Check In / Check Out (CICO)

The student will be assigned to an adult mentor to follow the CICO procedures. Progress will be monitored and graphed for at least 6 weeks. If there are no improvements within 2-4 weeks, the team will re-evaluate.

Resources Needed

In most cases, one staff member (e.g., guidance counselor or administrative assistant) will be designated to coordinate the CICO program in a school.

CICO Coordinator:

The primary responsibility of the CICO Coordinator is organizing resources and supports for effective delivery of the intervention. The Coordinator typically has limited contact with student participants. Instead, the CICO Coordinator manages and supports the CICO service providers (referred to as Facilitators).

CICO Facilitators:

Facilitators are responsible for direct, daily contact with student participants. Facilitators provide the daily check-in and check-out components of the program and assist with school-to-home communication. Facilitators can also serve as the Coordinator.

Resource: Estimated Time for Coordinator and Facilitator Tasks

How is CICO implemented?

A student checks in with a specific adult at the start of the school day.
The adult gives the student a point sheet that has the goals / expectations the student is working on.
The adult speaks briefly with the student in a positive manner, to encourage them and remind them what they need to focus on to meet their goal.
The student goes through their day with the point sheet having each teacher check how well they did during that time period.
At the end of the day, the student checks out with the same adult they checked in with. The adult briefly talks with the student, asking them how they feel they did, what they did well on, and what they need to work on.
A copy of the score should be turned into Mrs. Everson for monitoring progress.
The student then takes their point sheet home to show and discuss it with their parent to be signed and returned if need be.
The daily goals may be used along with a reward system where the student receives an incentive for meeting their goal.

Introduction and Purpose

This section provides PBIS teams with a description of the Check-In, Check-Out (CICO) intervention, strategies for effective implementation, and steps for developing a CICO program. In addition, example resources are included. This section does not replace the published manual, Responding to Problem Behavior in Schools: The Behavior Education Program, 2nd Edition (Crone, Howken, & Horner, 2010).

A free video guide is available here - https://youtu.be/vP7GJ72UxsA

Intervention Overview

Check-In, Check-Out (CICO), is a Tier 2, group-oriented intervention designed for students whose problem behaviors (a) are unresponsive to Tier 1 practices and systems, (b) do not require more immediate individualized interventions, and (c) are observed across multiple settings or contexts (Crone, Howken, & Horner, 2010).

The CICO intervention is designed to be continuously available and easily accessed soon after a student candidate is identified.

The CICO intervention typically accommodates a number of students (e.g., 10 to 15 per intervention facilitator) and provides a built-in system for (a) monitoring progress in the program, (b) evaluating the fidelity of implementation, and (c) transitioning to a self-managed support.

Implementation of CICO occurs using the following basic approach. First, a student is identified as needing additional behavioral support. Next, behavioral expectations for the student are defined and documented on a Daily Progress Report (DPR). Third, the student begins to receive a regular cycle of prompts and feedback from teachers and family for meeting behavioral expectations. Finally, student data is generated on a daily basis and is used to monitor progress and make decisions about the intervention effects.

Daily Components

Access to each of the following is necessary for successful implementation of the CICO intervention.

1. Check-In. Participating students complete a “check-in” with a CICO facilitator each morning after arriving to school. The facilitator provides students with a Daily Progress Report (DPR) and offers precorrects for meeting daily behavior expectations and point goals.

2. Regular Teacher Feedback. Using expectations listed on the DPR, students receive regularly scheduled specific feedback about behavioral performance from their classroom teacher. Teacher feedback occurs at the end of each class period or during natural transitions throughout the school day. Specifically, the classroom teacher gives positive, specific praise for appropriate behavior, provides corrective feedback when applicable, and then rates student demonstration of expectations using a predetermined point system. Teachers are explicitly directed to initiate the feedback interactions if a child does not independently ask for ratings on the DPR.

3. Check-Out. At the end of each school day, students return to the intervention facilitator for “checkout”. At this time points earned on the DPR are totaled. Intervention facilitators provide students with additional verbal praise and may offer a token associated with the existing schoolwide recognition system if daily or weekly goals are met. If a point goal is not met, the facilitator provides re-teaching of expectations and supportive encouragement.

4. Data Collection and Progress Monitoring. Intervention facilitators enter percentage of DPR points earned by each student into a data collection spreadsheet. Student data is periodically graphed and then reviewed by the school’s Tier 2 Team. Results are used to monitor progress and make intervention decisions.

