Abstract
Establishing a positive peer climate in the elementary school classroom is an important goal for educators. This pilot study examined if children’s liking and disliking of their classroom peers are predicted by teachers’ use of practices designed to address child disruptive behaviors that are off-putting to peers, and practices designed to enhance peer inclusivity. Whereas teacher practices to foster good peer relationships are useful for all students, they are particularly important for those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, as these children are often poorly regarded by classmates. Thus, we explored the moderating effect of child ADHD symptom status. Participants were 194 children (grades K-4) in the classrooms of 12 teachers. The teachers were helping our study team revise the Making Socially Accepting Inclusive Classrooms (MOSAIC) program for use in general education classrooms. The MOSAIC program contains a set of teacher strategies to encourage students’ increased liking and decreased disliking of one another, which was measured by sociometric ratings. Teachers’ use of MOSAIC strategies was observed and self-reported over a school year. Results indicated that teacher practices designed to improve children’s classroom behaviors, as well as practices that encouraged peers to be more inclusive, each predicted children receiving better sociometric ratings at the end of the year after accounting for ratings at the beginning of the year. Some practices appeared uniquely efficacious for children with elevated ADHD symptoms, whereas others were useful for all children but had accentuated benefits for typical children. Implications for practitioners are discussed.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by funding from the Institute of Education Sciences (Goal 2) (Grant No. R324A160053). We would like to thank the children and teachers who participated in this study, and the graduate and undergraduate students in the Mikami and Owens laboratories who assisted with data collection.
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Mikami, A.Y., Owens, J.S., Hudec, K.L. et al. Classroom Strategies Designed to Reduce Child Problem Behavior and Increase Peer Inclusiveness: Does Teacher Use Predict Students’ Sociometric Ratings?. School Mental Health 12, 250–264 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-019-09352-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-019-09352-y