1. Small Group Social Skill Instruction as a Tier 2 Intervention: Big Ideas and Lessons Learned
Tim Lewis, Danielle Starkey, Barbara Mitchell
University of Missouri
Patti Pazdera
Community Elementary School

2. Designing School-Wide Systems for Student Success
Academic Systems
Behavioral Systems
Intensive, Individual Interventions
Individual Students
Assessment-based
High Intensity
Intensive, Individual Interventions
Individual Students
Assessment-based
Intense, durable procedures
1-5%
1-5%
Targeted Group Interventions
Some students (at-risk)
High efficiency
Rapid response
5-10%
5-10%
Targeted Group Interventions
Some students (at-risk)
High efficiency
Rapid response
Universal Interventions
All students
Preventive, proactive
80-90%
Universal Interventions
All settings, all students
Preventive, proactive
80-90%

3. Universal Matrix of school-wide expectations across settings
List of problems = replacements
“Scope and sequence” of social skills
Simple lessons with activities
Year long teaching schedule
Stages of Learning

4. Benton I am…. All Settings Classroom Hallways Cafeteria Bathrooms
Playground
Assemblies
Safe
Keep bodies calm in line
Report any problems
Ask permission to leave any setting
Maintain personal space
Walk
Stay to the right on stairs
Banisters are for hands
Push in chairs
Place trash in trash can
Wash hands with soap and water
Keep water in the sink
One person per stall
Use equipment for intended purpose
Wood chips are for the ground
Participate in school approved games only
Stay in approved areas
Keep body to self
Enter and exit gym in an orderly manner
Respect-
ful
Treat others the way you want to be treated
Be an active listener
Follow adult direction(s)
Use polite language
Help keep the school orderly
Be honest
Take care of yourself
Walk quietly so others can continue learning
Eat only your food
Use a peaceful voice
Allow for privacy of others
Clean up after self
Line up at first signal
Invite others who want to join in
Enter and exit building peacefully
Share materials
Applaud appropriately to show appreciation
A Learner
Be an active participant
Give full effort
Be a team player
Do your job
Be a risk taker
Be prepared
Make good choices
Return to class promptly
Use proper manners
Leave when adult excuses
Follow bathroom procedures
Be a problem solver
Learn new games and activities
Raise your hand to share
Keep comments and questions on topic

5. Small Group
Students displaying social skill challenges as primary concern
Set of skills targeting common concerns
Set of clear generalization strategies for classroom teachers to implement

6. Individual Social skill deficits / performance problem
Guided by functional behavioral assessment
Replacement “social skill” meets need
Environment supports use of new skill
High rates of reinforcement
New skill accesses previous function of problem behavior

7. Social Skill Instruction
Definitions
Functional Perspective
Best Practices

8. Definition- Social Competence
“Social competence represents an evaluative term based on judgments (given certain criteria) that a person has performed a task adequately. These judgments may be based on opinions of significant others (e.g., parents, teachers), comparisons to explicit criteria (e.g., number of social tasks correctly performed in relation to some criterion), or comparisons to some normative sample.” (Gresham, 1986, p. 146)

9. Definition -Social Skills
Social skills are defined as "those behaviors which, within a given situation, predict important social outcomes" (Gresham, 1986, p. 5).
a) social skills are simply one facet of an overall construct of social competence – if taught in isolation you will never reach the larger objective of improved social functioning, b) they are linked to the environment in which they occur, and c) targeted skills should reflect the larger school set of behavioral expectations

10. Functional Perspective
“Inappropriate” social skills meet student need and until we teach an “appropriate” skill and alter the environment, they will continue to use the inappropriate

12. Best Practices

13. Steps in Social Skill Instruction
Assessment
Planning
Lesson Development
Teaching
Generalization

14. Assessment: Student Identification (Data, System)
Use of existing data / assessment sources such as ODR, visits to discipline room, teacher referral, number of “buddy room” visits

15. Assessment: Skill Selection (Data)
Teacher Ratings
Ratings by others
Direct Observation
Importance of discussing cultural, language, and other factors that impact perceptions of “appropriate” social skills

16. Assessment: Teacher Ratings
Social Skill Improvement System (SSIS) Elliott & Gresham. Pearson (ages 3-18)
Social skills acquisition deficits
No interfering problem behavior
Social skills performance deficits
Interfering problem behavior
Social skills strengths