5. Family Participation. The intervention facilitator promotes school to home communication and family participation with the intervention. Students are reminded each day to take their DPR home. This allows an opportunity to receive additional feedback from a parent or guardian. Parents are asked to sign and then return the DPR to school the following day. If a DPR is not signed and returned, re-teaching and encouragement are provided but no point loss or punitive responses occur.

Weekly Components

In addition to the daily components, weekly or every other week the CICO intervention coordinator will examine student data and prioritize which students will be discussed during meetings of the Tier 2 Team.

Quarterly Components

The CICO Coordinator along with the building administrator also will provide feedback to families and staff about CICO implementation, at minimum, on a quarterly basis. This feedback will pertain to program outcomes rather than data for individual students. For example, during a scheduled staff meeting the CICO Coordinator might have 10-15 minutes to report the number of students currently participating in the program, the rate of positive student response and data about how well features of the intervention are being implemented (e.g., are students consistently checking in and out; are teachers accurately and consistently completing DPRs; how often are parents signing and returning the DPR; how many children are meeting daily or weekly goals). Providing these occasional updates is useful for maintaining staff interest in the program, recognizing accomplishments of participating students and staff, and identifying areas for improvement.

Delivery of the CICO intervention incorporates a number of research-based practices that are individually known to be effective for improving student behavior. Students who participate in the CICO program access:

Defined expectations
Positive adult contact
Social skills training
Direct instruction
Feedback
Home-school communication
Positive reinforcement
Consistency

Reinforcement System

A critical component of the Check-In, Check-Out intervention is to regularly provide reinforcement for appropriate behavior. Remember, students who qualify for CICO support have not made progress with the schoolwide Tier 1 prevention efforts. Therefore, these students need additional reinforcement and feedback to get their behavior on the right track.

Reinforcers should emphasize the social aspects of the intervention. Remember that the primary CICO reinforcer is the personal connection with an adult. Suggested reinforcers are to increase adult attention, increase positive peer attention, or provide easily accessible activities such as additional computer or gym time. Reinforcers can be provided for checking in, checking out, and for meeting daily and/or weekly point goals. Students who participate in the CICO intervention will still participate in the schoolwide system of encouraging appropriate behavior.

Students Most Likely To Benefit

CICO is designed to address the needs of students who demonstrate consistent patterns of problem behavior across multiple settings. Most often students who participate in the program have been identified for demonstrations of low level disruptions such as talking out, talking back, off-task, or out of seat behaviors. In addition, the intervention is generally most effective for students who enjoy positive adult attention.

The CICO program alone is unlikely to benefit students with dangerous or violent behaviors, students who primarily demonstrate problem behavior in only one or two specific settings (e.g., bus or cafeteria), or students with significant academic deficits. In these cases, use of the CICO intervention along with additional academic or behavioral supports will likely be required.

Steps for Effective Implementation

The following list of steps is helpful for school SW-PBS teams to follow as they work toward development of the Check-In, Check-Out Intervention. At minimum, implementation of the CICO intervention typically includes the following:

STEP 1: Develop an Enrollment Process

Prior to starting the intervention with students be sure there is a systematic process in place to address each of the following considerations.

Student Identification - The Tier 2 Team uses existing school data, staff member or parent nominations and/or scores from an emotional-behavioral screening process to determine which students are non-responsive to schoolwide expectations. Students who meet established criteria (i.e., attention motivated problem behavior, find adult attention reinforcing, difficulties occur across multiple settings) should be considered as possible participants for the CICO intervention.

Baseline Data Collection - Baseline data collection begins. 3-5 days of baseline data should be acquired before students enter the CICO program. To collect this information, the Tier 2 Team provides the main classroom teacher(s) with a packet of Daily Progress Reports. Teachers monitor and rate student behaviors but do NOT provide feedback, nor does the student check in or out with a program facilitator.

After data is generated the PBIS team reviews it to determine: (a) whether the student truly needs additional support, (b) an initial daily point goal that is reasonable for the student to achieve, and (c) the level of teacher commitment for implementation. If data was not recorded diligently, the team should consider the extent to which there may be future concerns or issues with accurate implementation of program components.

Family Notification/Permission - If baseline data confirms the student as an appropriate candidate for the CICO intervention, a member of the Tier 2 Team will contact parents/guardians of eligible participants. In some schools parental consent is required prior to enrolling students in the program. Check with administrative personnel to determine your district’s policy.

