Preventing SED Through Parent—Teacher Action Research and Social Skills Instruction

Abstract

First-year outcomes are reported for first-grade children at risk for SED assigned to Parent-Teacher Action Research (PTAR) teams and a matched control group in the same classrooms. Children in both groups, along with their classmates, received social skills instruction from their first-grade teachers. Cohort 1 included 18 pairs of first graders ( n = 36) identified at risk for SED by kindergarten teachers. Children were matched on age, gender, kindergarten teachers' nominations as internalizers versus externalizers, and Total Problems scores on the Teacher's Report Form. In their first-grade year, both groups showed decreases in problems and increases in social skills from fall to spring assessments, based on standardized teacher and parent rating scales. Compared to their matched counterparts, children who had PTAR teams showed greater reductions in teacher-rated externalizing aggressive and delinquent behavior and social problems, and independently observed problems in the classroom and at recess. The PTAR children also showed greater improvements in on-task behavior than those in the control group. Results demonstrate beneficial effects of PTAR, combined with whole-class social skills instruction, for children at risk for SED.