ENHANCING SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND ADJUSTING BEHAVIOR IN THE ISRAELI CLASSROOM

A teacher-led classroom intervention aimed at affecting social relatio nships in diverse classrooms was studied at both the elementary- and s econdary-school levels, Effects were examined separately for regular a nd special needs students. Results of the repeated measures analysis o f variance (ANOVA) on the class-level analyses indicated no significan t differences for the elementary-level regular students but did indica te significant gains in adjusting behavior for elementary-level specia l needs students. On the other hand, results for the secondary-level s tudents indicated progress in social acceptance for both regular and s pecial needs students. No gains were observed in adjusting behavior fo r special needs students, Results of the ANOVA on the student-level an alyses were more salient. The importance of this study is twofold: (a) It reflects some change in social relationships, especially in the so cial inclusion of special needs adolescents in regular classrooms, and (b) it indicates change in the behavior of special needs elementary-l evel students. These results were obtained by trained teachers (as opp osed to mental health professionals), suggesting that teachers can mak e a difference in classroom relationships and deal more effectively wi th growing diversity in the classroom.