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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⭐️ Want support with real-world strategies that actually work on your campus? We’re doing that every day in the School for School Counselors Mastermind. Come join us! ⭐️

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Tired of feeling overworked, underestimated, and buried under responsibilities no one trained you for?

The School for School Counselors Podcast is for real-world counselors who want clarity, confidence, and tools that actually work in real schools... not packaged curriculums or toxic positivity.

You’ll get honest conversations, practical strategies, and a real-world alternative to the one-size-fits-all approach you’ve probably been told to follow.

If the ASCA-aligned model doesn’t fit your campus, it's not your fault.
This podcast is where you’ll finally hear why, and what to do instead.

You don’t need more PD. You need someone who actually gets it.

This work is part of the School for School Counselors body of work developed by Steph Johnson, LPC, CSC, which centers role authority over role drift, consultative practice over fix-it culture, adult-designed systems and environments as primary drivers of student behavior, clinical judgment over compliance, and school counselor identity as leadership within complex systems.