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Classroom Management & the Power of Positive Reinforcement: A How To Guide
Caroline WallaceUniversity of Southern Maine
Content Classroom management
Guidelines for positive classrooms
Reinforcement & Ratios
Best practices for praise
Pulling it all together Expectations Teaching Teachers to Praise
Classroom management
Classroom behavior support practices should be blended with SW-PBS systems.
Classroom practices should promote academic & behavioral gains.
You should create a setting that is: Predictable Consistent Positive Promotes student
independent behavior (reduce prompts)
Key Tenets of Instruction
Vary modes of instruction
Pacing
Goals
Opportunities for student response
Student feedback
Instruction influences behavior
Behavior is functionally related to the teaching environment. Continuum of
reinforcement
Environmental management “…Much teacher
praise is reactive to and under the control of student behavior rather than vice versa.” (Brophy, 1981)
Establish a positive environment
Begin each period with a celebration
Your 1st comment to a child establishes behavioral momentum
Interact positively once every 5 minutes
Maintain strong praise/correction ratio
Provide multiple paths to success/praise
Establish multiple strategies for acknowledging behavior
Appropriate:
Social, tangible, activity, etc.
Frequent vs. infrequent
Predictable vs. unpredictable
Immediate vs. delayed
Examples of Positive Consequences
Contingent use of breaks, privileges
Access to special activities
Contracts and token economies
Mystery awards
Public recognition (class-wide and school-wide)
Parent contact
Teacher praise
Demonstrations of teacher approval
Points (leading to privileges and rewards)
Menus (store, list of reinforcers)
Various combinations of reinforcers
Establish strategies for acknowledging behavior
Errors & corrections
Contingent
Specific
Brief
Handling minors & majors:
Follow procedures Businesslike &
efficient Pre-correct for
next occurrence Look for an
opportunity to reinforce
A refresher on behavior
Behavior is maintained by:
Attention
Access to/escape from activities or tangibles
Power/Control
Goals of Behavior
3 C’s of Self-EsteemR. J. Rethemver
Praise
“Positive evaluations made by a person of another’s products, performances, or attributes, where the attributor presumes the validity of the standards on which the evaluation is based.”
Complex social communication
Praise vs. Feedback
Types of praiseGeneral
Students are given an approval but the behavior is not specified.
“Good job!”
Behavior Specific
Teacher specifically identifies the behavior for which the student is being praised.
“Jon, I like the way you are sitting quietly and listening.”
Key Elements: Name of student Positive statement with
specifics
Praise is….
Instructional (academically based)
Managerial (socially based)
Evidentiary Support As early as 1968, research has evidenced
an inverse relationship between teacher praise & disruptive behavior of students.
1970s vs. 1990s
More praise for instructional than managerial (Beaman & Wheldall, 1998)
Research supports consistent low rates of praise in both general & special education classrooms (Keller, Brady, & Taylor, 2005)
Evidentiary Support Correlation between teacher praise and on-task
behavior of .63 (ages 5-7) and .41 (ages 7-11) (Swinson & Harrop, 2001)
Praise increased student motivation, accuracy of responding & task persistence. (Keller, Brady, & Taylor, 2005)
Levels of on-task behavior were significantly greater when praise for behavior given, versus general praise.(Chalk & Bizo, 2004)
Effective for all populations: Students with emotional/behavioral disorders College students Schoolwide: Cascade Elementary School, Atlanta, GA
Praise Ratios
5 Positives to 1 Negative
Gottman: research conducted on positive-negative interactions in marriages 90%+ accuracy in
prediction rate
Hart & Risley: study on interactions between parents & children & vocabulary & IQ
Reflection
What is your ratio of positives to negatives in your classroom?
How can you change the ratio?
Competing Thoughts Keeping track of numbers can be tedious: How do
I remember and is there enough time in the day?
Many educators believe that students’ learning should be maintained by natural consequences, not artificial rewards.
Historically we praise intelligence because we believe it fosters self-esteem.
Teachers may be already utilizing other systems.
Teachers are “reacting” to behavior vs. feeling in control.
Success is a process…
Process vs. Person Praise
Process Praise
Strategy/effort-oriented
Acknowledges student for what they have accomplished through practice, study, persistence, & good strategies
Person Praise
Trait-oriented
Focuses on student as a whole or global traits Innate ability
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset
Fixed mindset
Intelligence is a fixed trait
Seek tasks that prove their intelligence & avoids those that might not
Effort threatens their status
Growth mindset
Intellectual ability is developed through effort & education
Enjoys challenge
Effort is a positive thing!
Dweck et al. studies Type of praise teaches
students to make inferences about their ability vs. effort.
Students value performance vs. learning opportunities.
Response to failure linked to attributions of ability or effort.
Noted impacts on task persistence, enjoyment, performance, & reporting scores.
ExamplesProcess Praise
“It was a hard, long assignment, but you stuck to it and got it done. You stayed at your desk, kept up your concentration, and kept working. That’s great!”
Person Praise
“You got them all right. You are really smart at math!”
