How Increasing Opportunities to Respond Improves Classroom Behavior: Session 293 with Todd Haydon

Many years ago, a wise principal once told me that good instruction is the best classroom management tool teachers have at their disposal. In Session 293, Dr. Todd Haydon joins me to discuss the practice of increasing the rate of students' opportunities to respond (OTR), which is an instructional practice that has been shown to improve classroom behavior.

In doing so, Todd and I did a deep dive on his dissertation work, which culminated in the study, Haydon, Mancil, and Van Loan (2009). This study began with a referral to help students who engaged in disruptive and off-task behaviors. Rather than conduct several individual FBAs, Todd and his colleagues coached the teacher to increase the rate of posing academic questions to the class.

The results spoke for themselves, and the rest is history. So tune in to learn how this practice works, and maybe it can be something that will help you in your practice!

Oh, and by the way, he concludes the podcast with a very memorable story, so be sure to tune into the entire episode!

Resourced discussed in this podcast:

• Today's ABA (Hanley, Session 160, CEU Available).
• How to Improve Classroom Management with the Good Behavior Game (Donaldson, Session 171, CEU Available).
• Pat Friman, No such thing as a bad boy (Inside JABA 7, CEU Available).
• Deconstructing Compassionate ABA (Hanley, Session 183, CEU Available).
• How to Use Group Responding (Heward, Session 260, CEU Available).
• Clinical Interviewing book (How to get "permission" to give advice).
• Classroom improvement courses from The Behavioral Toolbox.
• Using Opportunities to Respond in a General Education Classroom: A Case Study (Haydon, Mancil and Van Loan, 2009).
• Managing Negative Countertransference when Working with Children Exhibiting Externalized Behaviors: A Single-Case Design (Guest et al., 2025).
• Key and Peele substitute teacher skit.
• Remedial and Special Education.
• Tootling: current research and future considerations for school practitioners (Whitefield and Harry, 2024).
• PAX: The Good Behavior Game.
• Todd's Research Gate page.
• Numbered Heads Together.
• Todd's UC Faculty Page.

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