The effects of praise on student on-task behaviour, academic self-concept and numeracy enjoyment were investigated. Four year four classes and their teachers participated. Two teachers were instructed to use specific praise and two to use positive praise. Classes were independently observed on four occasions, twice before and twice after the…

When young teachers stand in front of their classes for the first time, they are expected to be well prepared for the challenging task before them. Unfortunately, preparations for this moment rarely include lessons on the essential skill of "teacher talk"--the choice and use of words in a class. This skill is often overlooked in teacher…

A positive psychology framework is consistent with counseling psychology's historic claim of focusing on strengths and optimal human functioning. The major articles in this issue of The Counseling Psychologist introduced many innovative, provocative, pragmatic, and useful ideas, strategies, and models related to this framework. For the most part,…

Numerous studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health. The authors suggest a conceptual model to account for these findings, arguing that the happiness-success link exists not only because success makes people happy, but also because positive…

We evaluated and treated swimming pool avoidance that was exhibited by a 14-year-old girl diagnosed with autism. In part, treatment involved blocking for flopping (dropping to the ground) and elopement (running away from the pool) and access to food for movements toward a swimming pool. Treatment also involved reinforcement for exposure to various…

Nearly every successful grown-up--actresses, brain surgeons, and teachers alike--can tell a heartwarming story about the time a teacher gave them the compliment that lifted them up, giving them permission to become great. But expert Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer suggests that there is good praise, and there is bad praise. According to the author of…

A single-subject multiple treatment design counterbalanced across nine participants with moderate to severe and multiple disabilities was used to determine the efficacy of a school-based multi-treatment package (a combined dysphagia treatment and positive reinforcement behavior management program) for children and youth (ages 4-17) with feeding…

School discipline is a growing concern in the United States. Educators frequently are faced with discipline problems ranging from infrequent but extreme problems (e.g., shootings) to less severe problems that occur at high frequency (e.g., bullying, insubordination, tardiness, and fighting). Unfortunately, teachers report feeling ill prepared to…

Approximately half of children and adolescents who are socially unpopular are not aggressive. Some voluntarily isolate themselves from the peer group, whereas others are intentionally excluded and often victimized. Although school social workers regularly provide services to this population, there is little reported research on effective…

The effects of e-mail feedback with written verbatim examples and frequency counts of expansions on pre-service teachers' verbal behaviors were examined in two studies. In Experiment I, e-mail feedback on the use of expansions was evaluated in a multiple baseline design across 3 undergraduate early childhood special education students. Results…

Background: Neurofeedback (NF) is a form of behavioural training aimed at developing skills for self-regulation of brain activity. Within the past decade, several NF studies have been published that tend to overcome the methodological shortcomings of earlier studies. This annotation describes the methodical basis of NF and reviews the evidence…

Functional analyses of problem behavior for 4 young boys with developmental delays showed that problem behaviors were maintained by both negative and positive reinforcement. Functional communication training was conducted with one set of training stimuli in which the child's mother presented a work task in the family living room. Pretreatment…

This study extends previous research by examining whether maternal inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity are associated with different parenting behaviors. Ninety-six mother-son dyads participated in the study, and the boys ranged between 4 and 8 years of age. Maternal inattention was uniquely and positively associated with mothers' use of…

This publication provides practical, step-by-step guidance for teachers on becoming more effective in classroom management by using a positive and constructive, rather than negative and punitive, approach to foster prosocial student behavior. The publication is divided into an introduction and three parts. The Introduction examines why effective…

The Management by Results Model of South Carolina's Principal Incentive Program is one of three models developed to reward school principals who demonstrate superior performance and productivity. Awards are given on the basis of the achievement of objectives developed by the principal and approved by the Principal Incentive Committee as well as a…