Rate My Professor Margaret Floress

Margaret T. Floress is Professor of Psychology and Program Coordinator for the School Psychology Graduate Program at Eastern Illinois University. She earned her Ph.D. in 2007 and M.A. in 2004 from Indiana State University, along with a B.S. in 2003 from Central Michigan University. Following her doctorate, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center from 2007 to 2008. At Eastern Illinois University, she has advanced to full professor status and holds credentials as a licensed psychologist and Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP). Floress teaches courses including PSY 5170 Theories of Learning and PSY 6050 Behavior Therapy with Children and Adolescents. She serves as advisor to the Student Association of School Psychologists, faculty marshal, and a member of the Eastern Illinois University Institutional Review Board.

Floress's academic interests center on natural rates of teacher behavioral skills, teacher and parent training, preschool interventions, behavioral and academic interventions, sleep and elimination disorders, classroom management practices, teacher use of praise and reprimand, behavior-specific praise, teleconsultation technologies, anti-bias training for educators, student behavior in general, at-risk, and special education settings, social skills training for children with autism spectrum disorder, and psychopharmacology consultation for school psychologists. Her key publications include "Middle and high school praise: A systematic review of the literature" (2024), "Teacher Stress and Self-Efficacy Relative to Managing Student Behavior" (2024), "Exploring Pre-service, Early Childhood Educators’ Use of Praise: A Preliminary Investigation" (2023), "Praise Research Trends and Future Directions: Characteristics and Teacher Training" (2017), "A Preliminary Investigation of Kindergarten Teachers' Use of Praise in General Education Classrooms" (2015), "Training Teachers to Increase Behavior-Specific Praise: A Meta-Analysis" (2019), and "The Caterpillar Game: A SW-PBIS Aligned Classroom Management System" (2017). With over 1,400 citations on Google Scholar, her research significantly influences school psychology, behavioral pediatrics, and applied behavior analysis.