Middle school is a cornerstone for success in high school. However, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement of adolescents often decline as they transition from elementary to middle school, resulting in lower school grades and more challenging behaviors, especially for adolescents with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders…

Praise, defined as public or private expression of approval for behavior, is recognized as a critical component in many classroom behavior interventions. Historically, praise has been viewed from the perspective of educators in terms of both increasing educator-preferred behaviors and in terms of educators' perspectives. Little is known about…

The topic of praise and more specifically, behavior-specific praise, in special education is complex. It requires an investigation of multiple types of praise in a variety of settings and a variety of individuals with even more severe intellectual and developmental disabilities and other impairments (IDDI). Historically, in much research,…

Bystanders play a key role in understanding the phenomenon of cyberbullying (CB). The main aim of this study is to explore longitudinal bidirectional relationships among cyberbystanders' reaction, CB perpetration, and CB justification. Participants were 1,105 adolescents (56.7% girls; M[subscript age] = 13.56, SD = 1.21) who answered self-reported…

Classroom rules are a fundamental aspect of classroom management and ensuring compliance with established rules is crucial. Previous research has shown that students often pay little attention to the development of classroom rules. This quantitative study aims to investigate the expectations that students have concerning classroom rules. To this…

A synchronous-reinforcement schedule is a type of schedule of covariation in which the onset and offset of the reinforcer covaries with the onset and offset of behavior. This study was a proof-of-concept demonstration of the efficacy of synchronous reinforcement for on-task behavior (completing a preacademic skill) and an evaluation of…

We used a reversal design with an embedded multielement design to compare the effects of an independent group contingency and a randomized dependent group contingency on compliance with assigned literacy worksheets in a first-grade general education classroom. Nine participants were selected based on low levels of compliance in baseline or by…

This article reports results from an experimental study of a classroom intervention intended to decrease racial disproportionality in school discipline by focusing on making classroom behavior systems more culturally responsive and changing teacher behaviors (e.g., use of praise and reprimands). The intervention had three main components: (a) an…

In all educational settings, teachers are likely to encounter learners with different emotional and cognitive characteristics, particularly learners who are demotivated or disengaged and as a result misbehave in the classroom. Learned helplessness (LH) is associated with such emotional and motivational deficits in academic performance. This study…

This paper examines how young children experience the moral and bodily discipline of the modern English 'on-task' primary classroom, in which they are expected to sit quietly and still for long periods on the classroom carpet, listening to what teachers know. It details the conditions of the classrooms, a performance-focused environment centred on…

Teaching classwide behavior expectations and using specific praise (SP) are considered light behavior-management strategies that teachers might find acceptable to implement because they require little time or materials (McNamara, 1984; Oswald, Safran, & Johanson, 2005). Their use also is beneficial to students with mild disabilities who might…

The authors proposed a positive discipline, well-being and teaching effectiveness model that suggested that teachers' positive discipline would facilitate students' well-being and effective teaching, and students' well-being would play a mediating role in the association between positive discipline and teaching effectiveness. The model was tested…

This article reports results from an experimental study of a classroom intervention intended to decrease racial disproportionality in school discipline by focusing on making classroom behavior systems more culturally responsive and changing teacher behaviors (e.g., use of praise and reprimands). The intervention had three main components: (a) an…

Disruptive student behavior, a common concern for teachers, presents particular challenges for those who teach art. Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is a multitiered intervention for implementing effective classroom management strategies aligned with schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports. CW-FIT has proven…

Separate lines of research find that proaggressive attitudes promote peer aggression and that bystanders play a pivotal role in deterring or facilitating bullying behavior. The current study hypothesized that proaggressive attitudes in middle school would deter students from standing up to bullying and encourage them to reinforce bullying…