Opportunities to Respond and Behavior-Specific Praise in the Juvenile Justice Setting: Teacher Professional Development and Coaching

Patterns of significant challenging behavior, unilateral placement decisions made by the courts, and the large percentage of students with disabilities present unique challenges to educators within the juvenile justice setting. This study employed a single-subject, multiple-baseline across-participants design to examine the impact of a virtual professional development model paired with coaching on teacher rates of two evidence-based classroom strategies, opportunities to respond and behavior-specific praise, and student problem behavior. Results from the study indicate that the professional development alone did not change teacher or student behavior; however, the addition of coaching led to increased use of opportunities to respond and behavior-specific praise. Throughout the intervention, the students’ problem behavior did not change. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.