Community colleges have a history of being capable of adapting to change, and the current world of competing budget priorities, fast-changing technology, and postsecondary competition challenges these colleges as never before. The result is a need for strong leadership across all levels of administration, especially at the department chair level…

Due to their work engaging with diverse people representing varied institutions and community settings and addressing diverse issues and topics, community engagement professionals (CEPs) must serve as boundary spanners (Child & Faulkner, 1998; Janke, 2009) across differences. Quite often, interpersonal, organizational, cultural, and other…

Social competency is a set of skills that provide children with the tools and abilities to successfully navigate the world around them. "Developing Social Competency in Young Children" looks at each of the seven Cs of social competence--communication, community building, coping, confidence, conflict resolution, control, and curiosity.…

The Widget design task is an in-class, experiential exercise that affords students the opportunity to develop interpersonal skills in group negotiation. Students engage in new product design in committees of two dyads where one dyad represents Consumer Research and the other represents Strategic Management. Task information creates different…

This action research study (ARS) describes the effectiveness of small group social skills lessons with elementary students, using "Too Good for Violence: A Curriculum for Non-violent Living" by the Mendez Foundation. The school counselor and school social worker taught the curriculum in a structured small group of 4th grade students in 8…

A psychoeducational model for improving couple communication is proposed. An important goal in couples counseling is to assist couples in resolving communication conflicts. The proposed communication model helps to establish a therapeutic environment that encourages insight, therapeutic alliance formation, catharsis, self-disclosure, symptom…

Couples can improve their marriages by implementing relationship building skills they learn while participating in a marriage education program. This study addresses how marriages improved as a result of participating in the marriage education program, Married and Loving It![R] and what specific components of the learning experience facilitated…

A four-style behavior questionnaire is used as an assessment instrument to help in predicting trainees' behavior. It is argued that the four-style behavior theory has been a helpful training tool and it can be used with measurable success in a number of subject areas: interpersonal communication, performance appraisal, and conflict resolution.…

This training manual presents concepts and skills that students can be taught to successfully address social, economic, and ethical issues both inside and outside of school. The manual is intended as a comprehensive guide for effective service learning and peer helper programs; the concepts and skills provided here are designed to apply human…

The breakdown in parent/adolescent relationships, along with the increase in disruptive behaviors by adolescents, has become a major concern of parents and practitioners. The goal of this practicum is to review the literature on parent/adolescent conflicts and offer a conflict resolution program intended to enhance the coping skills of parents.…

This student activity book includes worksheets that secondary students with and without disabilities can use to complete each activity in the "Steps to Self-Determination" curriculum. The program is meant to assist students in learning more about themselves and developing the skills they need to achieve their goals, getting support from family and…

The "Self-Determination Knowledge Scale" (SDKS) Form A and Form B are designed as a pretest and posttest for the "Steps to Self-Determination" curriculum. The program is meant to assist students, with and without disabilities, to learn more about themselves and develop skills to achieve their goals, get support from family and friends, and learn…

In 1989, President George Bush met with the nation's governors and the foundation was laid for the "Goals 2000: Educate America Act" (signed into law March 1994). The act provides funds to underwrite states' development and implementation of content and performance standards and associated assessment methodologies directed toward helping…

Promoting the development of positive interpersonal communication skills has been identified as one of the National Health Education Standards. The propensity to feel shame has been linked to ineffective conflict resolution and is a key component in the development of certain destructive behavioral patterns. This study sought to determine the…

This curriculum guide is focused on helping secondary students with and without disabilities gain knowledge and skills that will allow them to increase their ability to achieve their goals in environments with varying levels of receptivity to the concept of self-determination. The curriculum is designed to be delivered over the course of one…