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This research examined the academic enablers that help undergraduate students with hearing impairment (SWHI) succeed in higher education, addressing their unique obstacles. SWHI students have unique academic challenges that need tailored interventions and support services to improve their education. Promoting diversity and academic success in higher education requires understanding these obstacles and supports. A census sample of 30 SWHI undergraduates from a private institution was used for a quantitative study. Surveys in sign language were analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze academic engagement, interpersonal skills, academic motivation, and study abilities. Academic Engagement demonstrated significant engagement with 56.1% asking test questions and 68.3% participating in classroom discussions. Interpersonal Skills showed active listening (78.0%) and good group work (75.6%). Academic motivation emphasized self-improvement (78.0%) and intrinsic curiosity (73.2%). 73.2% attended class without doing homework, indicating study skills issues. Future studies should examine academic diversity and accessibility initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic underachievement, as measured on standardised assessments, is commonly reported among students on the autism spectrum. However, little is known about the factors that predict academic (under)achievement, limiting the development of effective and targeted interventions. This study explored teacher ratings of academic skills and enabling behaviours of a community sample of students on the autism spectrum in Grades K-2 (5–8 years, n = 54) and 6–8 (9–12 years, n = 59) attending inclusive or special education settings. Teachers completed the Academic Competence Evaluation Scale (ACES). Results showed that children on the spectrum were rated by teachers to perform below expected levels in both academic skill areas and academic enabling behaviours. Teacher ratings of academic skills and enablers for students were higher for those in inclusive than those in special education settings. Receptive language emerged as an important predictor of teacher-reported performance alongside child motivation and interpersonal skills. Targeting academic enabling behaviours may help to improve academic achievement and lead to better educational outcomes for these students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a randomized controlled trial evaluating We Have Skills, a brief curriculum designed to teach early elementary students academic and social skills as well as improve teacher efficacy in classroom management. Intervention efficacy was tested with 127 teachers, randomly assigned to condition, and 2,817 of their students. On key outcomes of student academically related behavioral skills and classroom adjustment, intervention teachers reported greater gains for their students than comparison teachers (Hedges's g ≥ 0.19). Baseline scores moderated effects, demonstrating greater differences between conditions for initially struggling students. Intervention teachers also reported greater improvements on their sense of self-efficacy for classroom management and concerns about student behavior (|g| ≥ 0.30) relative to comparison teachers. Effect sizes were similar to or greater than those reported for similar programs, and an economic analysis suggested that We Have Skills was less costly than many. The findings support cost-effective solutions that teach social–behavioral skills in early elementary grades—and suggest that such programs may be especially beneficial for students who struggle with academically related behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the preschool period, children need to grow up as individuals with high academic skills, academic enablers and respond positively to their social situations. Academic skills and academic enablers together constitute academic competence. The positive reaction of children to the problems they face constitutes social information processing. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the academic competencies of 60-72-monthold children and their social information processing. The study was designed with the relational survey method. The study group consisted of 132 children aged 60-72 months with normal development who attend preschool education. The data collection tools of the study are as follows: Personal Information Form, The Social Information Processing Interview-Preschool Version, and Teacher Rating Scales of Early Academic Competence. Spearman's rankorder correlation test was used to evaluate the relationship between the scales. The findings of the study revealed that there is a relationship between the interpretation of cues and response decision, which are subdimensions of the social information processing model, academic skills (numeracy, early literacy, thinking skills, and comprehension) and academic enablers (social-emotional competence, approaches to learning, and communication). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study purposes were to explore the level of students' academic enablers and gender‐based difference towards academic enablers scales (AES) among 3200 students that were selected randomly from 80 high schools of Punjab province of Pakistan. The descriptive design of the positivism research paradigm was used to accomplish the study. Academic enablers scale for students (AES‐students) was adapted to collect data about four academic enabling behaviors (motivation, engagement, interpersonal skills, and study skills). Hence, the psychometric properties of adapted AES‐students exhibited that it is a valid and reliable instrument to measure academic enablers. Results indicated that the majority of students had a competent level in all academic enabling behaviors while they are more motivated as compared to their study skills, interpersonal skills, and engagement. However, engagement is the least contributive enabler. Moreover, results also demonstrated a significant difference in girls' and boys' student perceptions towards AES. It is also determined that gender had a small effect size on students' academic enablers as Cohen's d values among 0.1 to 0.4. Academic enabling behaviors may be