This research examines the use of teaching triads to the classroom-wide implementation of "Stay, Play & Talk" a peer-mediated social skills program for children in an inclusive Kindergarten classroom in Ontario, Canada. This research used prompting through peers to increase initiations and responses between children identified as…

We extended research on social skills training to determine if the activities first-grade students were engaged in while Tootling would influence their performance of two recently trained social skills: complimenting and encouraging peers. After receiving social skills training, students engaged in two experimental small-group activities, a…

A social skills training has previously resulted in positive improvements in social skills among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This pilot study developed a play-based social skills training protocol for first-grade elementary children with ASD in Taiwan and determined its efficacy. Using a single-group…

Effective universal social skills programs are intended to facilitate the development of students' social competencies and enhance classroom learning. As such, the present study sought to provide additional insights and a more nuanced understanding of the impacts of one such universal program, the Social Skills Improvement System Classwide…

Schools need effective, generalizable, and socially valid social skills interventions to better support the social inclusion and peer relationships of their students on the autism spectrum. We evaluated a Pivotal Response Treatment-based, naturalistic social skills intervention implemented daily by school personnel in reverse inclusion school…

The purpose of this mixed-method action research study was to support the asynchronous development of third-grade gifted students at GWE by identifying their key social and emotional needs and determining the outcomes of a differentiated SEL curriculum. The four most significant affective areas of social and emotional need as self-reported by the…

Classroom teachers are often the primary implementers of universal social-emotional learning (SEL) in U.S. elementary schools with first-hand insight on translating programs into authentic settings and local contexts. This study examined social validity and cultural relevance ratings, indicators of implementation, and feedback from 57 first- and…

Concerns regarding social competence skills in preschool and kindergarten students and the impact to the disruption of learning within the classroom is a growing area of concern within public schools. Decreased social competence skills lead to increased difficulty in engagement and cooperation in the classroom, disrupting the learning environment…

This study aims to conceptualise a drama-integrated curriculum devised from process drama as an approach to play-based pedagogy and curriculum to realise the policy initiative of learning through play. By investigating teachers' perspectives and practices in relation to the curriculum of a local kindergarten, examples of effective…

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…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a peer-mediated intervention on joint attention (JA) and social play skills for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a multiple baseline design. Peer-mediated interventions are an evidence-based practice, but there is limited research on using peers outside of the target student's classroom…

Studies indicate that socio-emotional-focused interventions can create lasting benefits for children across a variety of domains. Primary Project is an evidence-based program established 60 years ago that has historically been found to help improve children's social and emotional skills. The present study analyzed its continued effectiveness as…

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…

Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support, a framework for remediating and preventing student problem behaviors and supporting schools, has demonstrated a reduction in office disciplinary referrals (ODRs) among student groups. However, African American students are still overrepresented in ODRs. This study extended a prior study that explored parents'…

Social and communication skills of individuals with intellectual disabilities are limited. It is important to support children who are affected from an early age by the insufficiency in terms of social cohesion and social skills. Social skills deficiencies lead to failure in academic skills and it is known that academic success and social skills…