Resource: Parent Permission for Check In Check Out Letter Example

Introducing the Program - After family members are notified their child has been selected to participate, the CICO coordinator or facilitator should provide explanation and details about the purpose and process of the program to eligible students and their families. Ideally this introduction will occur in a face-to-face format with the student, his or her parents and at least one classroom teacher attending together. At this time the student DPR and point goals are finalized, opportunities for recognition of success are defined, responsibilities of each participant are clarified, and information about fading to a selfmanaged plan and/or graduation from the program is provided.

The introductory meeting is the time to establish commitment to active participation from individual stakeholders. Written materials that specifically describe and delineate steps for active participation will be helpful for communicating clear steps for implementation among the facilitator, student, classroom teacher(s), and family.

STEP 2: Design and Use a Daily Progress Report (DPR)

Daily Progress Reports use your school’s behavioral expectations and serve as the primary method for monitoring student response to the CICO intervention. Progress will be monitored daily throughout the duration of the program. The DPR provides regularly scheduled intervals for teachers to provide feedback to students about behavioral performance and award points for meeting expectations. During the afternoon check-out period student points are totaled and then converted to a percentage. Each student’s daily percentage is graphed. The school Tier 2 Team uses these graphs to monitor progress over time and make decisions about the intervention (e.g., fade, maintain, modify, intensify).

STEP 3: Collect Performance Data

There are several options for collecting and graphing student data. The school Tier 2 Team should decide which option best meets the needs of CICO personnel who will be responsible for keeping track of student data. The data collection system needs to be accurate, but also manageable.

STEP 4: Determine Response to Intervention

After the Tier 2 Team has established a data collection and graphing method, data should be reviewed regularly to monitor student progress and determine each participant’s response to the CICO intervention.

In the case of the CICO intervention, teams typically examine student baseline data to decide on a performance goal the student is likely to meet fairly rapidly. It is important that students experience early success with the CICO intervention because this will encourage continued participation. For example, students with baseline data in the 50-55% range may not increase performance to 80% in a short period of time. Instead the Tier 2 Team may choose to select an initial goal of 65-70% so that the child can reach his or her first goal immediately or shortly after beginning the intervention. Gradually, over time, the support team will increase expectations for the student. Many teams systematically increase expectations for student performance from as low as 65-75% up to 90-95%. Teams are cautioned against ever expecting that students consistently maintain performance at 100%. This likely is an unreasonable goal considering that even typically developing children often do not behave appropriately 100% of the time on a daily basis.

STEP 5: Use Student Data to Make Decisions

Each time the student support team reviews and interprets student data, an interpretation (positive, questionable or poor response to intervention) and a decision about what occurs next will need to be made. Generally, decisions will include continuing the intervention, intensifying the intervention, modifying the intervention, fading the intervention or returning to the problem solving phase to gather additional information. In every case, decisions about the next phase of intervention should be derived from an interpretation of student data (i.e., response to the intervention).

STEP 6: Plan for Self-Management, Fading and Graduation

Self-management is a broad term that refers to a child’s ability to effectively be aware of and modify his or her own behavior. Informally, many teachers may think of self-management as related to self-control, self-discipline, or self-regulation. Student capacity to take responsibility for his/her own learning and behavior even when adult supervision is not available is an ideal outcome associated with participation in the CICO intervention (i.e., students manage their own learning and behavior; Alberto and Troutman, 2009, p. 366). Typical aspects of self-management include goal setting, self-evaluation, self-recording, self-reinforcement, and self-instruction. Most often these techniques are used in combination with one another and may be provided along with other strategies. For students to maintain successes they experienced during the CICO intervention, specific instruction in self-management techniques is recommended. Students who graduate from the CICO program should be able to manage their own behavior without CICO facilitator prompts or cues and with typical rates of classroom teacher attention and feedback.

Within the CICO intervention, instruction for self-management occurs before intervention components are faded (i.e., removed). Fading refers to a process of gradually removing CICO intervention components for students who have met program goals. Successful graduates of the CICO program are students who maintain expected behaviors after the daily check-in, regular teacher feedback, data collection, check-out, and parent feedback components are no longer provided (i.e., faded). To increase the likelihood of student success after graduation, CICO program components are typically removed in a systematic and thoughtfully planned fashion rather than abruptly ended all at once. Students receive instruction for self-management skills before the CICO components are faded.

