Effects of Academic Tutoring on the Social Status of Low-Achieving, Socially Rejected Children

COIE, JOHN D., and KREHBIEL, GINA. Effects of Academic Tutoring on the Social Status of Lowachieving, Socially Rejected Children, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1984, 55, 1465-1478. 40 socially rejected, low-achieving fourth graders were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 clinical intervention conditions: academic skills training (AS), social skills training (SS), combination (AS and SS), and control. Social rejection was defined by low social preference scores on positive and negative sociometric items. Low achievement was defined by lower than 36th percentile standing on the California Achievement Tests in reading or mathematics. Achievement and sociometric scores were obtained at the end of third grade (preintervention), fourth grade (postintervention), and fifth grade (follow-up). Classroom observations were made before and after intervention. The 2 x 2 (AS x SS) analyses ofcovariance revealed that AS training produced significant improvement in reading, math, and social preference scores. All but the math progress was sustained at the time of follow-up. SS training only resulted in significant reading comprehension progress. The AS groups showed significantly reduced off-task behavior and more on-task behavior. The AS groups tended to become less disruptive. They also experienced increases in positive teacher attention. The advantages of focusing on academic competency for this subset of rejected children are discussed in terms of the behavior changes, the enduring quality of the change, and models of interaction between academic and social effectiveness.