 
|
|
|
|
|
Social
Skills Instruction
Social Skills Instruction & School
Wide Discipline
|
|
|
Research
Highlights
Contexts
of Positive Development
-
Children
learn social skills as they grow and develop. These skills are
acquired and demonstrated in a broad social context—the
home, school, and community. These contexts can contribute to
prosocial as well as antisocial behaviors.
-
Schools
are an ideal setting for teaching social skills because of their
accessibility to children, teachers, and parents.
-
PBS
strategies can be used anywhere and often are used in schools
and at home. PBS is not a mystical and mysterious method of
dealing with behavior. In fact, PBS strategies are most successful
when implemented by those who typically work with the child.
-
The
main challenge in meeting the behavior support needs of all
school staff and students is developing and maintaining an environment
that supports the sustained use of the practices.
-
Strong
leadership, high teacher morale, and sufficient resources are
required for behavioral interventions to be efficiently and
effectively implemented and sustained.
-
Social
skills instruction should take place in schoolwide (cafeteria,
hallways, etc.) and classroom settings so that all children
can benefit. This approach reaches all children and helps to
prevent more serious problems from developing. Students with
pre-existing behavior problems can also be worked with in smaller
groups for specific interventions.
-
Culturally
relevant factors, such as ethnicity and race, influence the
student's social behavior as well as the social environment
in which those behaviors are performed.
Developing
Positive Behavior
-
Social
skills instruction should emphasize the acquisition, performance,
generalization, and maintenance of prosocial behaviors and the
reduction or elimination of competing behaviors. The goal should
be to teach the child a variety of positive behaviors.
-
Reinforcing
positive student behavior and teaching new positive behaviors,
and conducting interventions that improve the school environment
are equally effective. Interventions that combine these approaches
are most effective.
-
A
systematic, integrated approach to discipline management that
targets the entire school, classrooms, and individuals within
the school are most beneficial.
-
Students
with serious antisocial behavior will require interventions
that are specially designed, individualized, and utilize functional
assessments.
-
PBS
has been most successful when behavior difficulties are a function
of attention seeking or avoidance of a task. PBS has been less
successful when an individual's behavior is motivated by sensory
stimulation.
-
In
the absence of intervention, aggressive, defiant behavior is
likely to be maintained throughout the school years and beyond.
-
The
use of PBS interventions needs to be on going and should be
continually modified to meet the needs of the individual.
Outcomes
Related to Behavior
-
Poor
social-behavioral skills correlate highly with low academic
achievement and referral to special education services. Students
with high-incidence disabilities (e.g., Learning Disabled (LD),
Mildly Mentally Retarded (MMR), Emotionally Disturbed (ED),
and those with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) are often poorly
accepted and are frequently rejected by peers without disabilities.
Poor social skills have been found to be a strong predictor
of ED. Students classified as ED seem to demonstrate social
skills deficits
substantially lower than other mild disability groups.
-
A
review of the social skills literature showed positive effects
for social skills instruction in about 64 percent of the studies.
A significant relationship was noted between the amount of social
skills instruction and intervention outcomes. Studies showing
positive effects provided over three times as much instruction
as studies not showing effects.
-
PBS
has been shown to be effective in increasing socially desirable
behaviors for individuals with developmental disabilities, autism,
pervasive developmental disorder, and mental retardation.
-
PBS
is a successful strategy for dramatically (90% reduction) decreasing
self-injurious behavior and aggression in approximately 50 to
65% of cases.
-
Some
research is demonstrating that PBS can lead to desirable changes
in behavior across numerous settings and maintain those changes,
at least, over a period of several months.
-
PBS
is most effective when strategies are employed to change the
system or environment within which the individual functions.
|
|
| |
School
Discipline
Concerns
about student discipline have been rated by teachers and the general
public as the number one problem facing public schools. Discipline as
a school-wide issue impacts the entire range of students - those in
both general education and special education, as well as students considered
to be at-risk of school failure. Unsafe school environments that are
characterized by violence, bullying, and disruptive behaviors instill
stress and fear in students and teachers. When these conditions are
present, academic achievement, teacher morale, school cohesiveness and
community relations are negatively impacted. Schools that address discipline
problems through reactive and punitive means further create an environment
of hostility and exclusiveness. Conversely, schools that implement child-centered,
research-based behavioral approaches that develop positive behavior
and social skills can assist in preventing the onset and escalation
of hostile learning environments.
This report
synthesizes research-validated practices that support the acquisition,
performance, and maintenance of prosocial behaviors among school-aged
children and youth. The synthesis has a primary focus on research that
includes students from ages 5 - 18 with both higher incidence disabilities
(e.g., learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, mental retardation,
and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders) and more severe disabilities
(autism and pervasive developmental disorder). The information presented
here is also relevant for general education students who are at-risk
for school failure and preschool students.
back
to top
School-wide
Intervention
Techniques
and practices for decreasing discipline problems and improving student
behavior should necessarily occur at multiple levels and points of entry:
schoolwide, in the classroom, and when necessary, with a focus on individual
students. School-wide, community supported environments that support
and teach positive behaviors are critical to maintaining an optimal
learning environment. From a prevention perspective, the use of school-wide,
research-based techniques, policies, and programs to support good behavior
are critical. Beyond school-wide practices, the lack of student support
at other critical levels—in the classroom and with individual students—can
have significant implications for learning and behavioral outcomes for
the school as a whole. Support should therefore be extended to the classroom
and also to individual students for whom more intense interventions
are needed. Importantly, these individualized interventions should remain
consistent with the schoolwide and classroom practices already in place.
Two Models
for Behavioral Improvement
One of
the interventions reviewed here, Positive Behavior Support (PBS),
is a research-based approach that works to increase pro-social behaviors
by students. This improved behavior is generally accomplished by modifying
the environment in which students interact and by teaching them alternatives
to undesirable behavior. Importantly, PBS can be practiced by all
adults in the school who regularly interact with students. Social
Skills Instruction (SSI), the second intervention presented in this
review, is a research-based means of providing children with instruction
on specific strategies for performing positive behavior. When
PBS and SSI are taught within a problem-solving framework, they promote
the performance and maintenance of pro-social behaviors and the reduction
or elimination of competing, negative behaviors. The overall goal of
these approaches is to make support for positive student behavior an
ongoing, everyday component of the school environment.
Back
to top
EMSTAC
1000 Thomas Jefferson St., NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20007 |
Tel:
(202) 944-5300
TTY: 1-877-334-3499
Fax: (202) 944-5454
|
|