Pages 92-97 of the Crone et al., 2010 intervention manual provide guidance about self-management and fading across the following topics:

Determining the appropriate time to fade
Using self-management
Tips for increasing success during the fading phase
Graduation and alumni parties
How to respond if a student wants to continue participating in the program
Final consideration

A plan for how students will graduate from the CICO program should be developed and documented before a school team begins implementing the intervention. In addition, introduction and orientation for students, parents and teachers who are new to the program should provide information about self-management, fading, and graduation. Specifically, all participants should know from the start that the program is not intended as a long-term support. Instead, the goal is to help students develop skills for functioning independently.

It is not uncommon that after participating in CICO over a period of time, students, along with parents and teachers as well, do not want to give up this support. Students report they like receiving extra adult attention and the feeling of success CICO gives them. Additionally, teachers and parents have concerns about how well children will continue to perform when the program is no longer provided. Therefore, moving students out of the CICO program requires careful planning.

For self-management and fading see the section later in this chapter, link.

For ideas on graduation see the section previous in this chapter, link.

Modifying CICO for Some Students

When the CICO program is implemented with fidelity, a majority of identified students will respond positively. However for some students, slight modifications to the intervention content and/or process may be needed to enhance success.

Regular review of student data will guide teams to distinguish which students are experiencing success from those who might benefit from one or more program modifications.

Students who are meeting their goal (e.g., 80% or more of the total possible points) four out of five days per week are generally considered to be responding positively. Students who are inconsistently or rarely meeting their goal may respond differently if the CICO intervention is adjusted to meet the specific function of their behavior.

A common guideline that signifies questionable or poor response to an intervention is three to four consecutive data points below the student’s goal line.

When questionable or poor student response data is generated, the first action is to assess fidelity of implementation. This means determine the extent to which the intervention was delivered as designed. Once the support team is confident that CICO implementation is correct, the next action is to begin problem solving for non-responsive students.

Pages 98-104 of the intervention manual provides information about use of a simple Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) procedure to determine the reason why a student demonstrates a particular behavior under certain circumstances (i.e., function of the behavior).

Depending on the process of your school’s Tier 2 Team, a hypothesis about function of behavior may already have been determined prior to implementation of the CICO intervention. If your process does not include identification of function prior to intervention, an understanding of why a student is demonstrating problem behaviors is key. Function of behavior is used to determine what modifications might impact response to the CICO intervention.

Regardless of when behavioral function is identified (before or during the intervention), a short interview process can be used to gather applicable information. Appendix G.3 and G.4 (pages 222-231) of the intervention manual includes two commonly used formats for conducting interviews, the Functional Behavioral Assessment – Behavior Support Plan Protocol (F-BSP) and the Functional Assessment Checklist for Teachers (FACTS). Instructions and guidelines for use of each instrument are also provided (Crone, Hawken, and Horner, 2010).

In addition, recommendations about use of CICO for students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) are provided. The following is a summary of key issues to consider when CICO is identified as a possible behavioral support for students receiving special education services (Crone, Hawken, and Horner, 2010, p. 114).

CICO should not contradict the student’s IEP.
CICO should support the student’s progress toward goals outlined in the IEP.
If the student has a behavioral goal, CICO alone will likely be inadequate for addressing this goal.
The basic CICO intervention is best used as one component of an IEP that addresses behavioral issues.

Adaptations for High School Implementation

When CICO is developed for older students many of the basic principles still apply.

Systematic adult interaction
Well defined behavioral goals
Increased feedback from multiple adults
Regular school to home communication
Established screening procedures to identify risk early
Proactive, positive support
Use of data to monitor progress
Increased student connection to school

However, CICO implementation for secondary level students also is more complex for a number of reasons, including that peer attention may be more reinforcing than adult attention; students are expected to self-manage both social and academic behaviors.

To address the complexity of concerns, recommended adaptations at the high school level include the following (Crone, Hawken, and Horner, 2010): (a) Provide instruction for and emphasize the importance of self-management. (b) Combine social support with academic support to maintain engagement with school. (c) Identify a target population and link these students with adults they connect with or find reinforcing.

A summary of important points related to each of the recommended adaptations is provided below.

COMBINE WITH ACADEMIC SUPPORT At the secondary level a critical outcome of CICO participation is teaching students how to be both socially and academically successful in school so they remain engaged in activities. To reach this goal, CICO for older students should also provide instruction for basic study skills (Crone, Hawken, and Horner, 2010). In addition to feedback about social behavior, students should participate in lessons that teach them to use a planner, organize materials and supplies, establish and follow a daily schedule, apply study skill strategies, and know beneficial test taking skills.

