Group+Social+Skills

__**Group Social Skills**__ Primary Author: Stacy White Secondary Author: Craig Barnhart



** "The single best predictor of adult adaptation is not school grades, and not classroom behavior, but rather, the adequacy with which the child gets along with other children." ** (Hartup, 1992)

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In addition to fostering students' academic and behavioral success, today's schools are also charged with the responsibility of facilitating healthy social development, and the instruction of habits and skills that will enable students to function effectively in everyday society. Some students enter the educational environment with well-developed interpersonal skills, including sharing, initiating conversations, and controlling negative emotions. However, other students do not acquire these skills, and may have develop negative relationships with adults and peers very early on. As such, schools serve as an ideal environment for implementing social skills interventions in group settings.

[] What are social skills? One popular model for conceptualizing the major domains of social skills is the **CARES** acronym, which characterizes prosocial behaviors as follows:
 * **C**ooperation
 * **A**ssertion
 * **R**esponsibility
 * **E**mpathy
 * **S**elf-control

Poorly developed social skills in childhood have been linked to later difficulties and the development of problem behaviors in adolescence and adulthood, including:
 * aggression
 * peer rejection
 * school drop-out
 * contact with the criminal justice system
 * mental health concerns
 * difficulty maintaining employment and relationships

It is, therefore, evident that developing appropriate social skills in childhood can not only have a positive impact on students' interpersonal relationships, but can also affect social adjustment, academic performance, and school safely and climate.

Social Emotional Learning Closely related to the CARES model of social skills is the concept of //social emotional learning,// defined as "the process through which children and adults develop the skills necessary to recognize and manage emotions, develop care and concern for others, make responsible decisions, form positive relationships, and successfully handle the demands of growing up in today's complex society" (Collaborative for Social and Emotional Learning, 2002, p.1 ). As illustrated below, social and emotional learning encompasses many underlying and interrelated skill areas that regulate students' interactions with themselves and others.

A Tiered Model


Similar to the tiered framework that has been adopted for schoolwide academic and behavioral prevention and intervention, Merrell and colleagues (2008) suggest that social and emotional skills can also be taught school-wide, using differential levels of intervention intensity for students with diverse needs.

The **universal** or **Tier 1** level of interventions foster a class-wide or school-wide environment of prosocial behavior and positive school climate, directed towards all students. Some universal interventions endorsed by Merrell and colleagues include:

//Second Step//

A series of research-based violence prevention programs developed by the Committee for Children, Second Step can be implemented with children in grades K through 9 to target social and emotional skills such as empathy, conflict resolution, and problem solving.

//Strong Kids//

Developed by researchers at the University of Oregon, the Strong Kids curriculum consists of programs for students in Kindergarden through Grade 12, and is designed to teach social-emotional skills to both typically developing students and those identified with emotional or behavioral disorders.

Interventions at the **Tier 2**, or **selected**, level are targeted towards students who have been identified as at-risk for the development of social and/or emotional problems, and continue to demonstrate signs of risk even in the presence of strong universal supports.

//First Step to Success// is identified by Merrell and colleagues as an exemplary Tier 2 program for children in the early elementary grades (K-2). The program is both school- and home-based, and utilizes a Coach who works with students in the classroom and collaborates with parents and family members.

Finally, interventions at the **Tier 3**, or **indicated**, level are reserved for students exhibiting behaviors that indicate an immediate need for intensive, individualized intervention. One example of an effective Tier 3 program is //Multisystemic Therapy//, a family- and community-based treatment program that uses a wraparound approach to identify the environmental contributors to the student's difficulties. Therapy is approached from a strength-based perspective, and family members are active participants in the development of treatment goals.

Additional Guidelines for Individualized and Small-Group Interventions
Though often implemented with preschool and early elementary populations, group-based social skills interventions have been used with students of all ages to target behaviors including off-task behavior and problems with self-regulation. Group-based social skills interventions can be used to target skills ranging from the simple (i.e., getting someone’s attention) to the more complex (i.e., social problem-solving). Using task analysis, skills can be broken down into discrete steps and taught to students using modalities including modeling, role playing and direct instruction.

