School for School Counselors Podcast

GRADED: Check In, Check Out

• School for School Counselors • Episode 162

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What if the behavior approach everyone swears by is actually making some kids worse?

Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) is one of the most common Tier 2 interventions in school counseling, but most trainings leave out the detail that decides whether it works or fails. 

In this episode, I share the research, the hidden limitation no one’s talking about, and the story of a student who proved that “research-based” doesn’t always mean “right for every kid.”


This episode is highly researched:

Fairbanks, S., Sugai, G., Guardino, D., & Lathrop, M. (2007). Response to intervention: Examining classroom behavior support in second grade. Exceptional Children, 73(3), 288–310.

Filter, K. J., McKenna, M. K., Benedict, E. A., Horner, R. H., Todd, A. W., & Watson, J. (2007). Check in/check out: A post-hoc evaluation of an efficient, secondary-level targeted intervention for reducing problem behaviors in schools. Education and Treatment of Children, 30(1), 69–84.

Hawken, L. S., Bundock, K., Barrett, C. A., Eber, L., Breen, K., & Phillips, D. (2015). Large-scale implementation of check-in check-out: A descriptive study. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 30(4), 304–319. 

Hawken, L. S., MacLeod, K. S., & Rawlings, L. (2007). Effects of the Behavior Education Program (BEP) on office discipline referrals of elementary school students. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 9(2), 94–101. 

Klingbeil, D. A., Dart, E. H., & Schramm, S. A. (2019). A systematic review of function‐based modifications to check‐in/check‐out. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 21(1), 3–18. 

Maggin, D. M., Zurheide, J., Pickett, K. C., & Baillie, S. (2015). A systematic evidence review of the check‐in/check‐out program for reducing student challenging behaviors. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 17(4), 197–208. 

Sottilare, A. L., & Blair, K.-S. C. (2023). Implementation of check-in/check-out to improve classroom behavior of at-risk elementary school students. Behavioral Sciences, 13(3), 257. 


Note: "Jake" and "Carrie" are fictional versions of students based on compilations of real stories. 

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Speaker 1:

I have to tell you about Jake, a fourth grader with this very messy, spiky looking haircut that never seemed to move. He would shuffle into school about five or ten minutes late because inevitably he'd gotten sidetracked on the way to school or on his way down the hallway. But he had a smile that would light up the cafeteria, the classroom or the office where Jake was always felt too small when he was in it, because he had this energy that just filled every single corner. He had the kind of personality that made teachers smile until he saw a classmate's new sneakers or their new backpack and just had to touch them. Or he heard a fire truck and shouted my dad's a firefighter. In the middle of a spelling test. His brain and his body were just always three steps ahead of his self-control. Have you ever had a student like Jake?

Speaker 1:

I did what any by-the-book school counselor would do I put him on check-in, check-out, seco. I followed every step exactly, built the morning relationship. I had a cool folder with a point sheet inside. We collected perfect data and I really thought that I was the poster child for evidence-based practice. Every morning Jake would bounce out to greet me in the hallway with that spiky hair and we would set goals for the day, and I sent him off thinking that we were building something amazing and meaningful. But after we'd done this for a few weeks, I pulled the data. But after we'd done this for a few weeks, I pulled the data. I started looking at the data trends and I froze. I had the sickest feeling in my stomach. I can still remember it, because I started to realize that I had been completely wrong. Jake had more behavioral incidents on the days that we checked in than the days that we didn't, and his best days had been the mornings when a crisis kept me from seeing him at all. And I started to wonder what if the most celebrated and recommended tier two behavior intervention in schools was actually making some kids worse. Hey, school counselor, welcome back In this episode of our graded series. We're digging into one of the most widely recommended tier two behavior interventions in schools. Check in, check out. It's supposed to build connection, improve behavior and give us usable data. But does it actually help or can it backfire for some students and make the problem worse? I'll share what research really says, the critical detail most trainings leave out, and how to decide when Seco is the right move and when it's not. So if you're ready for some straight talk, my friend, some clarity on your work and a little bit of rebellion, you're going to be in the right place. I'm Steph Johnson, and this is the School for School Counselors podcast.

