In the study reported on here, we analysed parents' involvement in their children's primary education in 4 primary schools in rural Malawi, focusing on the home and the school. Through interviews and focus-group discussions, information was obtained from 19 parents, 24 teachers (6 from each school), and 4 head teachers. Bronfenbrenner's ecological…

Study of 91 elementary school pupils indicates that in regular classroom situations spelling proficiency can be increased through the use of material and social reinforcement. (Author)

Children in typical classrooms who were offered material incentives learned significantly more spelling words than did children not offered material rewards. The substantial effects of the material incentives continued throughout the 4-week period. (BJG)

The question examined by this study was: Are the traditional reinforcers common to many planned programs of reinforcement in the classroom relevant and meaningful to the pupils themselves? Data is reported from a questionnaire administered to seven-year-old pupils, ten-year-old pupils, and their teachers. A discrepancy was found between reward…

Praise and criticism data were collected during a two-year correlational study of a selected sample of second- and third-grade teachers chosen for their consistency in producing student learning gains averaged over four years, and these data were analyzed to determine the effect that praise, criticism, rewards, and punishment had on learning…

A social and academic change program was designed for an 11-year-old educable mentally retarded female with Downs Syndrome. Noncompliant behavior was modified through systematic and consecutive manipulations of two reinforcement systems. Responding to teacher requests within 5 seconds was reinforced within the context of math instruction in order…

Examined elementary school teachers' (n=137) endorsement of behavior management techniques and extent practices were reportedly used. Results indicated that more teachers reported using management techniques to control inappropriate social than academic behavior and more teachers endorsed verbal management techniques than concrete techniques.…

Children from low-income, ghetto, and minority groups tend to display a low level of performance in school and evaluated themselves as worse than most students on their school performance. This study examines the impact of self-concept on academic achievement. It was hypothesized that: (1) reinforcement of behaviors important to academic success…

The effects of two types of self-determined reinforcement contingencies on children's test performances were investigated and compared to each other and to externally determined contingencies. In Experiment I, fourth-grade children's test performances were measured on a curriculum of history facts, Spanish-English word pairs, and reading…

The present study was designed to determine if students would improve their test performance in order to earn the right to self-evaluate their daily tasks, and then, whether they would maintain high test performance in order to keep this privilege. A second purpose was to demonstrate a practical way in which teachers could effectively reduce the…

The relative effects of positive reinforcement, response cost, and the two contingencies combined when used as contingencies for correct academic responses were compared on the dependent measures of accuracy of academic performance and level of on-task behavior. All three contingency systems increased academic performance and on-task behavior.…

Results showed support for the use of academic productivity, but gave only minimal support to choice as an effective reinforcer. There was evidence, however, that if choice served as a reinforcer it could do so best when activities made available to the child were of at least moderate interest. (Author/MV)

A teacher of elementary-age educable mentally handicapped students describes how the use of a point system motivated her students in academic work. (GW)

Black and white male schoolchildren evaluated their own performance at a verbal task administered by black and white male experimenters. It was hypothesized that academically successful children would be predisposed to appraise themselves favorably and vice versa. The prediction was upheld in the white experimenter condition but not in the black…

Provides results of an evaluation of a private education management company, Advantage Schools, which opened and operated public charter schools. Outlines Advantage's four-part approach, in which students learn at an accelerated rate. Suggests that this approach may offer an effective and replicable approach to urban schooling. (PM)