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Increasing Teachers' Use of a 1:1 Praise‐to‐Behavior Correction Ratio to Decrease Student Disruption in General Education Classrooms
Author(s) -
Pisacreta Jeffrey,
Tincani Matthew,
Connell James E.,
Axelrod Saul
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
behavioral interventions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.605
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1099-078X
pISSN - 1072-0847
DOI - 10.1002/bin.341
Subject(s) - praise , psychology , multiple baseline design , generalization , reinforcement , developmental psychology , mathematics education , social psychology , intervention (counseling) , mathematics , mathematical analysis , psychiatry
Contingent, behavior‐specific praise is universally recommended as an effective tool to increase students’ academic achievement and proscocial behavior. Despite this recommendation, little research has examined the effects of training teachers to increase their praise‐to‐behavior correction ratio in classroom settings. This study evaluated the effects of training teachers to provide a 1:1 ratio of praise‐to‐behavior correction to decrease student disruption in three general‐education classrooms. Three urban middle‐school general‐teachers who exhibited very low rates of praise participated in the study. Teachers received training, including modeling and performance feedback, to achieve a 1:1 ratio of praise‐to‐behavior correction administered within a multiple‐baseline across participants design. Results demonstrated that (a) the teachers were able to achieve and maintain a 1:1 praise‐to‐behavior correction ratio; (b) a reduction in student disruption coincided with teachers’ use of a 1:1 praise‐to‐behavior correction ration; and (c) two teachers evidenced moderate levels of generalization to classrooms where no training took place. Implications for practitioners and future research are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.