Behavior-specific praise is a research-based classroom management strategy that promotes appropriate student behaviors. Praise specificity, however, may not be the only characteristic of praise that enhances efficacy. The current study examined teacher's natural use of specific, contingent, and varied praise to understand additional qualities of…

The Caught Being Good Game (CBGG) is an evidence-based practice used in classrooms to reduce disruptive classroom behavior. This approach to classwide intervention has been implemented and its effectiveness demonstrated across grade levels and types of disruptive behavior. Teachers report that the CBGG is an easy classroom management strategy to…

Supported by decades of research on praise and its effect on student behaviors, we developed the Behavior-Specific Praise--Observation Tool (BSP-OT) to measure characteristics of effective praise. We evaluated interrater reliability of the BSP-OT to measure praise specificity, contingency, and variety using intraclass correlation (ICC) and Cohen's…

Research has demonstrated that behavior specificity is a salient characteristic of teacher praise efficacy. Praise variety may also be an important characteristic to reinforce desired student behavior based on research about the quality of reinforcers. In this study, we used an alternating treatments design to examine the effects of varied and…

This study examined the impact of teacher training interventions on establishing equity in teacher implementation of a common positive behavior classroom support strategy, behavior-specific praise (BSP), in four elementary classrooms. Teacher self-monitoring and written performance feedback were used to support teachers in improving classroom…

Few studies examine the effects of behavior-specific praise (BSP) in secondary classrooms, and there is limited research examining the rate of BSP that is needed to improve classwide appropriately engaged behavior (AEB) and reduce disruptive behavior (DB). Using a multiple baseline design with an embedded A/B/C/A/C condition sequence…

Within the context of a multi-tiered framework for behavior support, intervention intensification is warranted when a Tier II intervention fails to adequately address a targeted behavior. A traditional approach to intensification is to shift from standardized supports at Tier II to individualized and more resource-intensive supports at Tier III.…

Class-wide Function-related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is a classroom management intervention in which teachers incorporate positive behavior support (PBS) principles by teaching specific classroom expectations and providing feedback on student behavior as part of an interdependent group contingency. Interventions like CW-FIT may be helpful for…

The present study aimed to identify a way for educators to improve the accuracy of their praise and reprimand reflections to ultimately improve their ability to set, monitor, and evaluate their use of praise and reprimand. To do this, teachers' natural use of praise and reprimand (in the absence of intervention) were compared with their perceived…

Middle school teachers frequently struggle with positively managing student behavior. However, praise-to-reprimand ratios (PRRs) have received little research attention. PRRs studied in elementary school have been positively associated with improvements in on-task and prosocial behavior, but limited research has been conducted on optimal PRRs in…

This study examined the impact of culturally focused classroom staff training on delivery of praise and its collateral effects on student on-task behavior. Training involved self-monitoring and performance feedback to promote staff delivery of culturally adapted praise to students. Four classroom staff and four students with autism spectrum…

The effects of self-monitoring (SM) on teacher behavior are well documented, but previous research does not attempt to control for reactivity as a threat to internal validity. This study examined the effects of a multicomponent SM intervention on the use of a classroom management practice with participant masking to address this absence in the…

School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) relies on effective implementation of Tier 1 practices to ensure accurate identification of students in need of more intensive supports at Tier 2 or Tier 3. While measures of school-level fidelity are widely used, measures of classroom-level implementation of Tier 1 supports are…

Teachers receive limited training and support in classroom management, making it incumbent on school leaders to provide efficient and effective professional development supports. We explored the effects of a brief targeted professional development (TPD) approach (brief training, email prompts, and self-management of trained skills) on teachers'…

Functional communication training (FCT) is a common function-based intervention for young children with or at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to teach an alternative communicative response to replace problem behavior. While FCT is effective in decreasing problem behavior, often the communicative behavior that is taught occurs at a higher…