An evaluation conducted for the Education Endowment Foundation in the UK looked at whether the Good Behaviour Game (GBG) improved students’ reading skills and behavior.
The GBG intervention is a classroom management approach designed to improve student behavior and build confidence and resilience. The game is played in groups and rewards students for good behavior. More than 3,000 Year 3 students from 77 UK schools took part in a randomized controlled trial of GBG over two years. Around a quarter of the students in the schools were eligible for free school meals, around a fifth were students with special educational needs, and 23% had English as an additional language.
The analysis indicated that:
- On average, GBG had no significant impact on students’ reading skills (effect size = +0.03) or their behavior (concentration, disruptive behavior, and pro-social behavior) when compared to the control group students.
- However, there was some tentative evidence that boys at risk of developing conduct problems showed improvements in behavior.
The authors identified the result might be affected by the implementation. In fact, one-quarter of schools in the intervention arm ceased implementation before the end of the trial.