Secondary level CICO programs also should provide on-going assistance with daily academic demands (Crone, Hawken, and Horner, 2010). This means participating students have regularly scheduled (i.e., every day for a few times a week) assistance from an adult or competent peer for completion of homework and/or assignments.

Identify Target Population and Link with Reinforcing Adults

Transition into high school can be difficult particularly for students who struggled academically, socially or behaviorally in previous grades. Increasing school engagement is especially important for students who have been marginalized by academic failure or problem behaviors. Although CICO can effectively address needs of students in all grades, it may be particularly effective for freshmen or sophomore level students as they make the transition into high school. Adults who provide the academic and/or social components of the intervention must be willing to know students well enough to incorporate their interests and strengths into the learning activities (Crone, Hawken, and Horner, 2010).

These are modifications that can be used at the secondary level for tracking academic goals, homework or organizational concerns. These are simple adaptions to the Check-In, Check-Out Daily Progress Report (DPR).

In CICO with the following modification, students goals are tied to meeting schoolwide expectations developed as part of the school’s Tier I intervention (e.g., “Be Respectful). In Academic Behavior CheckIn/Check-Out (ABC), these expectations remain the same; however, they are defined in terms of academic behaviors. Thus, “be respectful” could be defined as raise your hand if you need help and “be responsible” could be defined as completing all assignments. Work with teachers in your school to define schoolwide expectations around common academic behavior goals. A worksheet for developing expectations for ABC is in following examples. Students will earn points for meeting these expectations. In addition, students will earn a point for using the assignment tracker successfully. (Turtura, J. 2010)

Training for Staff, Students, and Families

Figure 3.5 on page 25 of the intervention manual provides an example decision tree “The Basic BEP” that demonstrates from start to finish what the process will look like if school teams implement CICO with fidelity (Crone, Hawken, and Horner, 2010). In addition Chapter 12 (pp. 181 – 191) provides a list of frequently encountered problems that may occur during CICO implementation and also includes possible solutions (Crone, Hawken, and Horner, 2010). Many of the problems typically reported by schools can be prevented if the Tier 2 Team conducts careful and thoughtful planning when first establishing the intervention within their setting. In most cases of poor implementation it is not the student who demonstrates limited participation, rather it more commonly is one or more adults associated with the process who fail to understand the level of precision required to evoke lasting behavior change.

In cases of poor or inadequate implementation the Tier 2 Team should generally assume there is a misunderstanding, miscommunication, or failure to acquire or routinize requisite skills. In the same way re-teaching is used with students, re-teaching with modeling, feedback and reinforcement also should be provided for adults who are new to the program. Once a behavior change for participating students is perceived, the momentum to continue a practice usually follows. Assuring initial success requires deliberate and careful planning!

Responsibilities Associated with the Check-In, Check-Out Intervention

Tier 2 Team - Attend weekly meetings, contribute to decisions, conduct orientation meetings, gather supplemental information on students, and assist with staff development workshops
Intervention Coordinator - Oversee work of the CICO facilitators, meet regularly with each facilitator to review progress of the students they serve, prioritize students to discuss during team meetings, receive nominations, assist with graduation ceremonies, and conduct periodic check-ups with program graduates.
Intervention Facilitators - Lead morning check-in and afternoon check-out, enter DPR data and maintain records, create student graphs, meet with coordinator to prioritize students that will be discussed during team meetings, attend team meetings
Classroom Teachers - Greet the student positively at the beginning of the school day or class period, initiate feedback at the end of each rating period, provide an explanation for the rating earned, prompt for appropriate behavior, reinforce for following expectations or making improvements, mark DPR.
Students - Check-in and pick up DPR, hand DPR to teacher at the beginning of the day or class period, accept teacher feedback, obtain a new DPR if one is lost, return completed DPR during afternoon check-out, take DPR home for parent feedback then return it to school the next day
Families - Provide consent for participation, review the daily DPR, provide feedback, consider use of additional incentives at home, and communicate regularly with the school, particularly if a change in home life occurs

On-Going Monitoring of the Intervention

Once an intervention is developed and being implemented full scale, several aspects will need regular attention and consideration to ensure maximal effects and benefits from the selected treatment. The following sections describe each of the topics listed below:

Monitoring Fidelity of Intervention Implementation
Monitoring Social Validity of Interventions
Monitoring Intervention Outcomes
Monitoring Intervention Features

Resource: Check In Check Out Form Example

Resource: Check In Check Out Lesson Plans