Education Commons^™

Behavioral And Academic Effects Of Skillstreaming The Adolescent For At-Risk Middle School Students, Amy Evans, Candice Stefanou

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

Research links social skills deficits with academic failure. This study investigated whether socials skills training leads to improved social skills and academic achievement. Six middle school students, considered behaviorally at-risk, participated in a six-week social skills training intervention using Skillstreaming the Adolescent (Goldstein, McGinnis, Sprafkin, Gershaw, & Klein, 1997). Teacher and self-report measures and grades were collected at pre-intervention, mid, and end of intervention. Results showed significant differences in teacher ratings of the students’ cooperation but no achievement improvements. This study provides evidence that brief, targeted interventions may have positive effects on some aspects of social skills for at-risk students.