The Effects of Student and Behavior-Specific Praise on Students who Receive Special Education Services
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of behavior specific praise on continuous student attention to tasks. Behavior specific praise is defined as a positive statement directed toward a student or group of students that acknowledged a desired behavior in specific, observable, and measurable terms. Past studies have shown a positive correlation between positive reinforcement and the students' engagement in the general education classroom. Current research also indicates that behavior specific praise has proven to be significantly beneficial for a wide range of students including students in the general education, special education, and gifted classroom. For this study, three different students who receive special education services in three different classroom settings by three different pre-service teachers were chosen. These students received a similar form of behavior specific praise throughout the day as a form of motivation in the classroom. It is believed by the researcher that when the focus student is given the behavior specific praise, their continued engagement in the classroom will significantly be enhanced. The three pre-service researchers carefully observed the focus students in the three different classroom settings while keeping notes on how the students responded while he or she received the behavior specific praise. The researchers monitored the number and type of the praises given, the reaction of the students, and how long the behavior-praise engagement occurred in a chart format. This study is relevant and significant due to the lack of previous research on behavior specific praise in classrooms where students receive special education services. Data collection is ongoing.
The Effects of Student and Behavior-Specific Praise on Students who Receive Special Education Services
The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of behavior specific praise on continuous student attention to tasks. Behavior specific praise is defined as a positive statement directed toward a student or group of students that acknowledged a desired behavior in specific, observable, and measurable terms. Past studies have shown a positive correlation between positive reinforcement and the students' engagement in the general education classroom. Current research also indicates that behavior specific praise has proven to be significantly beneficial for a wide range of students including students in the general education, special education, and gifted classroom. For this study, three different students who receive special education services in three different classroom settings by three different pre-service teachers were chosen. These students received a similar form of behavior specific praise throughout the day as a form of motivation in the classroom. It is believed by the researcher that when the focus student is given the behavior specific praise, their continued engagement in the classroom will significantly be enhanced. The three pre-service researchers carefully observed the focus students in the three different classroom settings while keeping notes on how the students responded while he or she received the behavior specific praise. The researchers monitored the number and type of the praises given, the reaction of the students, and how long the behavior-praise engagement occurred in a chart format. This study is relevant and significant due to the lack of previous research on behavior specific praise in classrooms where students receive special education services. Data collection is ongoing.
