Precorrection

Ask any teacher and they will be able to select periods of time throughout their school day in which various students are more likely to engage in challenging behavior. With both research and policy placing emphasis on the use of proactive strategies to prevent challenging behavior from occurring (Sugai, 2000), teachers must look to these practices. One such strategy is precorrection. Precorrection is an easy-to-implement antecedent strategy designed to prevent challenging behavior from occurring. It works by identifying the environmental contexts in which challenging behavior is most likely to occur and having teachers state a reminder of appropriate behavior (Ennis et al., 2017) before the student has the opportunity to make an error. A precorrection statement gives students specific directions or reminders to engage in the appropriate behavior before that situation occurs (Smith et al., 2011). For example, a teacher could ask the whole class, “Before we walk down the hall, who can tell me our three hallway rules?” Or, the teacher could remind an individual student about appropriate behavior on the playground by saying, “Remember to wait your turn in line to go down the slide. Everyone takes turns so all of the kids get a chance.” By describing the expectations in a clear and understandable way, students are better able to engage in the desired behavior. Precorrection is considered to be a low-intensity strategy (Ennis et al., 2017) and can be applied in various settings, including an entire classroom, a small group of learners, or with an individual student. It is a versatile strategy that can be used across settings and is quick to implement (Lane et al., 2015). 

According to Colvin and colleagues (1993) there are seven steps that should be followed when implementing precorrection (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. The steps needed to complete in order to implement precorrection with fidelity.

Research has shown that precorrection is an effective strategy for promoting appropriate behavior in students (DePry & Sugai, 2002). This effectiveness has been found with both younger children (Conroy et al., 2014) and older students (Pry & Sugai, 2002; Smith et al., 2011), and in various learning environments, including general education classrooms (DePry & Sugai, 2002) and special education classrooms (Miao et al., 2002). Precorrection can also be carried out and used within a package of other research-based behavior management practices, such as reinforcement and prompting. Implementing precorrection promotes engagement in appropriate behavior, which ultimately, allows students the opportunity to receive reinforcement (see Figure 2). 

Precorrection most closely aligns with the social/emotional/behavioral High Leverage Practice (HLP) #7 – establish a consistent, organized, and respectful learning environment. 

Figure 2. Flowchart for implementing precorrection with reinforcement.

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