This article discusses the use of behavior-specific praise (BSP), an effective technique for promoting prosocial behavior and managing classrooms. It addresses the criticism that BSP may reduce students' intrinsic motivation and offers directions on how to use BSP to provide students, especially those with challenging behaviors, with useful…

Early childhood education teachers often feel underprepared for addressing behavior challenges in the classroom. This can limit a teacher's ability to teach academic and social skills and lead to interruptions in their educational experience such as suspensions or expulsions. Effective planning can help teachers create and manage positive learning…

Social skills training (SST) is a topic of great importance in the field of autism as social skill deficits are a prominent feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Improving and/or facilitating the acquisition and performance of social skills across multiple settings should be the primary purpose of SST. Unfortunately, few children receive SST…

A number of evidence-based classroom management approaches, procedures, and programs have been developed and presented over the years. In this article the authors synthesize recommendations from various sources, focusing on evidence-based strategies that can be implemented in a systematic manner. They focus specifically on universal strategies,…

Many terms have been used to describe the perseverative behavior displayed by children with autism, including "circumscribed, narrow, obsessive, restricted, or special interests." Past researchers have focused on the punishment of such perseverative behaviors by individuals diagnosed with autism, and many parents and teachers also may be inclined…

Speaking out without raising a hand, interrupting conversations, refusing to complete work or to follow directions, becoming aggressive toward peers or teachers with the slightest provocation, and generally having poor peer relations are only some of the myriad of problematic behaviors presented in classrooms at any given time. The historical…

Research has suggested that the use of effective instructional strategies could be increased through direct intervention. One possible intervention is performance feedback, a simple yet effective method of consultation for influencing teacher behavior. Mortenson and Witt (1998) defined performance feedback as "a method of providing…

Research has demonstrated that well-integrated computer-assisted instruction can have positive effects on student achievement, attitudes, and self-esteem. In this article, the authors summarize a project that focused on increasing students' positive social behavior by providing better context to the instruction and using technology as the teaching…