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Positive Peer Reports
 

By Hallie Enderle

Edited by Claire Murphy, 9/2022

What are Positive Peer Reports?                                                                                     

The Positive Peer Report (PPR) is a school-based Tier 1 or class-wide positive behavior support (Morrison and Jones, 2007). It targets students who are socially isolated/seek peer interaction/attention in negative ways (Wright, n.d.). PPR may be ideal for elementary to high-school aged students. PPR rewards students for publicly reinforcing peers' positive behavior (Jones et al., 2002), and involves explicitly teaching, modeling, and rewarding classmates for providing compliments to targeted students (Moroz and Jones, 2002). 

Components of Positive Peer Reports

  • This intervention needs to be done daily over a period of time designated prior to the start of the intervention.

  • A group reward needs to be established prior to the intervention that is significant to the group and motivating. 

  • A point system needs to be clearly defined and the class needs to be made explicitly aware of how points will be earned and tracked to reach the established goal. A visual such as a point chart display is encouraged.

  • A lesson should be conducted on praise that should last for a duration of 10-20 minutes prior to the intervention. Incorporate examples and model what good praise looks like.

  • Students need to be identified who will receive praise throughout the intervention. These names and the groups should rotate daily to prevent stigmatization.  

  • At the end of the day, a period of time needs to be designated to provide a summary of the points earned and observations that were made. Reinforce positive behaviors. 

  • Prepare for backhanded compliments, and frontload how this will be handled. Use planned ignoring, 1:1 meetings, or individual contingencies if necessary. 

  • Skills such as self-awareness, emotion regulation, social awareness, and self-management are necessary.

Evidence of Positive Peer Reports Effectiveness

In a case study conducted by Moroz et. al. 2002, researchers measured the impact of PPR on three students aged 7-10 years old. The results showed that the participants showed an average improvement of 66% in social involvement. Indicating that this intervention yields significant results with students who are identified as being at-risk for social isolation. PPR has been shown to be effective in restructuring peer social networks, and increases likelihood of reinforcers that already exist in the environment, and may also impact peer perceptions of target students (Morrison & Jones, 2007). Studies have shown PPR can increase and improve social interactions as well as reduce occurrence of problem behavior (Jones et al., 2000). "PPR reduced the number of socially isolated children, according to peer nomination." (Morrison & Jones, 2007, p. 121) Being teased, neglected, or avoided by peers correlates highly with risk of developing behavioral and emotional disorders (Moroz & Jones, 2002). Research on self-contained classrooms with students identified with behavioral disorders shows that aggressive students reinforce the aggressive behaviors in their peers (Morrison & Jones, 2007). 

References

Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005). In making human beings human: Bioecological perspectives on human development (pp. 106–173). Sage Publications Ltd.

 

Burns, M. K., Warmbold-Brann, K., & Zaslofsky, A. F. (2015). Ecological systems theory in school psychology review. School Psychology Review, 44(3), 249–261. https://doi.org/10.17105/spr-15-0092.1

 

Carr, E. G., Dunlap, G., Horner, R. H., Koegel, R. L., Turnbull, A. P., Sailor, W., Anderson, J. L., Albin, R. W., Koegel, L. K., & Fox, L. (2002). Positive behavior support: evolution of an applied science. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 4(1), 4–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/109830070200400102

 

Critchfield, T. S., & Reed, D. D. (2017). The fuzzy concept of applied behavior analysis research. The Behavior Analyst, 40(1), 123–159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-017-0093-x

 

Ervin, R. A., Miller, P. M., & Friman, P. C. (1996). Feed the hungry bee: using positive peer reports to improve the social interactions and acceptance of a socially rejected girl in residential care. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 29(2), 251–253. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1996.29-251

 

Jones, K. M., Young, M. M., & Friman, P. C. (2000). Increasing peer praise of socially rejected delinquent youth: Effects on cooperation and acceptance. School Psychology Quarterly, 15(1), 30–39. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0088776

 

Moroz, K. B., & Jones, K. M. (2002). The effects of positive peer reporting on children’s social involvement. School Psychology Review, 31(2), 235–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2002.12086153

 

Morrison, J. Q., & Jones, K. M. (2007). The effects of positive peer reporting as a class-wide positive behavior support. Journal of Behavioral Education, 16(2), 111–124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-006-9005-y

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