Schools need effective, generalizable, and socially valid social skills interventions to better support the social inclusion and peer relationships of their students on the autism spectrum. We evaluated a Pivotal Response Treatment-based, naturalistic social skills intervention implemented daily by school personnel in reverse inclusion school…

Young children's social and emotional skills (SE skills) are highly predictive of the ease with which they transition to kindergarten as well as their success in the K-12 school system and in life after graduation (Belfield et al., 2015; Blair, 2002; Denham, 2006; Denham et al., 2014; Graziano et al., 2007; Jones et al., 2017; Moffitt et al.,…

In order to prevent iatrogenic effects associated with interventions that aggregate youth with behavior problems and to promote the integration of these youth into normative peer groups, a comprehensive evidence-based prevention program, Early Risers "Skills for Success" (August et al. in Preventing substance abuse: science-based…

This study examined the impact of a commonly adopted elementary universal social-emotional learning program, Second Step, on student social-emotional and academic outcomes following 2 years of implementation. The cluster-randomized wait-list control trial included 61 schools, 321 teachers, and 8,941 early elementary students across 2 states, with…

The purpose of this randomized control group study was to examine the effects of a peer network intervention that included peer mediation and direct instruction for Kindergarten and First-grade children with autism spectrum disorders. Trained school staff members provided direct instruction for 56 children in the intervention group, and 39…

This study examined the effectiveness, generalization, and maintenance of a multi-element intervention consisting of brief direct instruction social skill lessons, a prompting procedure, and a fading procedure to promote social engagement in an integrated lunchroom and playground setting for three elementary age students with developmental…

Transactional relations between children's positive social interaction skills, school engagement, and academic achievement were examined using a longitudinal panel model across the transition from preschool to first grade. Participants were Head Start children (N = 241; 49% girls, M age = 53 months, range 45-60); 78% were Mexican/Mexican-American;…

The development of social competence for children is critical to their ability to navigate social decision making processes; however, children with complex disabilities have many difficulties in developing social competence. In an educational environment, the optimal setting for a child to develop social competence is within the inclusive…

Over the past decade, several state and federal policies have directed schools to mainstream English Language Learner (ELL) students into English-only instruction classrooms. While there is mixed evidence on the effects of these immersion policies on the ELL students, research examining potential peer effects on their non-ELL classmates is…

In this essay, we explain the development, implementation, and preliminary findings of an innovative writing program that drew upon a peer collaborative model and a community literacy perspective. Developed as an after school program, this project represented a community-university partnership designed to provide an enjoyable forum for teaching…

A model for teaching children skills to strengthen emotional self-regulation is introduced, informed by the developmental concept of scaffolding. Adult modeling/instruction, role-play and in vivo coaching are tailored to children's level of understanding and skill to promote use of skills in real life contexts. Two-hundred twenty-six…

New Jersey After 3 (NJ After 3) is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand and improve afterschool opportunities for New Jersey's youth. Using both public and private resources, it supports a network of youth-service providers that deliver afterschool services based on NJ After 3's program model. Under an agreement with NJ…

This article describes a replication of the "First Step to Success" program (Walker, Stiller, Severson, & Golly, 1998) with at-risk students in the first and second grade to determine program effectiveness in decreasing inappropriate behaviors and increasing academic engagement time. This expands the "First Step to…