Enhancing social relationships and adjusting behavior in the israeli classroom

A teacher-led classroom intervention aimed at affecting social relationships in diverse classrooms was studied at both the elementary- and secondary-school levels. Effects were examined separately for regular and special needs students. Results of the repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the class-level analyses indicated no significant differences for the elementary-level regular students but did indicate significant gains in adjusting behavior for elementary-level special needs students. On the other hand, results for the secondary-level students indicated progress in social acceptance for both regular and special needs students. No gains were observed in adjusting behavior for special needs students. Results of the ANOVA on the student-level analyses were more salient. The importance of this study is twofold: (a) It reflects some change in social relationships, especially in the social inclusion of special needs adolescents in regular classrooms, and (b) it indicates change in the behavior of special needs elementary-level students. These results were obtained by trained teachers (as opposed to mental health professionals), suggesting that teachers can make a difference in classroom relationships and deal more effectively with growing diversity in the classroom.