This is the second of two studies of Ohio's Head Start programs conducted by the Legislative Office of Education (LOEO) of Ohio. The first study described the implementation of Head Start in Ohio. This study looked at the impact of Head Start's education component by examining urban kindergarten students on selected measures of school readiness.…

A study evaluated the effectiveness of the Stephen August Early Intervention Center in Cheshire, Connecticut, an early intervention center serving children with developmental delays or at risk for developing such delays, and their families. Data on 130 center participants' later special or regular education status, and a teacher rating of…

A study examined the effect of social style training on the workers of a state agency in the midwest. The Social Style Training Workshop was a half-day session designed to provide participants with an assessment of their social style as perceived by their coworkers. In addition, participants examined the meaning of various social styles, their…

Contemporary society is failing to meet the developmental needs of youth. A peer counseling program using a variety of approaches including unstructured drop-in time for arts and crafts, games or simple interaction; planned social activities; and weekly 3-hour meetings was implemented. This study examined the outcome of the peer counseling program…

The effectiveness of a social skills training workshop was assessed by comparing the rated competence of participants in an Interpersonal Skills Training Program to the rated competence of nonparticipants. Subjects' self-ratings were included. This comparison was operationalized through a pretest-posttest design with 12 experimental and 22 control…

The article describes development of the "Social Adjustment Centre," a special class in Australia comprised of two teachers and six behaviorally disordered children and designed to modify the child's behavior for integration back into the mainstream program. The classroom management plan as well as its evaluation are described. (DB)

This digest reviews and summarizes what is known about effective school-wide behavioral management systems. Emphasis in such systems is on consistency throughout the building and across classrooms with the entire staff, both professional and nonprofessional, uniformly implementing common strategies. Common features of school-wide behavioral…

This paper describes the "Problem Solving for Life" training program which trains adolescents and adults with mental retardation in skills for solving social problems. The program requires group participants to solve social problems by practicing two prerequisite skills (relaxation and positive self-statements) and four problem solving steps: (1)…

Examines the success of (N=13) premarital counseling programs. Reviews programs which outlined standardized intervention procedures and utilized dependent measures to assess the program's effectiveness. Premarital counseling programs were generally found to be atheoretical in their approach to intervention, loosely designed, and nonspecific as to…

Investigates the attainment and application of Social Problem Solving (SPS) skills gained by students participating in computer facilitated SPS guidance (N=12) in comparison to classmates not receiving supplemental instruction. Results show that both groups improved in overall SPS readiness skills, although the supplementary program boosted…

A study was conducted of nine male and three female adolescents with autism to find the collateral behavioral and social interaction effects of using facilitated communication. The facilitated communication intervention appeared to have no influence on the subjects' behavior and social interactions. (CR)

Assigned elementary schools to either immediate postbaseline intervention (PBI) with PeaceBuilders, a school-based violence prevention program, or to intervention 1 year later (PBD). Found significant gains in social competence for kindergarten through second-graders in Year 1, in peace-building behavior in Grades K to 5, and reduced aggression in…

This study evaluated a program to teach social skills to children and adolescents using a cognitive behavioral approach in small groups that met weekly. One group of seven children and a parallel parents' group are described. Evaluation indicated improved social functioning for most children. The importance of liaison with parents and teachers in…

A study examined the response of two adults who attended a music activity therapy program in which music activities encouraged peer interaction. Music activity therapy was compared with a control condition (i.e., ball and target games). Both conditions increased the level of positive interaction, however, music therapy was least effective.…

Program Evaluation in 6 elementary school resource rooms (30 mildly handicapped students) found that students receiving the experimental program scored significantly higher on posttraining measures of peer acceptance and social skills. Experimental students also made a slightly greater improvement than controls in social behavior in natural school…