Speaker 1:

My confusing data sent me on some late night research binges and you can imagine me sitting up at 11 o'clock with my laptop reading every check-in check-out study I could find and trying to understand how I could follow all the steps perfectly and it still end up so wrong. Here's what finally stood out. There were plenty of positives about this approach. Multiple studies by researchers like Hawken and colleagues show that check-in checkout can cut office referrals, improve behavior and boost engagement. Teachers generally love it and in that massive study of over 441 schools, over 70% hit fidelity benchmarks, supporting about 10% of their students, and 80% of those students met their daily point goals. But there is a huge asterisk here because even in that success story, 25 to 40 percent of students still needed more support and in one RTI study by Fairbanks with second graders, only about half improved on check-in checkout. The rest needed something entirely different. The rest needed something entirely different.

Speaker 1:

When you look at the research, you find a pattern that's buried in the systematic reviews that nobody ever talks about. Check-in check-out works best for students whose misbehavior is driven by adult attention. And when you think about it, it makes sense, because the design of check-in check-out is exactly that Daily check-ins, feedback and relationships are all at the core of the approach. So for attention seekers, this is like magic, but for other situations, like students trying to escape maybe the presence of skill deficits or sensory needs like Jake's, the impact of SECO drops significantly. One 2015 review by Magan even called the evidence. Mixed. Single case studies looked great, but group studies showed no significant effects and the researchers themselves acknowledged that students with more severe or functionally different problems often need additional support.

Speaker 1:

When I learned all that, jake's puzzling data wasn't surprising at all, because being research-based isn't the same as being student-matched. When we look at the research, there is one truth that is unavoidable the why behind the behavior matters more than the what. On my campus, jake wasn't acting out to get attention and the signs of ADHD were pretty compelling His blurts about pizza fractions and his fidgeting and his I just have to touch everything moments. Those were executive function struggles. They were not a bid for connection. Jake's brain was like a browser with 47 tabs open and our check-ins were just adding one more tab to his already overwhelmed system. Check-in checkout doesn't teach executive skills. It measures and it rewards behavior, but if the skill isn't there yet, you're just tracking the struggle. We cannot behavior manage our way out of a brain-based difference. So when I finally understood what Jake actually needed, things started to change. Instead of giving morning check-ins that added to his cognitive load, we created a break card for him to use, and instead of behavior points that focused on what he couldn't do, we practiced appropriate ways to fidget. We taught him the pause and breathe strategy and within two weeks his blurts dropped significantly because we were finally addressing what his brain actually needed. So here's the approach that I use now, and I think it's one that would have saved Jake and myself months of frustration, if I'm being honest. But we live and learn right. We live and learn and we're always seeking to get better.

Speaker 1:

First, identify the function. Use quick ABC data. Do you remember learning that in grad school? Antecedent behavior consequence what happens before, during and after the behavior? What's the student getting or avoiding? For Jake, the pattern was clear when we looked for it Impulsive responses in stimulating environments. Those all pointed to executive function challenges, not attention seeking.

Speaker 1:

Secondly, match the intervention. If it's attention seeking behavior, check-in check-out can shine because the daily connection and feedback is exactly what those students' nervous systems are craving. But if they're escape motivated, if they have skill deficits or sensory needs like Jake's, choose something else. Don't just ask if the intervention works. Ask if it works for this student with this need in this moment. Third, parent with skill building. If check-in check-out is the right fit, use those check-ins to teach actual skills, teach self-regulation, communication transitions. The relationship in this is the vehicle, but skill building should be the destination. And fourth, plan the fade, the destination. And fourth, plan the fade From day one. Build towards self-monitoring so students can graduate out of check-in checkout.

