One hundred sixty-three experienced, knowledgeable, elementary and secondary teachers were asked to identify classroom management strategies they believed to be most crucial to their teaching effectiveness. In rank order, the eight most frequently selected managerial strategies were: (1) using positive reinforcement; (2) applying logical…

Nine elementary grade children, each referred originally for low levels of peer interaction in free-play situations in school, participated in a study designed to assess the effects of treatment "booster shots" on the maintenance of social behavior. An intervention package, consisting of social skills tutoring and a recess-based point…

In an investigation of the effectiveness of self-managed reading improvement programs, a program incorporating self-monitoring (observing and recording relevant activity), self-reinforcement (increasing the probability of some target behavior by the self-presentation of positive consequences or the removal of negative consequences), and shaping…

This paper presents a perspective on advocacy and Advocate Counseling and its relationship to institutional racism. The Advocate Counseling Model is described as a vehicle for teaching citizens to act in an assertive and affirmative manner when confronted with public and private institutional problems, including institutional racism. Legal…

Reinforcement for academic performance has been shown to increase both correct academic responding and rates of on-task behavior. Reinforcement for attending and on-task behavior has failed to increase correct academic responding in many studies, but it has produced vicarious and sociometric changes. The occurrence of vicarious and sociometric…

Teachers and parents should seek effective ways of developing relationships with children to exert positive influence on their psychological, mental, and emotional health. The manner in which a child is treated or talked to by parents and teachers contributes to future abilities to cope, solve problems, engage in decision-making strategies,…

THE WORK OF AN EARLIER COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT (NO. 470) WAS EXTENDED THROUGH THIS INVESTIGATION BY COMPARING THE MOTIVATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND LEARNING PERFORMANCE OF A GROUP OF INSTITUTIONALIZED MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN WITH GROUPS OF SUPERIOR, NORMAL, AND MENTALLY RETARDED NONINSTITUTIONALIZED SUBJECTS. DATA ON THE…

FOR 5 WEEKS, 2 OBSERVERS MADE DAILY VISITS TO A LABORATORY PRESCHOOL TO COLLECT INFORMATION ON THE AMOUNT AND KINDS OF POSITIVE SOCIAL REINFORCEMENT CHILDREN GIVE TO EACH OTHER IN NURSERY SCHOOL. SEVENTY CHILDREN (AGED 3 YEARS 4 MONTHS TO 4 YEARS 9 MONTHS) WERE GROUPED INTO 2 OLDER AND 2 YOUNGER CLASSES. EACH CHILD WAS OBSERVED IN RANDOM ORDER FOR…

The learning module described is for the use of special education or regular classroom elementary teachers who have children with attention problems. The primary focus of the module is upon a behavior modification approach to increase teacher skill in promoting attention in the exceptional child classroom. Included in the description of this…

Praise and criticism data were collected during a two-year correlational study of a selected sample of second- and third-grade teachers chosen for their consistency in producing student learning gains averaged over four years, and these data were analyzed to determine the effect that praise, criticism, rewards, and punishment had on learning…

A study was conducted to test the effectiveness of a preschool program which emphasized rapid attainment of basic academic concepts. The experimentals were 4- to 5-year-old lower class, predominantly Negro, children. For 2 years they received instruction 2 hours daily, 5 times a week, in a group where the pupil-teacher ratio was five to one. To…

This set of workshop materials and activities is designed for persons who teach academic and clinical courses to students in professional allied health programs. The workshop consists of a set of short didactic and more extensive experiential activities. The workshop is organized into four main parts. Each part is labeled an activity. The first…

This issue of "Insights Into Open Education" investigates various aspects of the problems and potential of mainstreaming handicapped children into the regular school program. Brekke, in an article entitled "How Can Teachers Begin to Meet the Special Needs of Mainstreamed Children in the Regular Classroom?" asserts that teachers must concentrate on…

Junior high schools boys performed forty trials on a ball roll up game in order to determine whether competition, initial ability level, and social reinforcement interact to influence the performance of a perceptual motor task. The analysis of the data demonstrated: (a) the competition, initial ability level, and social reinforcement factors did…

The paper proposes that when behavior change is the major target of an adult education program, the designer must consider three factors: (1) the four basic targets for behavior change efforts (behavior goals and plans, basic knowledge and skills needed for successful performance, physical environment, reinforcers of behavior); (2) individual…