Date

Spring 2015

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Teacher Education

Abstract

The purpose this research is to show that with sufficient training in behavior specific praise teachers will be able to increase their use of specific praise with all students, including students with mild to moderate disabilities. Many teachers and school staff do not have adequate training and experiences with using behavior specific praise with students who have mild to moderate disabilities. (Germer, Kaplan, Grioux, Markham, Markham, Ferris, Oaks, and Lane, 2011) The research questions in this study are: Does specific praise and positive reinforcement help shape the behavior of students who have mild to moderate special education needs in an after school setting? What are the effects of specific praise and positive reinforcement on students who have mild to moderate special education needs in the after school education environment? Does sharing strategies to promote the use of praise with an after school program teacher increase consistent application for students with mild to moderate behavior? The study trained a second grade teacher to increase her use of specific praise in an after school classroom setting. The on- task behavior of the four focus students with mild to moderate disabilities were observed to see if their on-task behavior increased as a result of the teacher training. The results showed that increased teacher training does encourage teachers to use more praise in the classroom especially with students who have mild to moderate disabilities. The results also showed that for the majority of students, behavior specific praise helped them to increase their on-task behavior in class.

Comments

Thesis (M.A.) Teacher Education Department

Download

Share

COinS