The effects of check-in check-out on the academic planning and behavior of African American males Ozalle Marie Toms Department of Special Education, University of Wisconsin Whitewater College of Education and Professional Studies, Whitewater, Wisconsin, USA Gloria Campbell-Whatley Department of Special Education and Child Development, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, and Shannon Stuart and Tia Schultz Department of Special Education, University of Wisconsin Whitewater College of Education and Professional Studies, Whitewater, Wisconsin, USA Abstract Purpose – The Check-in Check-out (CICO) program is a Tier II behavioral intervention that has received empirical support as an effective way to reduce problem behaviors (Hawken and amp; Horner, 2003; March and amp; Horner, 2002). The purpose of this study is to use an intervention that combined CICO with social skill instruction and academic planning with three African-American ninth-grade males identified with emotional and behavioral disorders. A concurrent baseline across participants design was used to evaluate participants’ performance on academic planning and behavior. Results indicate that the combination of social skill instruction and academic planning with the CICO mentoring program improved participants’ academic planning and behavior. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a concurrent multiple baseline across participants design to determine the effect of the CICO mentoring program. CICO was combined with academic planning and social skills training to determine the effect on the DRC scores and the student’s educational success skills. This study included three phases: baseline, intervention (which included academic planning, social skills training and CICO) and maintenance. Findings – All of the participants were below 50 per cent during baseline for points earned on the daily report card and the execution of steps for academic planning. During intervention, all of the participants had an increase in level and trend for both skills. Participants were able to maintain the skills two weeks after intervention. Research limitations/implications – This study has several limitations. First, the study was conducted in an urban setting; therefore, it cannot be generalized to other geographical populations, such as rural or suburban students. Second, the study is not generalizable to self-contained settings, resource rooms or other school environments. Third, the use of DRC data, as opposed to direct observations of behavior, is a strong limitation. Consequently, it is possible that improvements in DRC scores were because of changes in teacher perceptions rather than actual changes in student behavior. Practical implications – The study presents several implications for future studies. First, researchers could investigate different service-level settings (e.g. self-contained or resource) and different settings (e.g. suburban or rural). Second, researchers could focus on varied populations that are targeted for inappropriate behavior or academic difficulties such as English Language Learners. Researchers could also examine the effects of tutoring with CICO and investigate if mentoring is generalizable to community settings. JME 12,3 278 Journal for Multicultural Education Vol. 12 No. 3, 2018 pp. 278-293 © Emerald Publishing Limited 2053-535X DOI 10.1108/JME-03-2017-0016 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/2053-535X.htm