Best Practices for Praise
Authentic
Specific
Contingent
Individualized
Varied
Authentic
Genuine, efficient, and effective
Positively stated in a sincere tone of voice
Specific
Specify explicitly what positive behavior the student has performed
Clean Relates to
specific behavior, no “buts”
Contingent
Delivered immediately after the target behavior has occurred
Individualized Respect student’s preferences for public vs. private
recognition
Culturally sensitive
Developmentally sensitive
Varied
Celebrate different contexts: Effort, progress, achievement,
& choices Diversity, similarity
Vary words used to avoid monotony
Include individual, group, and whole class acknowledgment
A note about
mistakes
Students need to know how to handle constructive criticism when they make mistakes.
We all make mistakes! Embrace &
capitalize on mistakes
Sharing supports individual & group confidence
Pulling it all together
Become ego architects
Focus on the behavior
People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.
Expectations
The primary variable in the classroom is the teacher.
The only behavior in the classroom that the teacher can control is their own.
Treat everyone with respect: If you act like you don’t
like them, then it doesn’t matter how much you like them.
If you act like you like them, then whether you like them at all becomes irrelevant.
Considering expectations
Awareness of diverse students
Behaviors most often criticized are successive approximations of desired behaviors In order to increase opportunities
for praise you may have to adjust expectations, HOWEVER long-term it will foster increased outcomes (Flora, 2000)
Consider
What student behavior do you value?
How is the student’s behavior acknowledged?
Is recognition benefitting student, group, or whole class?
Strategies for increasing praise
Peer coaching
Self-evaluation
Teach students to recruit teacher praise
Specific strategies
Peer Coaching
Observing a colleague’s lesson & providing feedback & assistance based on the observation.
Conditions most useful: Structured observations using
objective & descriptive recordings of teacher behaviors
Training peer coach to reliably code teacher behaviors
Debrief & set goals
Self-evaluation
Checklists Video-taping instructional behavior
Audiotape instructional language
Teach students
to recruit
praise
Direct instruction on how, when, & how often to ask for help or show work.
Strategies: Modeling Role-play Error
correction
Strategies to consider
Case ExampleSutherland, Copeland, & Wehby (2000)
“Raise your hand when you are finished with your math practice and I will collect your work; then I’d like you to get out your journal and begin writing on today’s topic.” Mrs. Johnson waits by her desk and watches as her students finish their math practice and transition into language arts.
Six minutes later James completes the last problem on his practice, checks to make sure that his name is on his paper, and raises his hand. After collecting two other students’ papers, Mrs. Johnson makes her way over to James and takes his paper while observing Mike’s progress. James reaches into his desk, removes his journal, and begins writing on today’s topic, “My favorite meal is…” He writes two paragraphs and waits for his classmates to finish.
After a couple of minutes he sees Mike, two rows over, asking a classmate how to spell “spaghetti.” James jumps from his seat and makes his way to Mike’s desk, saying “s – p – a – g…”
“James!” Mrs. Johnson is not happy. “Who gave you permission to get out of your seat?”
Case Example continued
If Mrs. Johnson wanted to use praise more effectively, 1st she would determine what level of behavioral skills James is able to exhibit.
Mastered: complete assignment, raise hand, begin journal
Difficulty: during “down time” James has difficulty sitting in his seat
(2) strategies: Avoid “down time” Catch James when he is in his seat “James, I like
the way you are sitting patiently.”
Final Thoughts
References Beaman, R., & Wheldall, K. (2000). Teachers’ use of approval and
disapproval in the classroom. Educational Psychology, 20(4), 431-446.
Brophy, J. (1981). Teacher praise: a functional analysis. Review of Educational Research, 51, 5-32.
Burnett, P.C. (2001). Elementary students’ preferences for teacher praise. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 36(1), 16-23.
Chalk, K. & Bizo, L.A. (2004). Specific praise improves on-task behavior and numeracy enjoyment: A study of year four pupils engaged in the numeracy hour. Educational Psychology in Practice, 20(4), 335-351.
Craft, M.A., Alber, S.R., & Hewardm W.L. (1998). Teaching elementary students with developmental disabilities to recruit teacher attention in a general education classroom: Effects on teacher praise and academic productivity. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 31(3), 399-415.
Dweck, C.S. (2007). The perils and problems of praise. Educational Leadership, 34-9.
Flora, S. R. (2000). Praise’s magic reinforcement ratio: five to one gets the job done. The Behavior Analyst Today, I(4), 64-69.
References Kamins, M.L. & Dweck, C.S. (1999). Person versus process praise and
criticism: Implications for contingent self-worth and coping. Developmental Psychology, 34(3),835-847.
Keller, C.L., Brady, M.P., & Taylor, R.L. (2005). Using self-evaluation to improve student teacher interns’ use of specific praise. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities,40(4), 368-376.
Mueller, C.M. & Dweck, C.S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(1), 33-52.
Selected information from Technical Assistance Center: www.pbis.org
Sutherland, K.S. & Wehby, J.H. (2001). The effect of self-evaluation of teaching behavior in classrooms for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. The Journal of Special Education, 35(3), 161-171.
Sutherland, K.S., Wehby, J.H., & Copeland, S.R. (2000). Effect of varying rates of behavior specific praise on the on-task behavior of students with EBD. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 8(1), 2-8,26.
