Select a behavior to increase, such as work completion, staying in area, asking for help, or having safe hands. It’s important that the behavior is specific and not simply “being good” or “behaving.”

Create a token board and tokens. Although it does not matter what the tokens actually are (e.g., pennies, buttons, check marks, stamps, hole punches, etc.), it is helpful if the tokens are related to a special interest the student has. For example, if the student has a favorite character, the tokens could be pictures or stickers of that character, or the token board could have that theme on it.

Determine how many tokens will be necessary to earn the reinforcement and how often the student will earn a token. As a rule, it is better to start with success and build up so that the student learns that their positive behavior leads to reinforcement.

Create a list or menu of potential reinforcers (refer to the student preference section of the Student Information Worksheet for ideas).

The student should earn a token each time they display the behavior (completing one problem, completing one page, etc.) or for engaging in the behavior for a certain amount of time (sitting on the carpet for 30 seconds, etc.). Always praise the student when they earn a token.

Once all the tokens are earned, they can be exchanged for the selected reinforcer.

Once the student is meeting expectations consistently, the amount of work or time required to earn a token, or the number of tokens needed to earn reinforcement can increase.