EDUCATION AND TREATMENT OF CHILDREN - Vol. 37 - No. 1 - The Iterative Development and Initial Evaluation of We Have Skills!

Oct 15, 2026

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Development and initial evaluation of We Have Skills! (WHS), a video-based social skills instructional program for early elementary students, are examined. Program components were created to be scientifically grounded, practical for elementary teachers, and designed to improve students’ social skills. Feasibility and social validity results show teachers found WHS easy to implement and highly recommended it. An initial efficacy study across 70 randomly assigned classrooms found teachers in WHS intervention classrooms reported significantly higher self-efficacy, and students showed significantly higher teacher-rated social skills at posttest versus controls.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Program development and design

Feasibility and social validity

Initial efficacy evaluation

Implications and limitations

EDUCATION AND TREATMENT OF CHILDREN Vol. 37, No. 1, 2014 The Iterative Development and Initial Evaluation of We Have Skills!, an Innovative Approach to Teaching Social Skills to Elementary Students Brion Marquez Jessie Marquez Claudia G. Vincent Jordan Pennefather Jeffrey R. Sprague IRIS Educational Media Keith Smolkowski Oregon Research Institute Pamela Yeaton IRIS Educational Media Abstract We describe the development and initial evaluation of the efficacy of We Have Skills! (WHS), a video-based social skills instructional program for early elementary school students. The components of WHS were designed to be scientifically sound, maximally useful to elementary school teachers, and effective in increasing students’ social skills. Results from feasibility and social validity testing showed that teachers felt the program was easy to implement and highly recommended its use. The initial efficacy evaluation of WHS conducted with 70 classrooms randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions showed that teachers in the intervention group scored significantly higher on self-efficacy than teachers in the control group. Students in the intervention classrooms were rated significantly higher on key social skills by their teachers at posttest compared to students in the control group. Implications for further testing of WHS are discussed, along with study limitations and recommendations for future research and practice. Correspondence to Claudia Vincent, IRIS Educational Media, 258 East 10th Avenue, Eugene OR, 97401; [e-mail: CVincent@irised.com](e-mail: CVincent@irised.com). This study was made possible by a grant funded by the Institute on Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education (R324A080150) . Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Education, and no official endorsement by the Department should be inferred. Pages 137–161 138 MARQEUZ, et al. M any students enter elementary school lacking basic social skills necessary to benefit from academic instruction (Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Kupersmidt, Bryant, & Willoughby, 2000; Lopez, Tarullo, Forness, & Boyce, 2000; Ryan, Fauth, & Brooks-Gunn, 2006; Walker et al., 1998) . Specific social skills, such as listening, staying on task, and following teacher instructions are associated with academic success (Alexander, Entwisle, & Dauber, 1994; Algozzine, Wang, & Violette, 2011; Ervin, Schaughency, Goodman, McGlinchey, & Matthews, 2006; Horner et al., 2009; McIntosh, 2005; McIntosh, Horner, Chard, Boland & Good, 2006; Scott & Barrett, 2004; Wang & Algozzine, 2011) . Peer related social skills are also associated with academic success and delayed onset of harmful behaviors such as drug and alcohol use in later grades (Eddy, Reid, & Curry, 2002) . Because of this association, explicitly teaching social skills to elementary students is strongly recommended (Cartledge & Milburn, 1978; Gresham, 2004; Walker, Ramsey, & Gresham, 2004) . Not only are social skills essential for students to benefit from classroom instruction, they are critical for long-term life success (Elias, 2011) . Students who engage in appropriate behaviors tend to have positive peer relationships (Ladd, 1999; Wentzel, Baker, & Russell, 2009) and better relationships with their teachers ultimately resulting in better academic outcomes (Kim, Anderson, & Bashaw, 1968; Malecki & Elliott, 2002; McClelland, Morrison, & Holmes, 2000; Swift & Spivack, 1969; Zins, Weissbert, Wang, & Walberg, 2004) . Not surprisingly, students engaging in appropriate behavior receive more praise, more opportunities to respond, and less criticism (Good & Brophy, 1972) . Students who receive more positive teacher attention outperform their peers who receive negative teacher attention (Baker, 2006) . Ironically, with increasing pressure to prepare students to perform well on high stakes academic tests, teachers often find little time to teach students the social

FAQs

What is We Have Skills! (WHS) designed to do?

WHS is a video-based program that teaches social skills to early elementary students to increase students’ social skills. Its components were designed to be scientifically sound and useful for elementary teachers.

How was WHS initially evaluated?

The initial evaluation included feasibility and social validity testing, and an efficacy study conducted with 70 classrooms randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions.

What results were found in the initial efficacy study?

Teachers in the intervention group scored significantly higher on self-efficacy than teachers in the control group, and students in intervention classrooms were rated significantly higher on key social skills at posttest.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dhado