Research suggests that: (1) teachers' use of praise may lower students' confidence in themselves; (2) systematic use of praise as a reinforcer in the classroom is impractical; (3) praise is a weak reinforcer; (4) various forms of praise have different effects on different kinds of students; and (5) use of praise is not the most powerful method for controlling deviant behavior and maintaining student attention. However, research also indicates that there are effective ways to praise students. The term "effective praise," or "encouragement," refers to a teacher's use of positive acknowledgments that neither judge student work nor assign status to the student. Encouragement offers specific, teacher-initiated, and private feedback that focuses on improvement and efforts, uses sincere and direct comments, helps students appreciate their behaviors and achievements, avoids comparisons with others, helps children develop self-satisfaction from a task or product, and does not set the student up for failure. It is concluded that teachers who avoid ineffective praise and use encouragement create a classroom environment in which students do not fear continuous evaluation, can make and learn from mistakes, and do not need to strive to meet someone else's standard of excellence. Nine references are cited. (RH)