The Effects of Second Step and Inclusion on Special Education Students' Social Skills

Many students lack social skills that hinder their success in school; students in special education are even more at risk. Social-emotional curricula have been developed to help build these social skills school-wide. Most research on the effects of social-emotional curricula has been conducted on general education students. The first purpose of this study was to measure the effects a social-emotional curriculum has on students with disabilities. Second Step was implemented on a weekly basis for 10 weeks in classrooms. The effectiveness of the Second Step program was evaluated by having special education students (N = 18) and teachers fill out a Skills Survey as a pre-test/post-test measure. Paired samples t-tests indicated insignificant gains according to teachers and students. Social Interactions Data observations served as an additional social skills measure. Non-overlapping data points indicated that the intervention did not increase social initiations (40%) and somewhat increased social responses (70%). The second purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between time in the least restrictive environment (LRE) and special education students’ social skills. There was a negative correlation between percentage of time included in general education and teacher reported growth and a positive correlation between inclusion percentage and student reported growth. The study suggests that research on social-emotional curricula, the effects curricula have on students in special education, and better measurement tools should continue to be conducted.