During early childhood, practitioners and family members are often tasked with determining optimal approaches to support social skill development in young children with developmental disabilities in inclusive and self-contained settings. Eight different evidence based approaches are highlighted (social narratives, scripting, pivotal response…

This research examines the linkages between ability grouping, classroom social and ethnic segregation, and civic competences (understood here as referring to attitudes and behaviours as well as knowledge and skills). It does so by analysing data from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Civic Education…

A classwide peer tutoring procedure stresses team competition and within-team cooperation and promotes social behavior in elementary children. Examples of the structural tutoring approach are given. (CL)

Because academic success alone does not ensure success in society, schools need to teach fundamental social skills, such as following instructions, accepting criticism or a consequence, accepting "no" for an answer, disagreeing appropriately, greeting someone, making a request, and getting the teacher's attention. Proper social behavior is not…

Current conceptual and empirical advances in appreciation of normal patterns of friendship development are reviewed and integrated for insight into the meaning of social competence for young special needs children. Questions are posed for researchers as well as for practitioners seeking to enhance the social effectiveness of special needs…

The authors advocate a performance-based approach to assessing social competence in which multiple staff and parents evaluate the adequacy of the child's behavior in social interactions with peer and adults. An example illustrates the approach in an early childhood special education setting. (CL)

This research review concerning intervention to improve young children's social behavior and strategies for promoting generalization and maintenance of young children's social responding focuses on taking advantage of natural communities of reinforcement, training diversely, and incorporating functional mediators. Implications for interventionists…

A cognitive, nonintrusive method of controlling head-rocking behavior in an 11-year-old blind subject involved having the boy place his hand on his cheek or chin when prompted that he was rocking his head. The subject demonstrated significant decreases in head rocking during intervention and generalization during followup. (Author/JDD)

The Achieving-Behaving-Caring (ABC) Program is an evidence-based approach to addressing the needs of elementary students at risk for emotional and behavioral difficulties and promoting successful home-school collaboration. This practical guide demonstrates how classroom teachers and parents can work together to boost individual children's…

A prekindergarten teacher working in a private elementary day school developed and implemented a prosocial behavior program designed to improve the social behavior of prekindergarten students. The program focused on decreasing the incidence of 10 behaviors: (1) pouting; (2) hitting; (3) yelling indoors; (4) interrupting; (5) whining; (6) ignoring…

A pair of 9-year-old boys with socioemotional and interpersonal difficulties was observed unobtrusively in 35 weekly hour-long therapy sessions over the course of 2 school years. A transcript/narrative analysis technique was used to identify all interpersonal negotiation strategies each child used within each session. Strategies were classified…

Suggests that many students are not aware of proper etiquette and proposes that business communication instructors offer a short bibliography and a few tips that can help students acquire more polish. (DF)

The instructional program, "Learning About Social Behavior," was designed to teach social and behavioral skills to elementary students in regular and learning disability classrooms. Students are taught with strategies used in reading, math, and assertiveness training. (Author/AM)

Incidental teaching procedures were used to train a 16-year-old mildly handicapped student to use social amenities in a resource classroom. Generalization to another resource room and an art classroom was assessed. Results indicated increased use of social amenities in the training setting and generalization settings. (Author/PB)

This activity book offers students in grades 3-7 creative, imaginative ways to explore what manners are and are not, why they matter and how to use manners to get more from life. The book is divided into nine chapters: (1) "What Are Manners?"; (2) "Why Do Manners Matter?"; (3) "Getting to Know One Another"; (4)…