Speaker 1:

Research shows some students can maintain gains when we gradually reduce adult feedback and we know that success is not measured by staying on check-in checkout. Success is not needing it anymore. So identifying the function, matching the intervention to the student and the concern, pairing it with skill building and planning the fade are essentials in effectively addressing student concerns. And I will tell you, I know that sounds really straightforward, but I also know when you go to apply this in the messy reality of what you do every single day. It feels complicated, doesn't it? That's where having a community of colleagues makes all the difference, and it's why I created the School for School Counselors Mastermind, so we can work through these types of real-world challenges together. But let me tell you what it looks like when check-in checkout actually works, because, to be fair, I've also seen it work beautifully. I've also seen it work beautifully, like with Carrie, a fifth grader who lit up every time an adult noticed her effort For her, that daily feedback loop turned her behavior around in just a few weeks and by springtime she didn't even need check-ins anymore. That's Seco working exactly as designed for exactly the right function. But I've also seen students like Jake cycle through Seco for months and months and months and never really show any real progress. They get labeled as non-responders or defiant, when really they need a different tool. And if you really want to get into the nitty gritty with this, I'll tell you what keeps me up at night when I think about check-in check-out and yes, I do stay up at night thinking about this stuff.

Speaker 1:

Most of the research available only tracks behavior during implementation. There is little to no comprehensive data on what happens weeks or even months after check-in checkout ends. There's this huge gap where we're implementing interventions but we don't really know or understand their long-term impacts. You know, my situation with Jake taught me three truths that I now carry into every behavior plan. One perfect implementation of the wrong intervention is still the wrong intervention. Secondly, compliance isn't the same as capacity. And third, every behavior makes sense to the person that's doing it. Our job is to understand their logic, not impose our own. This is how I now evaluate every behavior support decision. So I know that my suggestions are being backed by research and honors the critical importance of function matching honors the critical importance of function matching.

Speaker 1:

So before you put a student on check-in checkout, you need to ask what's this behavior actually accomplishing for them? If the answer is not gaining adult attention, you might be about to give them the wrong tool, even if it's for the right reasons. How many students on your check-in checkout list right now might be like my, jake, where they're getting perfectly implemented support but it doesn't match what they actually need? So you know this series is graded. We're going to grade all of our approaches in school counseling. What grade do you think I'm going to give check-in check-out? Well, if you guessed a B you would be right. It's oddly specific.

Speaker 1:

Check-in check-out is effective when it's matched to the right function, when it's done with fidelity and when it's paired with skill building. But all too often very little of that is happening and instead it's used as a catch-all, which sets a lot of kids up to fail Like. I hope I don't sound too harsh here, but even the systematic reviews are acknowledging the limitations of this approach, and that mixed support finding that I mentioned earlier and the research that shows significant non-response rates validates what we are seeing on our campuses. We cannot throw small groups or check-in check-out at every student who needs Tier 2 intervention. Neither one is always appropriate. Jake taught me that good intentions and perfect implementation aren't enough if we're trying to solve the wrong problem, and the difference between being intervention focused and being student focused is not just asking if your tool works, but if it works for this specific kid.

Speaker 1:

If you want to dig deeper into research-driven behavior supports that actually work, not only for your campus culture and student needs but for your own personal bandwidth, you need to come join us in the School for School Counselors Mastermind. We dig into real situations every single week through the kind of nuanced thinking that helps every student get what they actually need. If you're interested in checking out the Mastermind, you can find the link in the show notes. We would love to have you come join us. All right, I'll be back soon with another episode of the School for School Counselors podcast. In the meantime, just remember every student deserves the right tool, not just the popular ones. And in case you're wondering, jake is doing great now. I saw him just the other day and he still has that spiky little haircut. But now he's got the tools that work with his brain and not against it. My friends, he is thriving and with the right interventions, your students can do the same. Take care.

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Steph Johnson

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