Presents study results examining the effectiveness of teacher praise on children's on-task behavior. Describes Canter's Assertive Discipline, its use in Australia, and the basics of a study of the technique. Reports that all teacher subjects increased rates of praising following training, and all but one student improved levels of behavior.…

Peers of a socially rejected seventh-grade girl were rewarded for publicly reporting positive aspects of the girl's behavior. Results indicated that positive peer reports reduced negative social interactions to near zero and increased positive interactions to above 70%. In addition, social acceptance ratings of the girl increased from…

Although the literature on reinforcement in behavioral psychology is extensive, few studies have examined the derived transformation of reinforcing functions in accordance with equivalence classes, and no published research has yet examined the derived transformation of consequential functions in accordance with nonequivalence relations. In the…

This study investigated the types of interventions that elementary school teachers and pre-service teachers choose to employ when working with students displaying hyperactive behavior. The extent to which beliefs systems, namely entity/incremental theories, showed relationships with the selection of particular types of interventions was also…

Research has suggested that the use of effective instructional strategies could be increased through direct intervention. One possible intervention is performance feedback, a simple yet effective method of consultation for influencing teacher behavior. Mortenson and Witt (1998) defined performance feedback as "a method of providing…

Designed to be used by practicing teachers, students who are learning to become teachers, and faculty members who instruct such students, this manual describes an instructional manipulation for teaching children with mild disabilities that increases opportunities for learning through the addition of extra information. The technique described uses…

The concern of this booklet is with "two-way traffic", or real communication, in distance education. Following an introduction by Holmberg, the following papers appear: "Some Thoughts on Delayed and Immediate Feedback" (Diehl); "The Effect of Field Scoring on Time to Completion in Career Development Courses" (Diehl);…

The maintenance of learned behavior is a problem frequently faced by teachers of persons with severe disabilities. The study examined the use of a self-management procedure to improve and maintain the work performance of 6 young adults (ages 18-20) with severe retardation in integrated job settings. Students were taught to self-monitor their work…

The main text of this report consists of a review and evaluation of job enrichment as an approach to job redesign, with implications for Air Force research and application. In addition, two appendixes are included: the first, a supplemental historical discussion; the second, a ninety-six-item annotated bibliography. Specific objectives are to…

The paper presents an overview of the methods used in a class for autistic children (ages 4-11 years) and reports on a longitudinal case study of an autistic 11 year-old girl. Autistic characteristics, such as poor eye contact and insensitivity to pain, are outlined. The author explains that the program emphasized teaching basic communication…

A double-blind controlled study of the effect of paired reading was carried out with 33 failing readers and their parents. After an average time of 7.6 hours of paired reading at home spread over six weeks, the experimental group children made gains of 2.43 months for reading accuracy and 4.36 months for comprehension. (JDH)

A survey of 172 teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) investigated the extent of level system use in special education classrooms, characteristics of teachers and students who use level systems, characteristics of level system operation, teacher perceptions of level system effectiveness, and their satisfaction with…

A model is presented in which variables affecting achievement were grouped as: (1) school or school district conditions; (2) within school conditions; (3) teacher characteristics; (4) teaching style; (5) student characteristics; (6) student behavior; and (7) student learning outcomes. (Author/CP)

This project successfully taught specific language-based concepts to retarded children with a behavior modification approach and direct verbal instruction, resulting in general intellectual gains. (See TM 504 595 for availability). (Author/CTM)

By evaluating her use and delivery of praise, an elementary teacher discovered that its quality, not quantity, had the most impact on students. Teachers can increase the positive effects of praise by praising sparingly but carefully, directing it to students who respond well to it, and ensuring contingency, specificity, and credibility. (Author/SM)