Efficacy of Contingency Contracting in Modifying the Attendance of High School Students with Special Needs

Abstract

The effectiveness of contingency contracting on increasing the attendance rates of high school students with special needs was investigated. Following a single-subject research design, the attendance and promptness to class of 14 students was documented prior to treatment, during implementation of the intervention, and post-treatment. The treatment employed an independent group-oriented contingency system that was student-driven. Reliability was obtained through a comparison of teacher and office attendance records. Results indicated an increase in attendance from 62.9% to 63.6%, suggesting contingency contracting as a viable intervention in modifying the attendance of students with special needs.