Teachers’ perspectives of the use of ability and effort feedback in their classrooms varied.
Two of the teachers felt that they used both ability and effort feedback equally in their
classroom. One teacher felt that a child with academic ability still needed effort feedback to
push them farther, while the other teacher indicated that she used the terms “ability” and
“effort” with the children and praised for both academic and social responses. The other three
teachers felt they used effort feedback more. One felt that if they used just ability, some children
would not receive any praise. Two teachers commented that they felt younger children
preferred to be praised for effort; as they got older they had a preference for ability because they
became more academically focused.