enhanced among boy students through the use of different teaching strategies in the classroom, such as enthusiastic demonstration style, group activities, and classroom symposiums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short term experimental studies by DiPerna and colleagues have demonstrated the efficacy of the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) to measure and improve the social skills and academic functioning of students from Preparatory year to Grade 3 and to decrease problem behaviours. This longitudinal school-led project applied the multi-tiered assessment and intervention components of the SSIS to achieve sustainable outcomes. In each of three project years up to 16 teachers completed the SSIS Performance Screening Guide for approximately 380 students, with nearly half having special needs. Students screened by their teachers as having low levels of prosocial behaviour were assessed using the comprehensive SSIS Rating Scale. The collective data informed the social skills goal priorities among 10 skills targeted and taught by classroom teachers using the SSIS Classwide Intervention Programme (CIP). Intervention effectiveness indicators included change in prosocial behaviour, academic achievement, problem behaviours, wellbeing, and attendance. Students showed marked improvement on all outcome indicators across the three project years, resulting in an improved school climate. Limitations to the evaluation are discussed, followed by recommendations for other schools to adopt similar interventions to achieve sustainable improvement in students' social skills and other outcomes, and school climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study was to advance the understanding of the cross-grade dynamics of academic enablers in three ways: (a) to compare overall levels of academic enablers across children's elementary school years, (b) to determine if the relationship between academic enablers and academic achievement remained consistent across children's elementary school years, and (c) to determine if the interrelationships between academic enablers remained consistent across elementary school. We examined cross-grade dynamics using a sample of elementary-aged children (N = 536) and structural equation modeling methodology to compare primary (K–3rd grade) and intermediate (4th–5th grade) students. After establishing measurement invariance, we tested whether (a) academic enabler means and variances were equivalent for younger and older elementary students, (b) the relationships between academic enablers and academic achievement were equivalent for younger and older elementary students, and (c) the interrelations between academic enablers were equivalent for younger versus older students. The findings revealed few differences in mean levels of academic enablers but several differences in the relationships between academic enablers and academic achievement, as well as academic enabler interrelations across grade groups. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the current study was to investigate the role of academic enablers on the association between symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity and academic achievement. There were 395 3rd through 5th grade students (48% boys). Students self-rated behavioral symptoms and classroom teachers completed ratings of academic enablers. Achievement was modeled as a latent variable including CBM probes, teacher ratings of academic skills, and student grades. Results indicated that (a) inattention was negatively associated with academic enablers and academic performance, (b) inattention had a small negative direct and indirect association with math outcomes in most models, while hyperactivity/impulsivity demonstrated showed a small, negative indirect association in one model, (c) and inattention had a small negative indirect association with reading in three models; hyperactivity/impulsivity demonstrated a small indirect association with reading in one model. This study points to the role of academic enabling behaviors in partially explaining the association between inattention and academic underachievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing a positive peer climate in elementary school classrooms is an important goal for educators because peer dynamics are thought to affect academic learning. Thus, it is important to (a) understand the relationship between children's peer dynamics and academic functioning, and (b) identify teacher practices that influence both peer processes and academic outcomes. In this pilot study, we explored whether specific teacher strategies that promote positive behaviors in children and positive peer dynamics influence children's better academic enablers, as well as whether they do so indirectly via improving peer sociometric ratings. Such teacher strategies may be particularly relevant for supporting children who demonstrate impairment in both social and academic domains, such as children at risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Thus, we also examined whether these relationships differ for children with elevated ADHD symptoms and peer problems (i.e., target students), relative to classmates (i.e., non-target students). Participants were 194 children in the classrooms of 12 teachers (grades K-4) who participated in an open-trial pilot study of the school-based version of the Making Socially Accepting Inclusive Classrooms (MOSAIC) program. In the fall and spring of a school year, we assessed children's sociometric ratings received from peers, and academic enabler skills as rated by teachers. Throughout one academic year, we obtained assessments of teachers' use of MOSAIC strategies (observed and self-reported). Results showed that, after accounting for fall academic enablers, the teacher strategy of CARE time (involving one-on-one interaction with the student to build the teacher-student relationship) was positively associated with spring academic enablers. However, findings did not support the hypothesized indirect effect of peer sociometric ratings on the relationship between teacher strategy use and academic enablers, or the moderated indirect effect by target student status. Implications for future research and classroom interventions are discussed.

