The behavior and rehearsal habits of elementary level instrumental music students were addressed by the implementation of a behavior contract and computer managed recordkeeping system. A contract was developed following the principles of the "Assertive Discipline" system. Rewards and incentives were used to reinforce positive student behavior.…

The problem of discipline has consistently headed the list of concerns of secondary education students enrolled in and graduated from Northern Arizona University's College of Education. To address this issue, the Lee Canter Model of Assertive Discipline was adopted in the preservice training program. This model calls for specific, observable rules…

Findings of the Clinical Teacher Education-Preservice Study were examined to determine the extent to which student teachers possessed planning and decision-making skills related to pupil evaluation. The study focused on findings from cooperating teacher-student teacher conferences and journal data regarding planning and evaluation practices of 20…

For decades, educators have been concerned with the problem of truancy. Accordingly, this report focuses on an absentee improvement program at a rural, lower-middle class, predominantly white elementary school with 722 students that had a history of high truancy, as verified by teachers, the administration, the school counselor, staff, and…

The use of microcomputers to help the learning disabled increase their arithmetic skills is examined. The microcomputer should be used to aid the learning disabled student to practice the concepts taught by the teacher. Computer-aided instruction such as drill and practice may help the learning disabled student because it gives immediate feedback…

In an experiment studying the relationship between reciprocity and compensation in dyadic communication, 96 male college students were videotaped during hypothetical problem solving situations. An attitude scale was used to manipulate subjects' impressions of mutual similarity. Time was used to test development in the dependent variables…

THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF SIX MODES OF TRAINING TEACHERS TO USE PROBING QUESTIONS WAS INVESTIGATED. THE MODES INVOLVED SYMBOLIC MODELING, PERCEPTUAL MODELING, OR BOTH, COUPLED WITH FEEDBACK. AFTER RATINGS OF PERTINENT BEHAVIOR IN A 5-MINUTE LESSON WERE COLLECTED AS PRETRAINING MEASURES, STANFORD TEACHER INTERNS WERE RANDOMLY DISTRIBUTED AMONG…

While numerous parent-training programs have been developed over the years, few systematically address the unique difficulties of single-parent families. A 10-week training program. "Parenting Alone Successfully (PALS)," was designed to assist single parents encountering difficulties in the management of their children's behavior. This…

This paper reports to two experiments designed to develop a behavioral procedure to teach young children emergency dialing skills. Experiment 1 evaluated the effects of a behavioral procedure administered by the classroom teachers. In the classrooms training focused upon making phone calls in emergency situations. Six steps in emergency dialing…

The use of group approval as a social reinforcer and related methods in group presentation of programed instruction were investigated in a series of studies. The efficacy of programed instructional materials is frequently limited by their inability to command and maintain adequate attention and motivation. To consider social reinforcement effects…

Development of cognitive competence and constructive patterns of motivation and behavior in the disadvantaged child are the topics of this paper. Five subjects are explored: (1) the potency of models, (2) social reinforcement, (3) intensive relationships, (4) group forces, and (5) superordinate goals. The first two subjects cover basic processes…

This paper suggests that one way of understanding the role of feedback in a classroom situation is to describe the types of feedback which are communicated in a range of settings and to study the effect the feedback seems to have. Systematic descriptions are provided of the feedback communicated by teachers in ESOL classes, by children playing, by…

The two studies reported, on teacher reinforcement of and teacher attitudes toward children's sex-preferred behaviors attempted to clarify some issues concerning the differential treatment of boys and girls at the preschool level. The first study looked at teacher reinforcement of sex-preferred behaviors in children aged 3 to 5 years as a function…

Funded in part by Elementary Secondary Education Act Title III funds and in part by the Atlanta, Georgia School System, Project Success Environment is now in Year Two of a three year program. A teaching technique of three components--a reinforcement system, a special classroom arrangement, and a success curriculum--the project premised that if…

This monograph, the fourth in a series pertaining to the Early Childhood-Special Education Teacher Preparation Program at the University of Virginia, describes the highly structured directive teaching process. The foremost example of the directive teaching process is the Bereiter-Englemann model which is geared toward alleviating the language and…