Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition

From Classroom Instruction that Works

As part of a weekly installment highlighting the 9 instructional strategies that increase student learning and achievement from Robert Marzano, Debra Pickering, and Jane Pollock’s book Classroom instruction that Works (ASCD: 2001), this blog focuses on the chapter on reinforcement and recognition. In this chapter, the authors offer a refresher course on the power and importance of effort and how we as educators can influence our students simply by how we respond to their work.

The first striking point they make is that we as classroom teachers can explicitly teach students about effort and the connection between effort and achievement. One way to do this is to talk about effort and its rewards, to give students concrete examples and encourage their own observations and connections. A second thing we can do is to ask students to periodically keep track of their own effort and its relationship to achievement or success. On pages 52-53 of Classroom Instruction that Works, the authors include a rubrics and tracking charts that might be tools to assist students in their self-reflections of their efforts.

The second important part of this chapter is a discussion of the research and theory behind providing recognition of student progress. Marzano et al. say they prefer the word “recognition” over “reward” or “praise,” as they feel “recognition” more appropriately identifies the purpose and intent of teacher comments about student effort and work. The research these authors quote is compelling. For instance, using Cameron and Pierce, they quote: “Rewards can have a negative impact on intrinsic motivation they are offered to people for engaging in a task without considering any standard of performance” (Marzano, p. 56). Thus, if teachers reward students for just “doing” the work, student performance is not improved. Instead, they suggest that recognition makes the most difference when it is personal and specific. The authors include a very informative chart called “Guidelines for Effective Praise” (p. 56). This chart makes a great self-reflection tool for educators to evaluate their own responses to their students.
A few other tidbits from this chapter:
*Abstract symbolic recognition is more effective than tangible rewards (p. 57).
*Rewards are more effective when they are linked to specific standards of performance. (p. 56)
*Verbal praise is a powerful motivator that positively alters student attitude and behavior (p. 57)

If you'd like to check out the other blogs using information from Classroom Instruction that Works, here are the blog entry dates:
Jan 8: Similarities and Differences
March 10: Summarizing and Note-taking