Supported by decades of research on praise and its effect on student behaviors, we developed the Behavior-Specific Praise–Observation Tool (BSP-OT) to measure characteristics of effective praise. We evaluated interrater reliability of the BSP-OT to measure praise specificity, contingency, and variety using intraclass correlation (ICC) and Cohen’s kappa statistics. In addition, we assessed usefulness and practicality of the tool with social validity measures. Four raters with experience in praise research completed a survey and coded videos ( n = 14) of teachers in authentic situations delivering praise. Overall assessment indicated strong reliability between raters with ICC(2, k) of .80: 95% confidence interval (CI) = [0.77, 0.83], F(269, 19906) = 5.1, p < .001, and mean kappa score of .91. Furthermore, high social validity ratings suggest the BSP-OT is a valuable contribution to the field concerning praise research and teacher development. The process of developing the BSP-OT and study findings are presented, with a discussion of implications and suggestions for future research.

Teachers in special education classrooms often struggle with classroom management. In response, many educators are looking for technological solutions to assist in promoting positive classroom environments. Electronic behavior management programs (eBMPs) use strategies based in research that are shown to reduce challenging behavior and encourage positive behavior, such as reinforcement strategies and the Premack principle. This article explains the theoretical efficacies of eBMPs, describes three commonly used eBMPs, and provides procedures on how educators can get started implementing eBMPs with additional tips to consider.

Behavior-specific praise is a research-based classroom management strategy that promotes appropriate student behaviors. Praise specificity, however, may not be the only characteristic of praise that enhances efficacy. The current study examined teacher’s natural use of specific, contingent, and varied praise to understand additional qualities of praise. Praise statements of inservice special education ( n = 12), inservice general education ( n = 13), and dual special education/general education preservice teachers ( n = 17) were observed in natural elementary school settings. Statistical results did not indicate differences between teacher groups and praise characteristics; however, descriptive results demonstrate all teacher groups delivered low rates of general and specific praise. Percentages of praise contingency (average range = 59%–91.2%) suggest teachers did not deliver sufficient praise statements contingent on student behavior. Furthermore, percentages of praise variety (average range = 44.5%–57.7%) show use of repetitive praise statements that may reduce efficacy on student behaviors. These findings and other implications are discussed in the context of future praise research.

Enormous resources are committed by universities to prepare special educators to impact student outcomes of our most vulnerable and neediest learners. Generalizing teaching skills from university to K-12 classrooms must be a component of teacher preparation curriculum; otherwise, we continue to merely train our teacher candidates and hope they sustain and generalize their newly acquired skills. Through self-reported surveys and extant data analysis, we identify the extent to which our sample of special education teacher preparation programs are teaching their teacher candidates to generalize newly acquired teaching skills to in-service settings in K-12 classrooms. Results indicate ambiguity with familiarity of generalization techniques and fidelity of implementation. Programming for generalization is absent in reviewed course syllabi, and student teaching supervisors report a disconnect between university and classroom realities. We recommend a systematic approach to programming for generalization by increasing awareness of generalization techniques through professional development, including accountability measures in course syllabi, focusing on high-leverage practices to create more cohesive preparation programs, and improving communication between instructors and student teaching supervisors. Limitations and future research recommendations are discussed.

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