The remediation of elementary students' low social status through a teacher-centered consultation program

Abstract

This study compared the effects of four classroom-based indirect teacher consultation methods (T 1…T 4) on students' low sociometric status (SMS) in 72 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classes. T 1 determined whether teachers could improve the targeted students' SMS without receiving any ameliorative assistance, except for the low SMS students' names. In T 2 the names of the low status students were forwarded to their teachers with a behavior change booklet containing remedial suggestions. T 3 was identical to T 2 except that the teachers were also given a booklet listing the social and academic factors that contribute to, and sustain, low SMS. T 4 served as the control group; the teachers were not given the students' names or any intervention strategies. T 2 and T 3 were comparable in improving SMS, and both were significantly more effective than T 1 and T 4 in enhancing the targeted students' low social standing. Giving the teachers in T 1 the names of the students without offering intervention strategies diminished SMS. Changes in SMS for the students in T 2 and T 3 improved approximately one standard deviation.