Investigating preservice teachers’ use of behavior-specific praise in a clinical setting The purpose of this study is to examine whether the use of a visual reminder influences the rate preservice teachers use Behavior Specific Praise (BSP) in a clinical setting. Effective classroom management strategies are essential in addressing students' behavior and managing teacher burn out. Although previous BSP research has shown an increase in desirable student behaviors, limited research has been done on the use of visual reminders to specifically encourage its use with preservice teachers in a clinical setting. Using a multiple-baseline design, researchers collected data on student clinicians' (n=26) use of BSP in an interprofessional assessment clinic with school-aged clients (n=10). Baseline and intervention-phase data was collected on student clinicians during a four-hour clinical testing session. Comparisons analyzing BSP rates for pre- and post-intervention are included. Based on previous research involving tactile reminders, it is expected that the visual prompts will show an increase in the rate of BSP among preservice teachers. The anticipatory findings will work to inform education programs in providing proactive support to improve classroom management skills.
