PRESCHOOL TEACHERS’ USE OF PRAISE IN GENERAL, AT-RISK, AND SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS

Abstract

Teacher praise is an effective strategy that decreases preschool students’ disruptive behavior. It is well established that school-aged students with behavior problems receive fewer teacher praises than their peers; however, it is unclear whether these findings are consistent among preschool students. The purpose of this study was to collect praise frequency data in general, at-risk, and special education classrooms. Over 10 hours of direct observation data were used to examine six preschool teachers’ natural use of praise. Teachers’ use of praise was not statistically different based on classroom type; however, special education teachers used twice as many praises compared to general education and at-risk teachers. Teachers used more general praise compared to behavior-specific praise, which was statistically significant. Finally, teachers delivered more praise to individual and large groups of students compared to small groups of students, which was also statistically significant. Future directions and implications for using praise to prevent behavior problems among preschool students are offered.