The philosophy and key concepts, goals and objectives, components of effective classroom management, behavior modification techniques, and a positive approach to classroom management are discussed in this paper. Principles and procedures of classroom management are discussed and ways in which they may be adapted to existing classroom practices are…

The study attempted to decrease the talking-out behavior and increase the pre-writing skills of a 7-year-old educable mentally retarded boy in a special school for children with orthopedic handicaps. Differential reinforcement of other (DRO) behaviors was used during 30 minutes a day four times a week. Appropriate behaviors of the subjects and…

Teachers would find their jobs easier if they had a set of positive statements to communicate classroom rules to students rather than the frequently used "Don't Rules.""Do Rules" are behavioral objectives for use in the area of classroom behaviors. They are most effective when they state exactly what is to be done in a…

This study describes the uses of several disciplinary practices in American public schools. They include positive reinforcement, tokens, assertive discipline, timeout, values clarification, life span interviews, behavior charts, conferences, detention, remaining after school, inschool suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, and exclusion. Three…

Merit pay is discussed in three sections, focusing on: (1) an approach to the measurement of the merit of college teachers that avoids much of the subjectivity and potential favoritism that has caused other merit systems to fail, the procedure which evolved over a period of years, and a review of its evolution; (2) results of several surveys of…

Since self-concept is an excellent predictor of academic success, the author argues that improvement of student self-image should be a primary goal of educators. He maintains that the successful student has a relatively high opinion of himself, while the underachiever who evinces various behavior problems suffers from a low self-opinion. The…

The study was designed to examine the effect of teacher administered praise notes on the academic performance of three second grade special needs students with reading difficulty or learning disabilities. Also studied were effects of notes and their use in conjunction with parental social reinforcement. A multiple baseline procedure was used to…

Individualized instruction and token reinforcement were used to teach six institutionalized delinquent or mildly retarded adolescents attending a special community living, prevocational class to complete job application forms with the date, their name, signature, address, telephone number, date of birth, and a reference's name, address, and…

The applicability of token reinforcement programs in public school settings is discussed in terms of: (1) effectiveness; (2) ease of implementation and management; (3) expense; (4) compatability with school and community attitudes; and (4) pupil satisfaction. (Author)

A study explored the relationship of interest in story content, external incentives, and reading level to elementary school children's reading performance. The subjects, 75 fifth grade students who were either average or below-average readers, were asked to rate the content of five stories from "most" to "least" interesting and were then assigned…

The question examined by this study was: Are the traditional reinforcers common to many planned programs of reinforcement in the classroom relevant and meaningful to the pupils themselves? Data is reported from a questionnaire administered to seven-year-old pupils, ten-year-old pupils, and their teachers. A discrepancy was found between reward…

Motivational techniques and strategies that may be used by teachers to strengthen student performance and reinforce positive attitudes toward learning are discussed and analyzed. The topic is divided into eight major factors for consideration: (1) why human behavior occurs, what is motivation, the mythology of motivation and learning, and the time…

Case studies were conducted to assess the personal learning styles and behaviors of elementary school children to provide teachers the opportunity of using prescribed teaching techniques to match students' styles. Six groups of behaviors were identified: (1) students demonstrate little internal control and are likely to act out and create…

An evaluation-reward system was developed in which students received points based on a comparison of their weekly quiz performance to a "base score" which was derived from a pretest, and adjusted to reflect actual weekly performance. This system was evaluated in terms of its effect on student achievement, using a group of English classes…