This study attempted to investigate the effect of a blended learning program based on cognitive apprenticeship to develop EFL pre-service teachers‘ critical reading skills and academic enablers. The Quasiexperimental Design with Pretest was used where two intact classes of second-year EFL pre-service teachers, Faculty of Education, Benha University were randomly assigned as a control group (n= 34) and experimental group (n=36) . Instruments of the study included an EFL critical reading skills test and EFL academic enablers scale. The study sample was administered to a critical reading skills test and an academic enablers scale both before and after the treatment. For 14 sessions, participants in the experimental group were trained through the blended program that based on cognitive apprenticeship to develop their EFL critical writing skills and the academic enablers‘ dimensions while those in the control group received their regular instruction. Findings of the study through independent samples t-test revealed a statistically significant difference at 0.01 between the mean scores of the control group and experimental group students in the post administration of the EFL critical reading skills and academic enablers in favor of the experimental group. Therefore, it could be concluded that blended learning program that based on cognitive apprenticeship had a significant effect on second-year EFL pre-service teachers‘ critical reading skills and academic enablers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Academic Competence Evaluation Scales (ACES; DiPerna and Elliott in School Psychol Rev 31(3):293, 2002) is a 73-item teacher rating scale that assesses academic skills and enablers. The ACES Short Form (ASF) is a newly extracted 32-item short form of the ACES that has promising psychometric properties (Anthony and DiPerna in School Psychol Q 32(4):552, 2017; School Mental Health 10(3):314–321, 2018). The goals of this study were to examine the factor structure and extend the psychometric assessment of three subscales of the ASF (interpersonal skills, motivation, and engagement) with an independent sample. Participants were 193 students (63.2% White; 46.1% female) in grades K through 4, in the classrooms of 12 teachers. Teachers completed three subscales of the ACES and reported on student inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, social functioning, and academic functioning. We also obtained parent and peer assessments of student social functioning. Results corroborated the factor structure found by Anthony and DiPerna (School Mental Health 10(3):314–321, 2018) and the high internal consistency (α's >.90; ω's >.80) of the three subscales. In an extension of previous work, correlations with parent, peer, and teacher report on other measures provided evidence for convergent and divergent validity of the three ASF subscales. ASF scores also differed significantly for students with and without academic, behavioral, and social difficulties, in a manner similar to that of the ACES. These findings, along with those of Anthony and DiPerna (School Psychol Q 32(4):552, 2017; School Mental Health 10(3):314–321, 2018), provide evidence that the subscales of ASF, although substantially shorter than the respective subscales of the ACES, retain the strong psychometric properties and clinical utility of the full-length measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is a growing body of evidence to support the use of direct behavior rating (DBR) as a formative behavioral assessment method in school-based problem-solving models, this work has centered largely on the assessment of attending and problem behaviors and on the use of single-item DBR scales. The primary purpose of the current study was to report on the development and initial validation of teacher-completed multi-item DBR scales (DBR-MIS) designed to expand upon prior DBR research to assess three constructs representing behaviors that are widely considered to support student academic achievement (academic engagement, interpersonal skills, and study skills), only one of which (academic engagement) has been the target of DBR assessment methods. Development of the scales involved a content validity study utilizing feedback from a panel of consumers (teachers, parents, and school administrators) and a panel of researchers with expertise in school-based behavioral assessment. Results of an exploratory factor analysis of ratings of students completed by teachers in Grades K through 3 (N = 307) supported a one-factor solution for each of the aforementioned constructs. Favorable internal consistency was found for each scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A growing body of research indicates that noncognitive factors are important predictors of students’ academic and life success (e.g., Garcia, The need to address noncognitive skills in the education policy agenda (Briefing Paper No. 386), http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED558126.pdf, 2014). Despite this evidence base, there are few psychometrically sound measures of such factors appropriate for use in research and practice. One currently available measure is the Academic Competence Evaluation Scales (ACES; DiPerna and Elliott, Academic Competence Evaluation Scales, The Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, TX, 2000) which assesses the skills, attitudes, and behaviors of students that contribute to school success. The length of the ACES (73 items) may limit its use at the primary and secondary levels within a multi-tiered service delivery system or for large-scale educational research. To address this need, the current study piloted a short form of the ACES (ASF) with a sample of 301 elementary students. Results provided initial evidence for the reliability and validity of scores from the ASF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A training intervention that aims to improve the problem-solving and organization skills of adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been investigated. Aim of this study was to examine the mechanisms of change that occurred during the intervention in an empirical trial. Method: Forty-nine adolescents with ADHD aged 12-17 years took part in the intervention. The primary outcome of the intervention was the reduction of ADHD symptoms. To understand how the intervention facilitated the improvement of the outcome, we conducted mediation and moderation analyses. As potential mediators, improvement in academic enablers and meta- and neurocognitive functioning were investigated. Age, gender, and medication status were analyzed as potential moderators of the outcome. Results: An improvement in academic enablers partially mediated symptom reductions. There were no effects of moderation. Conclusions: Enhancing academic skills can reduce ADHD symptom severity. The training intervention examined in this study is a promising treatment for adolescents with ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the predictive validity of results from a screening system of academic enablers, with a sample of Australian elementary school students, when the criterion variable is end-of-year achievement. The investigation included (a) comparing the predictive validity of a brief criterion-referenced nomination system with more comprehensive behavior ratings, and (b) determining the optimal combination of scores to gather from this system for identifying academic difficulties. Students (n = 360) were rated using both the Performance Screening Guides (PSGs; Elliott & Gresham, 2007) and the Rating Scales (Gresham & Elliott, 2008) of the Social Skills Improvement System. The PSGs were highly sensitive (0.95) predictors of below minimum standard performance on the national test. The Rating Scales, including the brief academic competence scale in particular, added predictive value in most domains. The discussion addresses implications of these findings for school psychologists and other educators interested in the role of social behaviors as academic enablers and predictors of academic achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]