Giving Compass' Take:

• A study from the University of Missouri-Columbia found that students with disabilities thrive in classroom environments where their peers have similar social abilities as them and teachers are then able to personalize instructions. 

• Why do most educators group students by disability rather than ability first? How can educators work toward changing school models to be ability-focused? 

• Read about the hardships of creating policies that help students with disabilities rather than harm them. 

From reading facial expressions to having a conversation with their peers, some students struggle with social skills more than others. Schools try to address this by teaching these skills in addition to academics, but new research shows that how well students learn them depends on which students they’re learning with.

A study from the University of Missouri–Columbia found that students with disabilities often progress further if they are working with students who have similar levels of social skills than if they are grouped with children with a much greater range of abilities.

Schools don’t always do this, said Janine Stichter, professor of special education at the University of Missouri and co-author of the study. Instead, students are usually grouped based on factors like their school schedule or which disability they have. But two students with high-functioning autism might have different social skills and need different instruction, she said.

“What we realized is, it’s really about fine-tuning what those social skills deficits are, and there’s not enough assessments out there that drill that down very well, so this research supports the need for that and to look past the diagnosis when putting kids together,” Stichter said.

When students are grouped with peers who have similar social skills, teachers can personalize instruction for them.

“The students can’t learn academics if they don’t understand how to interact with their teacher,” said Stichter, who sees many students who can’t communicate and get in trouble or shut down because they don’t know how to express their needs.

Read the full article about developing students' social skills by Kate Stringer at The 74