A Preliminary Investigation of Kindergarten Teachers’ Use of Praise in General Education Classrooms

Abstract

It is well established that teacher praise has a positive effect on student disruptive behavior. However, there is little research suggesting how often Kindergarten teachers praise students in the classroom. This study aimed to collect praise frequency data across four general education Kindergarten classrooms. The type of praise teachers used and how teachers delivered praise were specifically analyzed. Results indicated that Kindergarten teachers praised students frequently and the rate of total praise was similar across teachers. Kindergarten teachers also used more general praise and fewer behavior-specific praises. However, Kindergarten rates of behavior-specific praise were higher in this study compared with other research. Continued research on general education teachers’ rate of praise may be useful to schoolwide behavior intervention planning and teacher consultation.