Examines racial/ethnic differences in a sample of 436 African-American and 387 Latino elementary school students in the mean levels of children's internal beliefs, fantasies, and attributions about aggressive behavior; interpersonal negotiation strategies; and psychological symptomatology. Looked at relationships among these factors. Differences…

New Haven (Connecticut) Public Schools realized that pushing students academically was useless without creating a positive school climate to address their social and emotional needs. James Comer's School Development Program is the district's guiding principle. Via planning and student-support teams, school community members decide on life-skills…

Two studies tested a model relating social competence to social support and child-parent attachment for Head Start children. Results supported the conjecture that social competence should be viewed as hierarchically organized. A model consistent with causal pathways from attachment security to support networks and social competence, and from…

Previous research showed associations between students' perceptions of teacher interpersonal style and several variables. This study examined associations between the students' perceptions and judges' ratings of interpersonal aspects of videotaped teacher behavior. Survey data indicated that there were strong correlations between students'…

European American and second-generation Chinese American 1st and 2nd graders, their parents, and teachers participated in Time 2 data collection of this longitudinal study to assess whether the formal academic environment provided by Chinese American parents is linked to poorer social adjustment in their children. Regressions showed that parents'…

Faced with an applicant pool deficient in credentials and classroom skills, savvy administrators can spot applicants' potential, discerning those individuals likely to blossom into effective teachers. Important qualities include a strong work ethic, people and communication skills, and enthusiasm for teaching. Deciphering hidden meanings behind…

Utility of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Expanded Form to discriminate among areas of adaptive behavior was substantiated by comparing profiles of scores obtained by 113 individuals with mental retardation and either a communication, social behavior, or motor disorder. Results support the use of the Vineland Scales in ecological evaluation…

This article describes the phenomenon of loneliness and its incidence in children with disabilities, and suggests techniques for detecting and dealing with loneliness at school. Interventions include social skills training, creating opportunities for social interaction, creating an accepting classroom climate, teaching adequate coping strategies,…

A study involving three boys (ages 8-10) with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and giftedness and six comparison boys with only 1 of the 2 exceptionalities, found that participants with co-occurring giftedness and AD/HD had difficulties regulating their emotions, problems with peer relationships, and stressed families. (Contains…

Examined whether emotion regulation and emotion understanding made unique contributions toward at-risk preschoolers' classroom adaptation. Found that emotion regulation and understanding did make unique contributions toward adjustment, even when potential confounds--including behavior problems and verbal abilities--were controlled. Teachers…

Examined social reticence and its association with the quality of parenting behaviors. Found that children's shy, socially reticent behavior was predicted by the extent to which mothers were over-solicitous during free-play. Suggested that early childhood educators offer reticent-shy children opportunities to explore their personal and social…

A study of 250 new teaching assistants and 122 tenure-track faculty investigated their endorsement of 4 norms defining appropriate and inappropriate teaching behavior: (1) interpersonal disregard; (2) particularistic grading; (3) moral turpitude; and (4) inadequate planning. Both groups accorded the norms similar levels of impropriety. Questions…

A step-by-step guide is presented for developing and implementing a social interaction intervention based on a study of an inclusive preschool program. Steps include developing a data collection system, selecting observation time, collecting baseline data, identifying target children, developing social interaction skills intervention, monitoring…

The Purdue Shyness Rating Scales were completed by 67 mothers and 21 day care teachers of 67 children, ages 4 and 5, to compare mothers' and teachers' ratings of children's shyness. Moderate correlations between ratings by mothers and teachers were found. Results suggested that teacher assessments of shyness may be closely tied to the child's…

Tests the hypothesis that adolescents who reported secure attachments with their parents would display higher levels of interpersonal relational competence. Responses from 63 10th grade students reveal little correspondence between parent-child attachment and the positive aspects of adolescent social competence. Both positive and negative…