Emailed Prompts to Increase Alternative School Educators’ Use of Behavior-Specific Praise

Abstract

Alternative school educators often have minimal training or support to manage disruptive classroom behaviors. To combat this, school-based consultation may be provided to assist alternative school educators with classroom management strategies. However, face-to-face consultation may be limited due to the numerous responsibilities placed on school-based consultants. Fortunately, research has begun to examine the effectiveness and feasibility of emailed prompts as an implementation support. This study included a concurrent multiple baseline design across three teachers to test the effects of emailed prompts to increase alternative school educators’ rates of behavior-specific praise. Additionally, we evaluated concomitant changes in students’ behavior and teachers’ perceptions of the social validity of emailed prompts and behavior-specific praise. Results indicated that there was a functional relation between emailed prompts and increases in behavior-specific praise. More nuanced discussion of the impact on teachers’ corrective statements and student behavior are included. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.