Question 1:

1. Social Validity of Teacher-Written Praise Notes Angela Howell, B.S., School Psychology Ed.S. Candidate Paul Caldarella, Ph.D., Byran B. Korth, Ph.D., K. Richard Young, Ph.D. Introduction Method • Participants • 23 teachers, 203 parents, and 203 students • Title I elementary school • School statistics: • Procedure • Social validity survey completed at end of school year • 5-point Likert rating scale • 13 items, 2 open-ended questions • Praise notes have been associated with decreases in: • Tardiness • Social Withdrawal • Office Discipline Referrals (ODRs) • Disruptive Lunchroom Behavior • Social Validity • Interventions need to have social validity • - Be accepted and viewed as important • Few studies have examined the social validity of praise Question 2: How do parents, students, and teachers differ in their perceptions of praise notes? • 61% Hispanic Free and Reduced Price Lunch: 88% • 37% Caucasian English Language Learners: 53% • 2% Other Stakeholder differences for overlapping Survey Items (N=429) Question 1: What are teacher, parent, and student perceptions of a school-wide praise note intervention? *p ˂ .05. *** p ˂ .001. • Differences were found based on quantitative and qualitative results: • Parents and Students: Extremely positive views of praise notes • Teachers: Less aware of parents’ enthusiasm • Parents: Praise notes helped improve home-school communication • Teachers: Less aware of improved communication • Teachers: Some thought students became bored with praise notes • Parents and Students: Indicated praise notes remained motivating Qualitative Results What was most liked about praise notes? Quantitative Results Percentage of participants who agreed with selected survey items What was most disliked about praise notes? Question 3: How can school-wide praise note interventions be improved? • Help teachers become more aware of others perceptions • Parents and students extremely positive about praise notes • Praise notes can help convey classroom expectations and improve home-school communication • Improve praise note procedures • Create simple praise note forms • Make praise notes easily accessible to teachers • Provide teachers with parent and student feedback • The following trends were found based on quantitative and qualitative results: • Participants viewed praise notes positively: • All groups liked praise notesand the focus on positive behavior • Participants reported that praise notes improved: • Relationships, communication, and student behavior • Results suggested that praise notes are sustainable: • Teachers put in most of the effort, but still had positive perceptions and wanted praise noted to continue Sample Praise Note