This article describes an empirical study that explored the cognitive and emotional effects of teaching through shadow theater as compared to traditional storytelling of the same texts and songs in children on the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The rationale is based on broken mirror theory anchored in research on mirror neurons. Fifty-seven…

Extensive literature on school misbehavior has largely focused on teachers' perceptions of the most frequent and troublesome classroom behaviors and the most commonly used strategies to manage them. Students' perspectives on this topic have received comparatively little attention and most of the few existing studies were conducted with secondary…

Social deficits are often a core area of development for students in special education, thus schools are charged with providing social skills interventions. Although many strategies are available, few schools successfully employ evidence-based interventions for students with autism and related disabilities. A way to address these concerns while…

A group, randomized, comparative effectiveness trial of two elementary universal preventive interventions (PAX Good Behavior Game [PAX GBG] and the integration of PAX GBG with Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies [PATHS to PAX]) was carried out in general education classrooms in 27 urban elementary schools. Ialongo et al. report on results of…

Tiered response models encourage a proactive approach to identification of social-emotional needs and intervention. However, schools experience barriers to adopting and implementing such models that use data to allocate interventions. The current study examines the utility of a universal social-emotional learning (SEL) screening system embedded in…

Objective: Social and academic functioning are linked in elementary school, and both are frequently impaired in children with elevated symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study evaluated the Making Socially Accepting Inclusive Classrooms (MOSAIC) program, a classroom intervention to support children's social and…

Background: Turn 2 Us (T2U) is an elementary school-based mental health promotion and prevention program in New York City. It targets fourth- and fifth-grade students at risk for social/emotional and behavioral problems and provides a range of services to students, staff, and parents. The purpose of this study is to determine if T2U decreases…

Research indicates school personnel use punitive and exclusionary discipline practices more often with students from particular racial and ethnic groups. In response to these trends, many researchers suggest a need to adapt experimentally validated social, emotional, and behavioral interventions to align with cultural characteristics of students.…

Descriptive Pre-Post study with a single group intervention assesses the impact of the Harmony-meter as a global strategy of intervention to reduce violent behavior in school, improve the harmonic coexistence rates and promote the development of the socio-emotional skills of the members of a school community. The hypothesis is checked. It's based…

Clinicians and training programs strive to implement evidence-based practices and manualized treatments with fidelity. However, the constraints of a local setting may limit the extent to which this is possible. In the current study, an adapted model of an evidence-based social-emotional learning small group curriculum, the Incredible Years…

This paper focuses on primary school staff members' interpretations of the UK social and emotional learning initiative: SEAL. The data, collected through group and individual interviews with a range of staff members working in schools located in deprived areas, illustrate how the scheme has been used to encourage various behaviours. This…

The current pilot study investigated the effectiveness of the Superheroes Social Skills program in decreasing disruptive and aggressive behavior of elementary-age students with high-incidence disabilities. Six students in a self-contained classroom, identified as displaying high rates of disruptive and aggressive behavior toward peers, were…

Behavioral trajectories during middle childhood are predictive of consequential outcomes later in life (e.g., substance abuse, violence). Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are designed to promote trajectories that reflect both growth in positive behaviors and inhibited development of negative behaviors. The current study used growth…

Participation in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs reduces aggressive and antisocial behavior (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011). Theoretically, SEL programs foster social and emotionally intelligent youth through improving children's social and emotional skills, defined in the present study as the ability to…

The present study examined the effectiveness of Social Stories[TM], and Social Stories paired with a differential reinforcement procedure on disruptive behaviors of two elementary school children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We implemented a…