Karen L. Bierman

The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of the GoPals Kindergarten Club intervention. GoPals is designed to address the needs of economically disadvantaged students living in rural communities by engaging their families in guided home learning activities and fostering positive family-school involvement. Children from low-income families often enter school with less social-emotional and cognitive school readiness than their more advantaged peers, fueling a socioeconomic gap in schoo...

Through this 2015 grant, TIES continued to prepare education scientists to develop and evaluate programs, practices, and policies.

In this study, researchers tested whether an intensive, individualized social skills training program, the Friendship Connections Program (FCP), can remediate the serious and chronic peer difficulties that 10-15 percent of elementary school students experience. Most of these students have or are at risk for emotional or behavioral disorders and exhibit social skill deficits (e.g., poor communication skills, inability to resolve conflict) that alienate peers. These problems can escalate, lead...