Teaching Social Skills in Classrooms for Behaviorally Disordered Students

Selected procedures of instruction from Social Skills in the Classroom (Stephens, 1978) were applied to class-related social behaviors of Elementary and Intermediate level Behavior Disordered students. Four classroom teachers identified two social behaviors of one student in each of their classrooms using the categories and operational definitions included in this curriculum. Data for seven behaviors were collected and analyzed. Teachers were trained to define and measure target behaviors during an in-service workshop and in-classroom training. Social modeling, contracting, and social reinforcement were the teaching strategies employed as specified in Stephens' curriculum. Improvement occurred in all targeted behaviors. Functional relationships between teaching strategies and changes in the targeted behavior were established in four of the targeted behaviors.