Feedback & Reinforcement

More opportunities to respond creates more opportunities for positive feedback, corrective feedback, and reinforcement. This can decrease disruptive behavior and have a positive effect on academic engagement, on-task behavior, and compliance.

Goal:

Positive to Corrective Feedback Ratio: Maintain a ratio of 5:1 for positive to corrective feedback.

Tools:

Behavior-Specific Praise: Offer feedback that clearly describes what the student did well. Instead of saying "Good job," say "I really like how you solved that math problem step-by-step." Remember that you are providing feedback on the student’s performance. What was it that they did that you want them to keep doing? Whatever that is, praise it!
Error Correction: Provide immediate and direct error correction by demonstrating or modeling the correct response and then asking the student to respond again to the original cue. If possible, revisit the skill later to test for acquisition. Additionally, teachers can provide the appropriate level of prompting necessary to ensure a successful student response.
Immediate Feedback: Provide feedback as soon as possible after the behavior occurs. Immediate feedback helps students make connections between their actions and the consequences.
Proactive Praise: Catch them being good! Provide praise and reinforcement when they are on task or exhibiting positive social behavior. This encourages continued positive behavior.
Timers and Prompts: Set timers to remind yourself to look for and praise on-task behavior. For example, use an interval timer app on your phone or a timing device like the MotivAider® to remind you every 5 minutes to find a student behavior to praise.
Visual Reminders: Use visual cues like charts or posters to remind students of expected behaviors, rules, procedures, and routines. For example, post 3 to 5 positively stated classroom rules and expectations in a spot that is clearly visible in the room. Tie your praise back to one of the rules to maintain consistent expectations.

Apply it!

Learn more about how to implement behavior specific praise in the classroom.

More information and resources from the IRIS Center

CASE STUDY: Conditions in Jordan's Classroom

For Jordan, we know that he often receives attention for his challenging behaviors and it’s important to remember that any attention counts, not just the “good” kind. This includes redirection, eye contact, reprimands, or even laughter from peers. All of these responses can unintentionally reinforce his behavior.

When we look at Jordan’s history of trauma, this pattern makes even more sense. Children who’ve experienced neglect or inconsistent caregiving—like Jordan, who was removed from his parents due to substance use—may have learned that acting out is the fastest or most reliable way to get adult attention. Even if the attention is negative, it still feels better than being ignored.

That’s why increasing behavior-specific praise is so critical. Instead of most of his attention coming after he misbehaves, we want to frontload positive attention throughout the day. By “catching him being good” and naming exactly what he’s doing well, we help rebuild his understanding of safe, consistent adult interactions.

💬 Try saying things like:

“You got started right away—even though that was hard. That shows responsibility.”
“Thanks for helping your classmate clean up. That was really kind of you.”

This kind of praise not only reinforces the behaviors we want to see more of—it also helps Jordan feel seen, valued, and safe. And for a child with Jordan’s background, that can be just as powerful as any formal intervention.

Let's look at the kind of feedback & reinforcement support positive behavior.

Feedback & Reinforcement

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse

Feedback & Reinforcement