Suchergebnisse

AbstractThis study represents the first systematic attempt to examine a theory‐based program designed to reduce girls' social aggression and increase positive leadership among peers. Fifth‐grade girls from six public schools were randomly assigned within classrooms to the social aggression prevention program (SAPP) and the comparison reading clubs. A school‐based small group program, the SAPP was demonstrated to have a positive impact for all students in the domain of social problem solving. For students with high baseline social problems, teachers reported positive changes in SAPP participants' prosocial behavior. In addition, the content of the program was critical: reading club participants improved their reading achievement at greater rates than SAPP participants. Targeting female students in a program focused on resolving social conflicts from multiple perspectives may be an important addition to broader, multilevel initiatives to prevent aggression and promote leadership in schools.

AbstractThis study examines the association between classroom characteristics and teacher–student agreement in perceptions of students' classroom peer networks. Social network, peer nomination, and observational data were collected from a sample of second through fourth grade teachers (N = 33) and students (N = 669) in 33 classrooms across five high‐poverty urban schools. Results demonstrate that variation in teacher–student agreement on the structure of students' peer networks can be explained, in part, by developmental factors and classroom characteristics. Developmental increases in network density partially mediated the positive relationship between grade level and teacher–student agreement. Larger class sizes and higher levels of normative aggressive behavior resulted in lower levels of teacher–student agreement. Teachers' levels of classroom organization had mixed influences, with behavior management negatively predicting agreement, and productivity positively predicting agreement. These results underscore the importance of the classroom context in shaping teacher and student perceptions of peer networks.

AbstractThis study examines the associations among cross‐linguistic social ties, individual‐level social network and demographic characteristics, and academic and social‐emotional outcomes in a sample of third to eighth grade Latine and Black youth attending urban afterschool programs. Guided by social capital and social learning perspectives, this study is one of the first to explore the associations of social ties among Spanish‐speaking bilingual youth and native English‐speakers in the afterschool setting. We found that youth who have more ties in the classroom social network have more cross‐linguistic connections than would be expected given the afterschool classroom composition. Moreover, having more cross‐linguistic ties at the start of the year was associated with higher academic and social self‐concept in the spring, adjusting for baseline skills and other covariates. These findings suggest that cross‐linguistic ties in the afterschool setting may contribute to positive social and developmental outcomes in late childhood and early adolescence.