17. Assessment: Direct Observation
Outcomes:
Needed social skills
Problem type
skill deficiency
performance problem
maintenance / generalization problems
Examples for instruction and tests

18. Planning Requirements (practices, systems)
Curriculum / Lesson Plans
Adapt/adopt
Group procedures
Generalization strategies

19. Lesson Components (practices)
rule for when to use the skill
set of useful skill variations
teach the rule (TELL)
demonstrate the skill (SHOW)
students practice the skill (PRACTICE)
review and test the skill (PRACTICE)
assign homework (PRACTICE)
Teaching social skills follows the same format as teaching academic skills

20. Lesson Plans: Teach (tell)
definition of essential rule
description of skill components and variations

21. Lesson Plans: Demonstrate (show)
model / demonstrate the skill
select competent and respected students and adults
only the teacher models incorrect responses
select examples from natural context
at least two positive demonstrations of each example

22. Lesson Plans: Practice
role play activities
focus on relevant features
have student "think aloud"
teacher can provide coaching during lesson
involve all members of the group by assigning tasks / questions
have student self evaluate after activity

23. Lesson Plans: Review & Test More Practice
review essential rule for the day
test on untrained examples through role plays
test each student as often as possible (daily)
request demonstration of skill whenever possible (verbally or role play)
lesson homework

24. Community Elementary School

25. MO SW-PBS Tier 2
Systematic process for identifying students who need additional support
Selecting interventions that match student need
Check-In, Check-Out
Social Skills Instructional Groups
Check & Connect
Monitoring student progress
Evaluating outcomes and making decisions

26. Community R-VI Elementary
Implementing SW-PBS for 5+ years
Started Tier 2 in , data indicated:
Benchmarks of Quality (BoQ): 92%
Self-Assessment Survey:
Schoolwide: 86% In Place
Non-Classroom: 87% In Place
Classroom: 83% In Place
Piloted Social Skills to assess contextual fit

27. Getting Started Selected classroom teacher to participate
Teacher nominated students likely to benefit
Teacher completed the Social Skills Improvement Systems (SSIS) Rating Scale to identify social skill deficits
Subscales
Social Skills
Problem Behaviors
Academic Competence
Completion Time: minutes

28. Identifying Lesson Plans
Used assessment results to identify skill deficits
Selected replacement skills from SSIS Manual
School Counselor & Classroom Teacher together prioritized skills based on need

29. Group Logistics 3 student participated Selected time/location to meet
2 times per week, minutes each
School Counselor provided instruction
Classroom Teacher prompted use of skills

30. Group Procedures One skill per week Tell, Show, Practice
Video vignettes
Role playing/rehearsal
Example, non-example, example

31. Promote Generalization
Used Daily Progress Report format for monitoring student progress
Skills to be taught were listed
Skills to be monitored were highlighted
Student given feedback at the end of each day
Data collected and graphed

32. Maintenance Tootling (opposite of tattling) Classwide intervention
All students in the class are taught to look for demonstrations or examples of skills that were taught in the group
Students are instructed to record examples and submit them
Classwide goals set on number of tootles

33. Outcomes Reviewed DPR data Conducted post-assessments using SSIS
Informal teacher & parent perceptions

34. Lessons Learned
Found the SSIS Rating Checklist to be labor and time intensive. Computer software is better.
Mid-Missouri winter weather is not always your friend.
Need to do follow-up sessions upon the completion of the social skill group.
Stay positive during daily feedback with students.

35. Lessons Learned Use a visual to remind students of their weekly skill.
Give small and quick prompts throughout the day.
Tootling is FANTASTIC! Great reinforcement tool once group is complete.

36. Next Steps
Created our own social skill rating checklist to use to create social skill groups.
Will choose students who are meeting data decision rules and would benefit from social skill instruction.
Will continue to use the Social Skill DPR.
Do a series of follow-up sessions upon completion so students can self-assess and review the skills taught.

37. Next Steps
Will create a formal survey of intervention effectiveness for teachers and parents.
Monitoring Jack, Johnny, and Susie’s progress in third grade.
Starting a social skill group using the SSIS program next week! Two Kindergarten and two first grade students will be the focus.