Despite the prevalence of students with learning disabilities (LD), athletic coaches face challenges in recognizing and effectively supporting the needs of athletes with LD due to lack of professional development in this area. Sometimes referred to as a "hidden disability", LD is not easily perceived by teachers and coaches. Students…

The aim of this article is to provide a concise overview of the theoretical assumptions of behaviorism, which generally informs "traditional" approaches to sport coaching. B.F. Skinner's (1904--1990) theory of operant conditioning is discussed, alongside considerations for sport coaching practice. For coaches who draw upon the principles…

Class-wide academic performance can be increased by overlaying existing instructional and classroom management procedures with supplemental interdependent group-oriented bonus rewards. The bonus reward strategies may be particularly effective for under-motivated, low-performing students. When applying supplemental interdependent group-oriented…

Classroom teachers are responsible for providing high-quality instruction to multiple students simultaneously. When students engage in problem behaviors, instructional quality and instructional time may be negatively impacted. A multiple schedule of reinforcement is a behavioral intervention strategy that allows teachers to signal to students…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) generally have behavior support plans that are based on a functional behavioral assessment. This article provides educators practical guidelines for conducting a "multiple stimulus without replacement" (MSWO) preference assessment to rank order preferred activities that will align…

This article discusses the use of behavior-specific praise (BSP), an effective technique for promoting prosocial behavior and managing classrooms. It addresses the criticism that BSP may reduce students' intrinsic motivation and offers directions on how to use BSP to provide students, especially those with challenging behaviors, with useful…

This article provides a conceptual framework for using fixed-interval praise delivery in the educational setting. Fixed-interval praise delivery can be conceptualized as an antecedent-based strategy that disrupts the natural behavior to contingency relationship in a four-term contingency model (Establishing…

Children on the autism spectrum often experience difficulty generalizing social skills across environments and contexts, which can make developing friendships challenging in early childhood. This means that, in addition to initial social skills instruction, children with autism may need specialized supports to promote the generalization of newly…

Students with disabilities benefit from positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS; Meyer et al., 2021). The use of school-wide and class-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) shows promise in helping educators to integrate evidence-based practices for the benefit of all students, including those diagnosed with…

Managing student behavior is an essential component to creating positive and productive learning environments for school-aged children. As more teachers shift to synchronous online teaching, they face managing student behavior in a new learning environment that can pose distinctive challenges. Fortunately, teachers can bring to their online…

Research supports the "broaden and build" nature of positive emotions on child socio-emotional outcomes. This article describes three lesson plans that can promote learning while helping students express positive emotions.

Positive and constructive feedback is a form of positive reinforcement essential to effective instruction and classroom management. This article provides practitioners with a range of realistic positive and constructive feedback strategies and descriptions of how such feedback can be implemented in schools and classrooms, with a special focus on…

Over the past 25 years, research and practical experience have supported investments in strategies to encourage all students to behave according to agreed-upon expectations. In collaboration with expert panelists, the What Works Clearinghouse™ (WWC) distilled that research into practical recommendations for elementary educators. The…

We all want our students to feel safe, collaborate well with others, feel ownership for their learning, and be joyfully engaged in their work. Nevertheless, many teachers end up using language patterns that undermine these goals. Do any of these scenarios sound familiar? We want students to take responsibility for their learning, yet we use…

Students succeed in school environments that support them in demonstrating prosocial and positive behavior. Student behaviors that disrupt or distract from classroom instruction can result in fewer learning opportunities for students and decreased likelihood of academic success. Behavioral interventions can help students engage in positive…