https://doi.org/10.1177/1074295618798587 Beyond Behavior 1–6 © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2018 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1074295618798587 journals.sagepub.com/home/bbx Demonstration Article Providing feedback on student academic performance is an essential part of the learning process and something teachers do throughout every day. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for providing feedback for social behaviors. Remember the old adage, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease?” This saying certainly applies to class- room behavior. Teachers have many responsibilities including lesson planning, preparing materials, managing behavior, clerical tasks, and, of course, teaching. This may make it challenging to remember to provide feed- back for appropriate (correct) social behaviors because it does not seem as necessary when things are going well or when the day is exceptionally busy. Yet, when a student displays inappropriate behavior or does not meet expecta- tions, he or she quickly receives the teacher’s attention, time, and corrective feedback. Acknowledging appropriate behavior is one way to com- municate to students which academic and social behaviors are desirable. One of the easiest ways to do this is to provide praise contingent on appropriate responding in the class- room. Although a specific type of feedback, praise has the added connotation of a more intentional response compared with affirming a correct answer (Brophy, 1981). Praise is efficient because it can be delivered anywhere, requires only minimal training and preparation, and can be used with students of various age and ability levels, as well as in a variety of content areas. Praise can be an essential ingredi- ent to improving student-teacher relationships and a class or school climate. Behavior-Specific Praise (BSP): A Definition Praise can be classified into two broad categories, general and behavior specific. General praise involves using brief statements of ambiguous recognition, such as “Good job, Elizabeth,” “Way to go,” or “Nice work, Jon.” Although general praise can certainly have benefits, it does not always clearly communicate why the student has been acknowl- edged. BSP involves adding a specific behavioral descrip- tion to clarify the observed behaviors teachers are acknowledging and, likely, hoping to occur more often in the classroom. Example BSP statements include, “Class, good job entering the classroom quietly and beginning your work,” “I love how you are sharing your markers with your table mates, Lauren. Way to go!” or “Hunter, nice work being respectful by raising your hand and waiting to be called upon.” These examples demonstrate how BSP is more detailed compared with general praise and provides 798587BBX XX X 10.1177/1074295618798587Beyond BehaviorEnnis et al. research-article 2018 1 The University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA 2 University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, USA 3 The University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA 4 California State University, Los Angeles, USA 5 Arizona State University, Tempe, USA 6 Lawrence, KS, USA Corresponding Author: Robin Parks Ennis, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1720 2nd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. Email: rennis@uab.edu Behavior-Specific Praise: An Effective, Efficient, Low-Intensity Strategy to Support Student Success Robin Parks Ennis, PhD, BCBA-D 1 , David James Royer, PhD 2 , Kathleen Lynne, PhD, BCBA-D Lane 3 , Holly M. Menzies, PhD 4 , Wendy Peia Oakes, PhD 5 , and Liane Elizabeth Schellman, MEd 6 Abstract Behavior-specific praise (BSP) is a low-intensity strategy that can be used to reinforce appropriate responding in the classroom. BSP occurs when a teacher observes particular student behavior and compliments the student for the appropriate response with the intent that students will continue to engage in the appropriate behavior. In this article, we describe a step-by-step process for using BSP in classrooms with all students, including those at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Keywords behavior-specific praise, BSP, low-intensity strategies, positive behavioral supports, Ci3T, management, School/classroom