Direct behavioral consultation is an extension of traditional behavioral consultation and focuses on assessment and training in the classroom during ongoing classroom activities. This study evaluated direct behavioral consultation services in two elementary alternative classrooms referred following a program evaluation in which data suggested behavior-specific praise was not being delivered at a desired level. A multiple baseline design across classrooms was used to evaluate indirect and direct training procedures for increasing teachers' implementation of behavior-specific praise. Results indicated that indirect training did not result in substantial improvements in teachers' use of behavior-specific praise. Direct training procedures resulted in immediate increases in behaviorspecific praise for both teachers, but only one teacher maintained those increases immediately following training. For the other teacher, when performance feedback was added to direct training, increases in behavior-specific praise were maintained. Data are also presented regarding student disruptive behavior. Results are discussed in terms of direct behavioral consultation theory and practice for educational settings. C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Psychology in the Schools
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.
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