ASSESSING CLASSROOM INCENTIVE PRACTICES

The motivational effects of an experimental program of pedagogy, designed for culturally disadvantaged children, were evaluated relative to a control group of conventional classrooms. Ss were primary grade students in 155 classrooms. Results revealed experimental classrooms to be characterized by significantly more teacher approval, less teacher disapproval, and by more student solicitation of teacher attention than were found in conventional classrooms. These differences generally were obtained in verbal, gestural, and physical-contact response modes, as well as their sums, and were further maintained when experimental rooms were compared with conventional rooms within higher and lower socioeconomic status levels separately. A brief observational method for assessing specific classroom incentive practices is provided. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.