Featuring awareness activities that show how differences are perceived, this book explores how reactions to and beliefs about disabilities influence progress toward an inclusive society. Chapters address: (1) how and why we react to differences; (2) the limitations and challenges of disabilities and perspectives on disability; (3) understanding…

This Project Brief focuses on the Ford Foundation's Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI), which aims to help selected community colleges in distressed communities expand their capacity to increase access to postsecondary education and to foster regional economic development. RCCI is geared to specific geographic regions where communities face…

This book is designed to help teachers understand the basic methodology of counseling and sensitize teachers to the basic ideas and skills that are involved in responding to students' interpersonal, social, and emotional needs. The book helps teachers create helping relationships with students, assess and diagnose problems, use current therapy…

This book aims to provide counselors with the theoretical and technical basis needed for designing interventions that enhance relationships between children and teachers. It draws on research in social development and relationships-systems theory to describe the role of child-adult relationships in the development of social and academic…

One of the most important skills of professionals who work with young children is the ability to assess developmental functioning through informal observation. This skill serves as the foundation for screening or identifying children in need of developmental services, conducting play-based developmental assessments, and helping parents to…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a program for enhancing students' social skills in order to increase their ability to work cooperatively and to resolve conflict. The targeted population consisted of kindergarten students in a lower income urban school, located in a medium-sized Midwestern city. The problem of insufficient…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a curriculum designed to help students with varying degrees of emotional intelligence improve their social adeptness. The targeted population consisted of sixth-grade students in a large urban setting in central Illinois. The students' levels of social ineptness were determined and documented…

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), Kindergarten Class of 1998-99, selected a nationally representative sample of approximately 22,000 kindergartners in the fall of 1998 and is following these children through the end of the fifth grade. Baseline data about these children, their families, and their kindergarten programs were collected…

This assessment and intervention guide features an assessment tool along numerous creative ideas to promote social and communication skills in children with autism. Practical background information on perspectives of autism and guidelines for designing and implementing intervention plans are included in the guide. The assessment, the Assessment of…

This proceedings focuses on "state-of-the-art" knowledge regarding social-emotional development, parenting issues, achievement issues, accelerative practices, individualized program planning, Alberta Education policies, educational technology, Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration, and other issues as they related to the unique…

This manual encourages students to act as volunteer tutors. Chapter 1, "Attitudes, Anxieties, and Expectations," discusses normal fears and anxieties and unconditional acceptance. Chapter 2, "Building Relationships," looks at making connections, building trust, motivating students to learn, going beyond academics, and establishing boundaries.…

This guide provides assessment, education, and treatment strategies for children with Asperger syndrome. It discusses assessment, and provides guidelines for securing and implementing services and determines appropriate placement. The following recommendations are also provided for general intervention strategies: (1) skills, concept, appropriate…

This research report focuses on Asian- and Pacific-American adolescent high school achievement. It is part of a continuing collaborative effort between Stanford researchers and six high schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. This Study of Families and Schools, as part of the larger Study of Stanford and the Schools, is primarily concerned with…

Presents PEERS, a broad based intervention program designed for remediating social withdrawal among isolate children and promoting increased peer interactions. PEERS examines deficits in four skill areas: the child's social, language, and motoric competencies, and the parents' child-rearing ability. (MJL)

Current research on training children in social skills, although promising, suffers from conceptual, methodological, and assessment problems. In addition, the rationale invoked for intervention with shy, withdrawn children appears to be questionable. This issue, as well as others, is addressed in a summary discussion. Recommendations for further…