Praise has been found to be an effective promoter of positive school and classroom environments and is used commonly by school adults to promote positive behavior among students. Praise can be given using many different methods; the method studied in this research project was praise notes. As part of a school-wide Positive Behavior Support program, faculty and staff from an elementary school were encouraged to write praise notes to students, identifying targeted positive behaviors. Over a 2-year time period, 2,839 notes were collected, examined for the content of the praise, and further examined according to recipient's gender. This study of praise notes was completed to determine if school adults provided more praise notes or different types of praise to male and female students. The findings showed that the school adults at the research setting were gender fair in the praise that they gave. They did not praise one gender more than would be expected, given the population; however, males were praised more than females in two areas: responsibility and cleaning. It appears from this population that school adults may have praised students for non-typical gender behaviors in order to promote positive behavior in their classrooms and school.

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of professional development on teachers' delivery of written praise notes and the number of office disciplinary referrals (ODRs). The professional development consisted of training teachers on the effective use of behavior specific written praise, as well as on how to analyze and respond to praise-note and office disciplinary referral data. It was hypothesized that this process could help support and increase teachers' delivery of behavior-specific written praise notes and would subsequently decrease in the rate of office discipline referrals (ODRs). As baseline data, this study used the participating school's existing data (November through February for academic years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011). Data included number of praise notes and office disciplinary referrals. Across the most recent school year (November thru February 2011-2012), on a monthly basis, data were collected on number and content of notes and the number of ODRs. Current data were compared with baseline data from two previous school years. Although the data did not indicate significant changes between baseline data and post intervention data, overall data suggest a gradual increase in respect to the number of written praise notes. However, contrary to anticipated outcome, a slight upward trend was indicated in the number of office discipline referrals. These results are considered inconclusive in regard to whether professional development significantly impacts the number and specificity of praise notes and decreases the number of students with ODRs. However, the majority of teachers supported delivering written praise notes as an effective intervention to increase desired classroom academic achievement and appropriate social behavior.

The majority of schools use punitive and reactive strategies to deal with maladaptive behaviors. This descriptive study was a replication of Wilmott (2012) and occurred in a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) high school. Professional development was provided to 22 teachers from a high school located in the western United States. This included 61% males and 39% females. Measures included the frequency of praise notes and ODRs, the quality of praise notes based on a praise note rubric, and a social validity questionnaire. The ODR and praise note frequencies were compared using the Spearman correlational coefficient that resulted in a weak correlation (r (2) = .-385, p > .05). Results were not significant in the ODR baseline to treatment (t(3)=-1.849, p <.05). The baseline praise note frequency compared to praise note frequency during treatment was significant (t(3)=-4.115, p<.05). Implications for educators suggested that the problem-solving process is feasible and essential when implementing evidenced based practices (EBPs), such as praise notes. The study concluded that ongoing professional development is integral to maintaining MTSS and EBPs. Limitations of this study include the lack of precise definitions in ODR reporting and minimal baseline data.

School recess can be a problematic setting due to inadequate safety, supervision, and structure. Peer praise notes (PPNs) is a school-wide positive behavior support strategy that was implemented during recess to address these concerns at a Title I elementary school. An ABAB reversal design across all students was employed to evaluate the effectiveness of PPNs. Overall changes in office disciplinary referrals (ODRs) in each phase of the design, an effect size that reflects a highly effective treatment, and a moderately strong and statistically significant negative correlation suggest that PPNs decreased ODRs. Results from social validity surveys completed by eight recess aides and 88 students indicated that participants had positive perceptions of PPNs improving student behavior and peer relations, communicating playground rules, extending supervision responsibilities, and offering structured activity to peer praisers. Students' perceptions were overall more positive than the recess aides' perceptions. Limitations, future research, and implications are addressed.