Using Opportunities to Respond (OTR) to Reduce Disruptive Behavior in General Education Settings

Abstract

This paper focuses on externalizing behavior that disrupts the classroom. This behavior causes many difficulties for teachers in their classroom environments and can become distracting for peers, impeding their ability to concentrate inside the classroom. Therefore, teachers must provide an instruction-rich, supportive environment that provides all students with the chance to be appropriately and correctly involved in class proceedings. Such an environment also boosts students’ social responsiveness, which in return allows them to limit being affected by distractions. This study used an opportunities to respond (OTR) strategy to address disruptive behavior inside the classroom by applying a single-subject experimental design (SSED) . An A-B-A design was used in this study to locate the effect of OTR. The results showed that OTR intervention was effective, and the third phase showed the improvements made by students. Finally, recommendations based on the results from the current study are provided.

Keywords: Externalizing behavior, Opportunities To Respond (OTR), Single-subject experimental design.

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-33-14

Publication date: November 30^th 2021