Natural Rates of Teacher Approval and Disapproval in the Classroom

The natural rates of teacher verbal approval and disapproval in ten grade-seven classrooms were determined and compared with those described by White (1975). Although there were differences in the observation techniques used and the behavioral, cultural, and ethnic groups sampled, the results were similar. The majority of the teachers displayed individual rates of disapproval that were higher than their individual approval rates. The correlations between levels of on-task behavior and approval and disapproval rates were low. The issues raised by these findings are discussed in terms of directions for further research.DESCRIPTORS: child behavior, classroom reinforcement, teacher approval, disapproval, natural rates of verbal reinforcement, on-task behavior, children White (1975) asked how rates of teacher verbal reinforcement operate to maintain or increase the school behavior of pupils. She

Section: Subjects and Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

NATURAL RATES OF TEACHER APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL IN GRADE‐7 CLASSROOMS¹

Thomas

Presland

Grant

et al. 1978

“…For example, White (1975) summarized the results of 16 observational studies of the rates of teacher verbal approval and disapproval by 104 teachers in Grades 1 through 12. Rates of teacher verbal approval dropped with each grade level, with a marked decline of teacher approval after second grade.…”

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confidence: 99%

Teaching Elementary Students With Developmental Disabilities to Recruit Teacher Attention in a General Education Classroom: Effects on Teacher Praise and Academic Productivity

Craft

Alber

Heward

1998

Four fourth graders with developmental disabilities were trained to recruit teacher attention while they worked on spelling assignments in a general education classroom. The students were taught to show their work to the teacher two to three times per session and to make statements such as, ''How am I doing?'' or ''Look, I'm all finished!'' Training was conducted in the special education classroom and consisted of modeling, role playing, error correction, and praise. A multiple baseline across students design showed that recruitment training increased (a) the frequency of students' recruiting, (b) the frequency of teacher praise received by the students, (c) the percentage of worksheet items completed, and (d) the accuracy with which the students completed the spelling assignments.

“…The corollary was that punishment did not work. Accumulated data, however, attest to the continued frequent use of negative feedback in dassroom environments (Strain, Lambert, Kerr, Stagg, & Lenker, 1983;White, 1975), to the efficacy of negative consequences for managing problematic behavior (e.g., Azrin & Powers, 1975;Drabman & Spitalnik, 1973;Iwata & Bailey, 1974;Rapport, Murphy, & Bailey, 1982;Van Houten, Nau, MacKenzieKeating, Sameoto, & Colavecchia, 1982), and to the failure of attempts to conduct dasses using only positive consequences (e.g., Becker, Madsen, Arnold, & Thomas, 1967;Hall et al, 1971;Rosen, O'Leary, Joyce, Conway, & Pfiffner, 1984;Sajwaj, Twardosz, & Burke, 1972). In the most recent attempt, Rosen et al (1984) demonstrated repeatedly that when special education teachers stopped providing negative feedback to students This research was supported in part by a grant from the Middle Country School District No.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Efficacy of an All‐positive Approach to Classroom Management

Pfiffner

Rosén

O’Leary

1985

This study addressed the question of whether an all-positive approach to classroom management can be effective. The on-task behavior and academic performance of eight, second-and third-grade children with behavior problems were examined. Results indicated that an all-positive approach that relied primarily on praise was not effective. However, when an individualized reward system was used, the children's rates of on-task behavior were high and stable. Similar effects were observed for academic productivity. Thus, a classroom can be managed using only positive consequences. However, to be successful, such an approach may require a considerable amount of teacher time and effort, particularly potent, varied and individual rewards, and high rates of appropriate behavior previously established using both positive and negative consequences.