The extent to which an intervention is perceived as socially valid significantly influences whether the intervention is selected, implemented, and maintained (Kern & Manz, 2004). Social skill interventions and evidence-based practices are often ranked with low social validity by adolescents (McCoy et al., 2016). Interventions delivered through…

The transition from elementary to middle school is associated with increases in anxiety and related impairment, yet few evidence-based interventions exist to support students with impairing anxiety during this transition. This study describes the feasibility of a novel intervention, delivered by school mental health professionals (SMHPs), for…

Age-appropriate use of social skills throughout a student's K-12 career has been linked to a variety of favorable academic and behavioral outcomes (Capara et al., 2000; Malecki & Elliot, 2022; Wentzel, 1993). Social skill deficits are widely present in the secondary setting (Gresham et al., 2010), and research has highlighted 9th grade as an…

Teaching social skills, such as cooperation, self-expression, and empathy, is necessary for acquiring social skills and participating in social activities. In this semi-experimental research, the effect of social skills educational intervention on the self-efficacy of fourth to sixth grade female students in X schools was investigated from the…

Students with significant cognitive disabilities (SCD) almost always lack independence compared to their same-aged typical peers. To increase the independence of students with SCD, a dissertation project was conducted in the William Henry Middle School (WHMS) Intensive Learning Center - Academic (ILC-A) special education classroom. The purpose of…

Interventions that build compassion for others may help increase social connectivity, combat loneliness, and promote positive adjustment in youth. However, limited research has examined the effects of this type of intervention on youth well-being. The goal of this small open pilot study was to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and outcomes…

Purpose: The purpose of this transcendental, phenomenological study was to explore how involvement in theatre arts programs helps to improve social functioning skills (SFS) in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, from a drama teacher's perspective, in middle schools in the central coast region of California. Methodology: A qualitative…

Background: Adolescents on the autism spectrum often experience challenges participating socially in inclusive education. The majority of school-based social supports focuses on social skills training, although research shows that students on the spectrum prefer activity-based social groups over social instructions. Thus, activity-based school…

In this systematic review, we evaluated the quality and rigor of the current evidence base for the Second Step social-emotional learning program in middle schools. Eleven studies were coded using the "Council for Exceptional Children Standards for Evidence-Based Practices in Special Education" with an 80% weighted criterion. We…

The FRIENDS Resilience programs provide cognitive-behavioral skills across the developmental spectrum and can be applied as a universal or selective prevention program. In the current study, we assessed whether, relative to the schools' existing counseling curriculum ("guidance"), FRIENDS improved social skills, problem behaviors, and…

In this article a recently developed method, Reading Writing and Presentation (RWP) is introduced and compared with Subject Jigsaw Method (JG) and Control Group (CG). Research was carried out with 68 6th grade elementary school students. Number of students included in RWP group was 26, in JG was 20 and in CG was 22. Pretest, posttest and…

This study reports the effects of instruction of elementary students in a complex package of social and academic skills designed for use in cooperative groups while studying important information in inclusive general education classes. Twenty-five teachers and 519 fourth and fifth graders, including 45 students with learning disabilities (LD),…

Trauma-informed school practices are interventions intended to mitigate the effects of traumatic experiences that hinder students' abilities to learn and experience success in school settings. This quantitative comparative study aimed to examine archival data on the impact of trauma-informed school practices on middle school students' grade point…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a peer network individualized intervention toward improving the social skills of three middle school high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability (ID). The intervention was based on the Circle Time program (Mosley & Tew, 2013), and it…

The increase in diagnoses of autism for elementary aged students paired with schools increasingly moving towards inclusive classroom models creates a challenge for general education teachers. This quantitative quasi-experimental study was designed to investigate the efficacy of an after school, explicit social skills intervention, and the impact…