Visual performance feedback: effects on targeted and nontargeted staff.

The team asked preschool staff to watch each other and post simple praise charts on the wall. Each chart showed how often a teacher gave labeled praise during the last session.

They started with one teacher at a time. When the first teacher doubled praise, the next chart went up. Mixed-clinical preschoolers were in the rooms, but the kids were not the target.

Targeted teachers quickly doubled their behavior-specific praise. The surprise: staff who only collected the data also raised praise by more than half. Everyone kept the gains.

No extra money, no long lectures—just a public graph and peer eyes.

Saunders et al. (1988) got bank tellers to greet more customers by adding task notes first, then feedback. Marchese et al. (2012) skipped the notes and still saw big jumps, showing preschool staff move with feedback alone.

Quilitch (1975) handed candy to one preschooler and the whole class sat better. The same spillover appears here: untargeted adults improved when peers were watched.

Ellingsen et al. (2014) paired goals plus feedback to boost adult running. The preschool study shows the same recipe works inside classrooms when peers post the numbers.

You can raise praise across an entire preschool without pulling staff for training. Pick one room, post a praise tally, and let colleagues see the numbers. The watched teacher improves first; the watchers follow. Try it Monday—hang a small whiteboard, track labeled praise for one colleague, and watch the ripple.