Making substance the leading edge of educational leadership means building a team committed to developing strategies for achieving a vision of change; thus, the team becomes a motivating implementation network of individuals who choose to support the vision and follow it through to reality. For team building to succeed, interpersonal skills must…

The Work Performance Assessment (WPA) is a brief work simulation designed to evaluate job maintenance skills, emphasizing work-related social/interpersonal skills rather than specific vocational skills. The WPA uses three work samples involving sorting of food service items to measure 19 common work demands in four categories: responding to…

The packet reviews the assessment and teaching of social skills to persons with special needs and lists a variety of resources and readings. Definitions are provided for seven key terms (e.g., adaptive behavior, behavior disorder, social skills). Frequently asked questions addressing assessment and intervention are answered. Assessment by means of…

This study examined relationships between students' cooperative learning experiences (including both the frequency and quality of their interactions in small groups) and their attitudes toward school; perceptions of the classroom environment; intrinsic motivation; and various social attitudes, skills, and values. Participants (n=756) were teachers…

A study investigated the influence of interpersonal variables, such as communicative competence, loneliness, and roommate rapport, upon persistence in college. The study includes self-reports as well as reports of roommates' behaviors. Subjects were 200 freshman students (out of a total of 350) who participated in several sections of a…

Intended to help young people acquire independent daily living skills, this book is the group leader's guide to an advanced youth training curriculum for developing appropriate communication competence. The guide's first session introduces the basics of communication, while subsequent sessions focus on communication in all aspects of life: on the…

Intended to help young people acquire independent daily living skills, this book is the participant's guide to an advanced youth training curriculum for developing communication skills. The guide's first session introduces the basics of communication, while the subsequent seven sessions (each intended to take approximately one hour) focus on…

Research on the communicative competency of faculty indicates that students can be motivated to learn by competent communicators. In general, communication experts have better competency skills, (i.e., they use more effective verbal and nonverbal immediacy behaviors) than do faculty as a whole. An area much in need of development for most faculty…

This paper presents a case study of a young girl diagnosed as autistic and having a history of tantrums, who was grouped with six other students with mild to moderate disabilities. Intervention plans developed by her teacher and a consultant addressed the girl's needs for more positive social and communication skills, focusing on increasing…

A study was conducted to determine if (1) significant gender differences exist in prevalence of deception, motivation for deception, and recipients of deception; and (2) whether such differences support traditional gender role perceptions and expectations. Seventy-four subjects, 50 female and 24 male undergraduate students, recorded all instances…

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…

This paper questions teacher evaluation based solely on "research based competencies" or "generic teaching skills" divorced from subject content or specific context. Three topics are discussed: (1) the use of the word "skill" in educational discourse; (2) the implications of such usage; and (3) the plausibility of…

Using photographs and informal narrative, three case studies illustrate the integration of handicapped with nonhandicapped students on a variety of age levels, and with a variety of special needs, at three locations in England. Charnwood, an independent preschool center in Stockport, Cheshire, serves 50 young children with a variety of…

Using longitudinal data on 101 sixth-graders who participated in the Pennsylvania Early Adolescent Transitions Study, the following two hypotheses were tested by means of path analysis: (1) the goodness of fit between a child's temperamental characteristics and the temperamental preferences held by the peer group is instrumental in determining a…

Effects of group participation in a recreation program emphasizing perceptual motor skills and interpersonal values of potentially delinquent boys were examined and compared to the same effects in a group of normal boys participating in a separate but similar program. The boys ranged in age from 12 to 18 years. Perceptual motor skills measured…