expected behaviors for all students, and for the struggling students, in particular. When your students are working towards a common goal and rooting for one another to succeed (including students who don't usually experience recognition for positive behaviors), it can boost camaraderie among peers, making your community more inclusive and motivating for students of concern.  

• Below are some ideas for structures to adapt and use in your classroom: 

  • Classroom Points - Students earn points for exhibiting classroom expectations as a whole group. Variances could include marble jars, cotton balls in a jar, tally points on the board, etc. It can be effective to award whole class points for the behaviors of one or a few students who typically struggle with classroom expectations. Every time the class earns 10 points, a quick celebration can occur. When the class earns 100 (or another significant number), a larger celebration is earned.

  • 100 Squares - A combination of tic-tac-toe and bingo that uses intermittent rewards to acknowledge the behavior of the entire class. Hang a large 10x10-square grid in your room and number it 1-100. Label Popsicle sticks (or another token) 1-100 and place in a container. On occasions when the entire class is exhibiting a specific expected behavior, get the class's attention and choose a student to draw one of the tokens from the container. The student can fill in (initial or color) that number on the 100 chart. Remove that token from the container. Continue identifying specific expected behaviors and calling on students to choose numbers throughout your days. Once ten squares in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) have been filled, the entire class has earned a designated celebration. 

  • Classroom Currency - Use pretend money, red tickets, your school's PBIS tickets, or another "currency" in your room. Pay students for their behavior that aligns with classroom/schoolwide expectations and they can use their money to purchase a variety of items. This idea can be adapted in many ways; for example, students can earn red tickets for meeting expectations. The tickets can be put in a jar for a weekly drawing to choose prizes from a prize bin.  

  • Mystery Message - Play a game of "Mystery Message" on the board. The message spells out the celebration students will earn. On occasions when the entire class is exhibiting specific a expected behavior, stop what is going on and name a student to guess a letter in your message. Continue in this manner until the message is spelled out and the class earns the incentive in the message.

  • Table/Group Points - If your students are sitting in table groups, you can award group points for students when they meet your classroom expectations. Incentives for the group that "wins" can be weekly or monthly.

Additional Considerations

• • Make sure your expectations for student behavior are clear and that you have adequate procedures for observing student behavior. 

  • You may have to "manufacture success" for your students when introducing any incentive system. Some students may need to see that this is a positive experience prior to being enthusiastic about participating. 

  • Although this structure is in place, continue to use other motivational strategies at a high level; for example, use effective instructional practices and present tasks in interesting ways, provide frequent positive feedback that is specific, descriptive, and age-appropriate, pay more attention to every student when they are engaged in expected behavior than when they are engaged in unexpected behavior (aim for a ratio of 5:1). 

  • The frequency of the incentive should be appropriate for the age of your students. Kindergartners, for example, need incentives at a greater frequency than 7th graders due to their shorter attention spans and developmental need for more immediate gratification. 

  • Rewards may vary in significance, whereby students have to earn more stars (or points or marbles, etc.) for bigger rewards and fewer stars for lesser rewards.

  • Short, but frequent celebrations of progress and success can be especially useful for motivating students. You might offer a quick celebration intermittently to the whole class when one student exhibits expected behaviors. 

Resource Links:

• PBIS Incentive Ideas

• Jackpot! Ideas for Classroom Rewards

• Ideas for Intermittent Celebrations 

Footnote:

The content from this page originated on PBISWorld.org and Champs: A proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management. Content has been modified and added to by our team to more align with PPS' asset-based, culturally responsive practices.