New Directions in Social Skills Assessment and Intervention for Elementary and Middle School Students

Social skills are important to the successful social and academic functioning of all students and play a significant role in avoiding or preventing negative responses from others. Social skills also are important aspects of effective schools. In this article, we emphasize the assessment and intervention of the academic side of social skills. That is, we examine the role that social skills play in facilitating individuals&s; learning and creation of a school environment where others can feel supported and motivated to learn. As a basis for this examination, we first review several key studies documenting interrelations among social skills and academic competence. Next, we briefly review current assessment practices focusing on rating scale methods for documenting students&s; social skills and perceptions of social support. Finally, we introduce an instructional approach called the Responsive Classroom (Charney, 1992) that has been shown to advance the development of elementary and middle school students&s; social skills and academic achievement, and result in supportive school environments for learners and teachers. We conclude with recommendations for researchers and practitioners to continue to consider the strong interrelations among social skills, academic functioning, and social support when working with all students in elementary and middle schools.