Teachers are taught a variety of assessment techniques to help students succeed in school. They learn to assess their students' math and reading skills, their knowledge of social studies and science content and their ability to write. When teachers are faced with a student who is challenged by the subject matter and is struggling, teachers have a…

Elementary school students in today's urban classrooms face many life circumstances at home and in their communities that contribute to stress and coping needs. These stressors are often brought into the classroom, which impact learning, behaviors, and overall academic performance. Mindfulness has been used in classroom settings, particularly with…

School bullying remains a serious issue although it has been the subject of national news, government agencies, schools and community organizations since the school shootings at Columbine. School administrators must implement school policies concerning bullying and harassment. The authors describe how administrators can develop a school-wide…

Many authors regard education as a way of increasing civility in society, and some have implemented interventions to improve civility in schools. However, very little empirical data exist on the extent and nature of students' civil behavior. The present study systematically gathered data from 251 school professionals regarding their perceptions of…

Within school environments, where bullying interventions are usually studied, the preponderance of bullying incidents generally occur in less structured settings (Hazler, 1996; Leff, Power, Costigan, & Manz, 2003; Olweus, 1997). Outside of school, children spend time in relatively unstructured community environments, with minimally trained staff.…

Asserting that teacher attention is often overlooked as a positive intervention strategy, this article presents a general overview of teacher attention and its effectiveness in changing behavior. Practical suggestions for effective teacher approval are described, as is a principle called "pairing" which may be used for social reinforcement. (JC)

Examined effects of a short-term, social problem-solving training program on latency-aged children. The intervention was taught over weeks to one-half of a fourth-grade class at an inner city parochial school. Results indicated that program children learned to generate more alternative solutions to problems and to anticipate their consequences.…

Functioning as a researcher, a second-grade teacher evaluated the effectiveness of puppetry in the reduction of student arguments and teacher intervention in those arguments. The teacher defined and observed the behaviors to be changed, designed and implemented the puppet intervention, and then observed the behaviors again, noting reductions in…

All school professionals working with children and adolescents deal with social skills issues. Even if not the primary issue or goal, teachers, counselors, school psychologists, other specialists such as nurses, speech and language therapists, etc., and some administrators make informal assessments of their students' ability to successfully…