Teaching Social Skills free essay sample

Running head: Best Practices in Adaptive Behavior: Teaching Social Behavior Skills Best Practices in Adaptive Behavior: Teaching Social Behavior Skills in the Classroom to Improve Peer Relationships and Academic Achievement Kyna D. Monroe, M. Ed. Capella University Abstract This paper delves into utilizing best practices in adaptive behavior through social skills training. This study shows that teaching social skills in the classrooms plays a very important role in students academic performance and peer interactions. Implications foresee that social skills training will heighten the classroom ecology thereby minimizing negative student interactive behaviors and failure. to Improve Peer Relationships and Academic Achievement School psychologists have devoted almost exclusive attention to the assessment of and intervention recommendations for cognitive, perceptual-motor, and academic achievement difficulties of students. Studies addressing behaviors necessary for success in the classroom environment have focused upon variables such as overall chool climate (Wolf, 2001) and individual student characteristics (Gresham, 1990). A students characteristics is an important variable in a students environment to enhance his chances for success because some students succeed in a given situation while others do not, and many behavior characteristics can be modified by educating students in specific skill areas. We will write a custom essay sample on Teaching Social Skills or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Outcomes in this research study indicate that specific behavioral competencies such as academic achievement and peer interactions are clearly linked to social skills training lessons taught to students. For this reason, it is believed that social skills is an intricate component to the classroom curriculum and is an important focus in school settings. The definition of social skills that seems to make the most sense has been termed by Gresham (1990) as the social validity definition. According to this definition social skills are situational specific behaviors that predict important social outcomes for children and youth. In school settings, important social outcomes include, but are not limited to: peer acceptance, academic achievement, self acceptance, and school djustment. There are several strong arguments for developing socially competent behaviors in students. First, social skills and peer acceptance have been related to long term adjustment outcomes for children and youth. Achenbach, McConaughy, and Howell (2007) comprehensively reviewed the literature that used longitudinal and follow back studies and found that peer relationship difficulties in elementary school predicted long term maladjusted outcomes such as dropping out of school, Juvenile delinquency, adult criminal behavior, and psychopathology in