Teachers' Differential Use of Praise and Reinforcement Practices

Abstract

The patterns of reinforcement behaviors of elementary school teachers in special, integrated, and regular classroom settings were examined. Classroom data were collected on the Positive Reinforcement Observation Schedule (PROS), irrdirating the frequency of positive and negative types of reinforcement delivered to special and regular students. Trends in the data revealed, across classroom settings, that teachers in special education classrooms delivered a greater number of reinforcements of all types to their students than teachers in regular and integrated settings. Students in self-contained special education classrooms tended to be the recipients ofmore praise and positive reinforcement than typical students in regular classrooms. In integrated classrooms, however, the opposite trend was apparent, with regular students receiving more praise and reinforcement than special population students. Although the results were statistically nonsignificant, they clearly indicate patterns of differential teacher treatment of students based on ability. The ftndings are discussed in terms of their impliratians for teuching, particularly with respect to integrated classrooms where special and regular students learn side by side.