Social skills training (SST) programs can be an effective means of improving children's social skills and behavior. However, significant time, financial, and opportunity barriers limit the number of children who can benefit from in-person SST programs. In this study, we conducted an initial evaluation of the efficacy of Zoo U, an interactive online game for elementary-age children that translates evidence-based social emotional learning strategies into tailored social problem-solving scenes in a virtual world. Children were randomly assigned to either treatment (n = 23) or wait-list control (n = 24) and were compared on parent-report of their social and behavioral adjustment, as well as self-report of social self-efficacy, social satisfaction, and social skill literacy. Following participation in the Zoo U game-based SST program, the treatment group showed enhanced social skills in the areas of impulse control, emotion regulation, and social initiation, as well as more adaptive social behavior compared to the control group. Children in the treatment group also reported significant improvements in their feelings of social self-efficacy and social satisfaction, as well as higher social literacy at post-intervention compared to children in the control condition. This study provides preliminary evidence that a game-based approach to SST can be an effective method for improving children's social skills and enhancing social knowledge, functioning, and self-confidence. Discussion focuses on the need for further investigation to establish the role that game-based SST can play in supporting children's social growth and wellbeing.

Diversification trends of U.S. schools make clear the need for evidence-based practices supporting ethnically–racially diverse students. Yet, there are significant hindrances to readily identifying and summarizing findings generated from diverse classroom contexts. The current meta-analytic review was designed to address this gap in the classroom management literature. This review includes single-case design studies conducted in majority ethnic–racial minority classrooms (≥50%) that included a direct comparison of baseline to treatment for behavior management strategies implemented at the whole class level. A total of 22 studies spanning from 1973 to 2014 met eligibility criteria for this review, including 838 students and 46 K−12 classrooms. Results indicate that classwide management approaches applied in diverse classrooms are heavily behavioral and highly effective in improving student behavior (Mτ = |.92|, MHedges’s g = 2.52). Overall, interventions that included an individual or group contingency consistently demonstrated large effects and were the most frequently used strategies. However, other interventions displayed comparably high results but were less frequently studied. Findings further revealed significant gaps in the quality and diversity of research completed to date. Specifically, half of the studies did not include cases that met What Works Clearinghouse design standards for demonstrating methodological rigor. There were also few studies that included minority populations other than African American, and there was limited variation in educational settings and intervention designs. Of some concern was the heightened frequency of response cost procedures included in interventions for diverse classrooms, possibly running counter to recommendations that emphasize reinforcement-based strategies.

This pilot study explored provider use of an online system, Centervention, to support the delivery of empirically supported school-based mental health interventions (ESIs); and associations between components of this system [resources, training, technical assistance (TA), feedback loops], implementation indicators, and student outcomes. Multilevel modeling data were collected from 39 providers implementing ESIs with 758 students. Training, TA, and progress monitoring predicted ESI adherence, and perceived value of resources and TA influenced student responsiveness. Greater adherence was predictive of better socio-emotional outcomes. Interviews with 15 providers illuminated how they used these four Centervention support strategies. Implications for digital implementation support research are discussed.

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Within the realm of school-based interventions, implementation integrity is important for practical, legal, and ethical purposes. Unfortunately, evidence suggests that proper monitoring of implementation integrity is often absent from both research and practice. School psychology practitioners and researchers have reported that a major barrier to monitoring integrity is a lack of procedural guidance, and currently there is little research that has examined the psychometric reliability of monitoring procedures and materials. Therefore, the purpose of this two-part study was to examine (a) the extent to which relatively novice educators could self-learn and successfully use an implementation integrity monitoring system designed to evaluate a structured reading intervention program, and (b) the inter-observer reliability of two individuals using the system to evaluate the same interventionist. Overall findings suggested that it is feasible for most individuals to learn the implementation integrity monitoring system (and associated materials) and the system can be used reliably across multiple observers. Implications of these findings are discussed, including how the procedures and materials might be adapted for other intervention programs to assist researchers and practitioners with monitoring implementation integrity. C