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The purpose of this large-scale descriptive study was to investigate the impact of an implementation model designed to provide classroom teachers with the knowledge, skills, and resources required to provide aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) instruction to their students with extensive support needs and complex communication needs. We followed 49 students with extensive support needs and limited symbolic communication across 2 years in the classrooms of 53 teachers who engaged in ongoing coaching and professional development. At pretest, the students demonstrated an average of 15 of the 80 (19%) expressive skills on the Communication Matrix. Multilevel longitudinal modeling was used to analyze changes in scores over time. The findings suggest there was a statistically significant relationship between time and Communication Matrix scores, with the ends of each academic year associated with statistically significant growth at rates of 3.01% and 12.38%, respectively. Implications for practice and future directions are discussed.

Classroom teachers receive myriad advice about how best to manage students’ attention, interest, and behavior. Praise is often highlighted as a specific tool that teachers should use to reinforce both behavior and learning. Since praise statements are positive evaluations of students’ performance or behavior, they are thought to be an encouraging, motivating, and affirming tool for reinforcement. So strong is this belief in praise that many interventions have been created to increase the rate of praise teachers offer in both general and special education classrooms. These interventions, when evaluated narrowly, appear to be successful because increased rates of teacher praise result in increased student compliance. However, when evaluated more broadly, research shows that praise statements have long-lasting, often negative impacts on students that may inadvertently negatively impact academic achievement. Therefore, despite the seemingly positive benefits of praise, its role in learning and development remains unsettled.

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