03 · How regulation develops
Choice, self-monitoring and independence
The goal is a student who resets on their own. Choice and self-monitoring help students take over what adults start.
Co-regulation is meant to hand over. Two bodies of classroom research describe how: giving students real choices, and teaching them to notice and track their own behavior.
The studies
What was tested, and what it found
Royer et al. 2017
Systematic review applying the Council for Exceptional Children's quality standards.
- Who
- 26 experimental studies (25 articles) of instructional choice with school-age students.
- Found
- Offering instructional choices increased desired academic behavior and decreased disruptive behavior. Because of small samples and study quality, the authors rated the evidence base as insufficient under the CEC's evidence-based standards.
Royer, D. J., Lane, K. L., Cantwell, E. D., & Messenger, M. L. (2017). A systematic review of the evidence base for instructional choice in K–12 settings. Behavioral Disorders, 42(3), 89–107. doi.org/10.1177/0198742916688655
Bruhn et al. 2015
Systematic review of self-monitoring interventions.
- Who
- 41 studies (2000–2012) of self-monitoring interventions with K–12 students with persistent behavior problems.
- Found
- Students with behavior challenges can learn to notice, track and adjust their own behavior with structured self-monitoring.
Bruhn, A., McDaniel, S., & Kreigh, C. (2015). Self-monitoring interventions for students with behavior problems: A systematic review of current research. Behavioral Disorders, 40(2), 102–121. doi.org/10.17988/BD-13-45.1
Where it stops
How each source applies — and where it stops
Royer et al. 2017
How it appliesOffering students a choice is a promising, low-effort way to support engagement.A review of K–12 studies found instructional choice to be a low-effort, teacher-delivered strategy linked to more engagement and less disruption — the reason each card offers students a choice of techniques.
Bruhn et al. 2015
How it appliesStudents can learn to notice and track their own behavior.A review of self-monitoring research found students with behavior challenges can learn to track and adjust their own behavior — the skill a reset routine builds toward.
Our next study
Whether offering a choice of reset techniques helps the way academic choice has — that's untested for regulation.
How we'll measure itHow Mind Circuit uses this
Each card offers students a choice of techniques, and the routine is designed to build toward students starting a reset themselves. Royer et al. studied choice between academic tasks — and rated that evidence as promising but not yet conclusive — and Bruhn et al. studied self-monitoring tools, mostly with students with behavior challenges. Extending both to resets is what our next study looks at.