Preservice Special Education Teachers' Use of Behavior‐Specific Praise: Effects on Middle School Students With Moderate Intellectual Disabilities

Three college students training to be special-ed teachers worked with middle-schoolers who have moderate intellectual disabilities.

The researcher gave each trainee a short lesson on behavior-specific praise, then coached them live through an earbud while they taught.

After class the coach shared a simple graph showing how many praise statements the trainee had used.

As soon as the coaching started, all three trainees began giving more behavior-specific praise.

Their students also stayed on task longer during the same lessons.

The result lines up with Plant et al. (2007), who first showed that visual feedback alone lifts teacher praise. Çakıroğlu adds live coaching, making the update faster for brand-new teachers.

LaBrot et al. (2021) got the same jump in praise with school-psychology grad students, but they used video models and tactile buzzers instead of earbud coaching. The two studies together say "pick the prompt you can deliver easiest."

Cohrs et al. (2016) warned that praise only rises when teachers are told exactly how often to give it. Çakıroğlu followed that rule by setting praise targets during the post-class feedback.

If you supervise student teachers or RBTs, give them a thirty-minute BST lesson, then whisper cues through an earpiece while they teach. Add a quick graph at the end. The combo costs almost nothing and lifts both staff praise and student engagement in one week.