Student behavior problems contribute to poor academic achievement and poor teacher retention. This study investigated preservice teachers' dispositions to implement positive and proactive strategies for managing behavior in the general education elementary urban classroom. The author interviewed 19 preservice teachers in a large urban school…

Results of this study provided indirect support for Marshall's (1965) Hypothesis with regard to the informational versus motivational properties of punishment (punishment of specific responses has discriminative or informative value, whereas punishment applied to the situation may have primary motivational value). (Author)

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.…

Current literature suggests that a teacher's expectancies for a pupil may in part determine the pupil's subsequent behavior. This review asks how such expectancies affect the teacher's own behavior, with the goal of determining what teacher behaviors mediate the observed effect on the pupil. A model of this process is proposed. (Author)

Sex differences in antisocial behavior in 20 elementary school children were explored by using two constructs: need for achievement and need for social approval. It was hypothesized that sex differences would appear only under certain conditions. For boys, more antisocial behavior would occur when the need for achievement was frustrated, while for…

This report analyzes and synthesizes the results of research studies on teacher competence and teacher effectiveness. Its primary purpose is to provide the teacher educator with access for the findings of this research. The dynamics of teacher effectiveness are illustrated by 43 tables each dealing with a different teacher behavior as observed in…

Learning behavior of young children of contrasting socioeconomic backgrounds is examined in this study, which poses the question: what are the necessary or sufficient environmental conditions for the establishment of identifiable patterns of behavior? Socioeconomic level (SEL), the principal independent variable, was defined in terms of parental…

Seventy-eight fourth grade children were randomly assigned to one of two evaluation groups. One group (self-evaluation) judged the correctness of their answers and reinforced themselves while the other group (other-evaluation) was judged and reinforced by some other person. Results showed that girls were significantly more responsible for failure…