The peer acceptance and self perceived status of 16 elementary grade students with moderate, severe and profound hearing impairments enrolled in regular public school classrooms were examined. Eleven Ss comprised a longitudinal sample and were in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade at the time of the follow-up study; five Ss were in first grade.…

This study explored the effects of a model of social skills training on 4- to 5-year-old children with low peer acceptance. The cognitive-social learning model aims to improve children's social behaviors through teaching effective cognitive social strategies and providing opportunities for children to practice social behaviors and monitor them…

The effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral interpersonal problem solving (IPS) training program was evaluated with 35 poorly accepted second, third, and fourth graders. Group 1 received instruction in IPS and included only Ss low in peer acceptance; group 2 consisted of Ss low in peer acceptance who participated in IPS with same sex and grade Ss…

Although it is inevitable that siblings who live in the same family and enter the same school can hardly avoid being measured with each other by peers, teachers, and parents, data on school-aged siblings is rare. To extend the knowledge of sibling relationships, the relationships of classroom acceptance, visibility, and academic achievement…

The concurrent and predictive validity of four qualitative behavioral classes of social interaction (initiating and receiving positive and negative social interaction) was investigated using sociometric measures of peer acceptance (ratings) and friendship (nominations). Forty children (18 boys and 22 girls) selected from 14 third- and fourth-grade…

The construction and evaluation of the Perception of Social Closeness Scale (PSCS) is described. The PSCS, designed to measure classroom social distance, is modeled after the Classroom Social Distance Scale and is constructed in a manner to be used with classroom teachers. Following a description of the scale's development, items were selected to…

In this study, each of 33 middle class children from grades 3 and 4 was administered one of three experimental conditions designed to test in what ways coaching in social play skills improves the sociometric status of the children with their peers. The subjects were selected because of their low ratings on sociometric questionnaires. Condition 1…

Evaluated were the attitudes of a total of 1,678 grade school teachers, college students, high school students, and grade school students toward 20 disability group labels. Ss were administered either the General Social Distance Scale or the Perception of Social Closeness Scale. Results indicated that disabilities were accepted in the following…

This study compared the sociometric status of boys and girls and investigated the role of various social behaviors in determining the peer status of boys and girls. Participants were 835 fourth graders from eight elementary schools serving a lower- to lower middle-class population. An unlimited nominations procedure was used in the fall and…

A program in Quincy, Massachusetts, is designed to teach nonhandicapped fourth grade students to understand what it is like to have a handicap. The six 45-minute units include an introductory puppet presentation as well as units on physical disabilities, mental retardation, learning disabilities, visual handicaps, and deafness. Puppets provide…

This study compared different strategies for computing sociometric status to determine the extent to which they agree. It is argued that, if the different strategies lead to significant differences in whether a child is classified as popular or unpopular, then the technique for computing social acceptance would be an important issue in…

This naturalistic study provides a description and analysis of the processes through which 26 kindergarten students and a particular male student, called Lester, defined rules of social acceptability which stigmatized Lester as an "outsider." Findings are primarily based on 112 hours of recorded peer interaction and interviews conducted…

The paper explores the issue of mainstreaming and reviews some of the literature relevant to the educational environment of mentally handicapped children. Various viewpoints such as ambiguous efficacy results, effects on self-concept, lack of mainstream services, rejection of retarded children by normal peers, and racial segregation in special…

The presentation covers assessment and intervention of social interaction skills with emotionally disturbed children. Noting the importance of social interaction skills and yet the neglect of such skills in the literature, the paper advocates a systematic instructional approach to improve the social acceptability of emotionally disturbed children.…

Examined were teacher perceptions of the classroom behavior of socially rejected, popular, and average children at prekindergarten, primary and later elementary grade levels. Teachers' personal preferences for children who differed in sociometric status were also investigated, as were the behavioral determinants of these preferences. Subjects were…