Enhancing Spelling Performance using Cover, Copy, and Compare: Evaluating Behaviors that Cause Learning

Once an academic skill is acquired, practice is necessary to promote fluency and maintenance of that skill (Harring & Eaton, 1978). Therefore, it is important that students are provided with opportunities to engage in activities that allow them to practice newly acquired skills (Skinner, Pappas, & Davia, 2005). Providing reinforcement for higher rates of responding may encourage students to engage in academic activities at higher rates, which may produce more efficient learning gains (Skinner et al., 1993; Van Houten et al., 1975).

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Cover, Copy, and Compare (CCC) procedure when paired with brief timing and an interdependent group-oriented reward program targeting CCC learning trials in enhancing spelling test performance. Participants included second-grade students at an elementary school located in the Southeast United States. In Experiment 1, two classrooms were randomly assigned to one of two groups: treatment (n = 19) and word search control (n = 25). Results revealed that both groups significantly increased their spelling test scores once the spelling intervention was introduced, but there was no significant difference between the two groups. Although there was no significant interaction effect, a moderate effect size was found, suggesting that there may have been a lack of sufficient statistical power to detect a significant difference.

During Experiment 2, three conditions [Reinforcement contingent upon test performance (RTP), Reinforcement contingent upon the number of completed learning trials (RLT), and traditional spelling instruction] were applied across three classrooms (n = 44). Findings indicated that students obtained significantly higher test scores when they engaged in CCC and earned group rewards for the number of completed learning trials as compared to traditional spelling instruction.

Both experiments demonstrated that student engagement in Active Accurate Academic (AAA) responding and occasioning higher rates of student responding can result in enhanced learning. Furthermore, providing students with reinforcement for hard work and effort (e.g., reinforcing CCC learning behaviors) may be as effective for enhancing learning as providing reinforcement for test performance. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.