This book for children (ages 8 to 14) and accompanying teacher/parent guide presents the story of two sisters, one of whom has a physical disability, as they prepare to participate in a wedding. Information on the disability is deliberately presented subtly and incidentally to encourage the reader to relate more personally and foster a deeper…

Confirmatory maximum likelihood factor analysis techniques are applied to a path analysis model. Reanalysis disconfirms the original conclusion that acceptance by White peers beneficially affects the scholastic achievement of Black children. Achievement appears to exert causal influence on popularity, but popularity does not influence achievement.…

Explores the effects of 417 regular education students' acceptance of 41 learning disabled classmates. Participants were upper elementary students enrolled in either cooperative or competitive learning classes. After eight months positive changes in peer ratings among the students occurred more frequently in the cooperative learning classes. (MJP)

Developed measures of relational aggression for young children. Found that relational aggression appears at young ages and can be distinguished from overt aggression. Preschool girls are more relationally and less overtly aggressive than boys. Relational aggression is related to social-psychological maladjustment. (Author/KB)

Describes and explains the rationale behind efforts to include children with special needs in the school community by helping to promote ordinary interactions between children with disabilities and those without. Offers information on several programs such as "Crazy Shoes and Circus Feats," a comic routine for school children. (JB)

This case study describes the development of a model peer support program during the school reintegration of an adolescent girl who sustained a traumatic brain injury. A series of meetings was held with the girl's social network to provide information, guidance, acknowledgement of friends' feelings, interventions for behavior problems, and…

How academic and ethnic considerations combine in the determination of social acceptance was assessed in a short-term longitudinal study of 721 Israeli seventh graders. Both academic standing and ethnicity influence interpersonal acceptance consistently across the school year, but academic considerations have a greater impact. (SLD)

Sociometric surveys were completed at third grade for a low-socioeconomic status, urban sample of African-American youth, and delinquency data were gathered at grades 6, 8, and 10. For boys, the additive effect of childhood peer rejection and aggression predicted more serious delinquency, whereas for girls only aggression predicted more serious…

Introduces this special journal issue by outlining previous research on early peer relationships. Explains that the articles in this issue provide a backdrop for identifying the early precursors of individual patterns of success versus failure with peers. (JS)

A study involving 15 adults with disabilities found, generally, that their elementary school experiences were negative. Those with physical disabilities experienced social isolation and unchallenging academic environments. Those with invisible disabilities felt challenged to learn in their educational environment. Negative experiences were often…

Peers of a socially rejected seventh-grade girl were rewarded for publicly reporting positive aspects of the girl's behavior. Results indicated that positive peer reports reduced negative social interactions to near zero and increased positive interactions to above 70%. In addition, social acceptance ratings of the girl increased from…

Examined three peer approval and self-worth relationship orientations among young adolescents. Focused on participants who based their self-worth on peer approval. Found such students were more likely to be distracted from schoolwork, to perceive fluctuations in classmate approval and self-worth, and to report lower levels of classmate approval…

Examined the physical and verbal peer conflicts of nine typically developing children and eight children with disabilities in an integrated preschool. Several conflict constructs were examined including goals, oppositions, strategies, outcomes, and the teacher's role in peer conflict. Results suggest the need for active teacher involvement when…

This study examined whether children's psychosocial self-evaluations mediated the relationship between general academic self-concept and self-reported depression. Self-evaluations in three psychosocial domains were assessed: General self-worth, intellectual ability, and social acceptance. Results indicated three significant findings. First, a…

This study compared the social adjustment of abused and nonabused children, ages 4 to 11 years, and examined whether sociometric status and friendship quality differentially predict children's loneliness and teacher ratings of peer behavior. Thirty-five abused children from a structured residential treatment center and 43 nonabused children from…