Some general guidelines for social skills instruction with young children are outlined in the following presentation, prepared by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning:

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As stated by Elliot, Roach, & Beddow (2008), "the selection of social skills interventions rests heavily on the classification of social skills difficulties as resulting from either deficits in __response acquisition__ (can't do) or __response performance__ (won't do)." Therefore, the specific type of deficit demonstrated by the student, as determined by outcome of assessment, will guide the selection of the appropriate intervention. Conceptualized by Gresham & Elliot (1990), the following schema provides a framework for linking social skills problems to suitable intervention techniques.


 * =  ||= No interfering problem behaviors ||= Interfering problem behaviors ||
 * Social Skills Acquisition Deficits || * Direct instruction
 * Modeling
 * Behavioral rehearsal coaching || * Modeling
 * Coaching
 * Differential Reinforcement of a Low rate of Response (DRL)
 * Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO)
 * Reductive procedures to decrease interfering problem behaviors ||
 * Social Skills Performance Deficits || * Operant methods to manipulate antecedent or consequent conditions to increase the rate of existing behaviors || * Operant methods to manipulate antecedent or consequent conditions to increase the rate of existing prosocial behaviors
 * Differential reinforcement of a Low rate of response (DRLs)
 * Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO)
 * Reductive procedures to decrease interfering problem behaviors ||
 * Social Skills Strengths || * Reinforcement procedures to maintain desired social behavior
 * Use student as a model for other students || * Reinforcement procedures to maintain desired social behavior
 * Reductive procedures to decrease interfering problem behaviors ||

Social Skills Intervention with Students with Disabilities
Oftentimes, group social skills programs are implemented with students with disabilities. The research literature is replete with studies of social skills interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder; however, social skills programs have also been implemented with students with other disabilities such as brain injury, emotional disability, intellectual disability and visual impairment. When working with students with disabilities, important preliminary considerations must be taken into account to determine the student's readiness for social skills intervention. The following video outlines some indicators of student readiness:

media type="youtube" key="GfRz3s2gKKA" height="390" width="480" align="center"

**Additional Intervention Ideas for Students with Disabilities**

Digital Stories Targeting Social Skills for Children With Disabilities: Multidimensional Learning

@http://isc.sagepub.com/content/43/3/168.full.pdf+html

Top 6 Tips to Teach Social Skills and Help Kids Make Friends Teaching social skills and making friends may not be the first thing we think about when planning our children's individual education programs. In the middle of school IEP committee meetings, academics issues are at the forefront and not teaching social skills. Whether or not teaching social skills is ultimately included in an Individual Education Program, there are some things that can be done to help children with learning disabilities build the valuable social skills and relationships that are so important to their self-esteem and sense of belonging.

1. Teaching Social Skills in Extra-Curricular Activities 2. Organized Activities Help Teach Social Skills and How to Make Friends 3. Teaching Social Skills and Building Friendships in Easy-to-Manage Steps 4. Teaching Social Skills and Making Friends Takes Practice Role Play Social Situations to Teach Social Skills 5. Game and Sportsmanship can Teach Social Skills in Advance 6. Schedule Fun Time to Make Social Skills and Making Friends a Priority @http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/instructionalmaterials/tp/tchkdssocskills.htm

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But Does Social Skills Intervention Work? Although social skills interventions typically result in positive short-term outcomes for students, a key concern for interventionists is that treatment effects are not always maintained over time or generalized to new contexts. However, several suggestions have been offered to increase the likelihood that students will continue to apply what they have learned during social skills interventions.


 * 1) Target behaviors that will be maintained in the natural environment
 * 2) Train "loosely," across different behaviors, settings and persons; and using various reinforcers
 * 3) Systematically withdraw/fade intervention procedures to approximate the natural environment
 * 4) Reinforce behavior change when it occurs in new and appropriate settings
 * 5) Include peers in social skills training
 * 6) Provide booster sessions after the intervention has ended

Resources

[|عروض بنده, عروض العثيم , عروض كارفور , عروض الدانوب , عروض جرير , عروض اكسترا] National Association of School Psychologists: Fact Sheet on Social Emotional Learning @http://www.nasponline.org/resources/factsheets/socialskills_fs.aspx

Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children (TACSEI)

Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning at Vanderbilt University

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