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This article provides an overview of the literature on relational aggression of school-aged children and adolescents, with the specific aim of making this information relevant to school settings and education professionals. Relational aggression is discussed in terms of definitions, terms, and the importance of the school context. The literature on gender and familial influences as they relate to relational aggression is overviewed. Assessment methods for detecting relational aggression in children and adolescents are described, with an emphasis on measurement techniques most viable for capturing this sometimes-elusive construct. We conclude with a discussion of proposed best practices in school settings for effectively preventing and responding to incidents of relational aggression within the context of social and emotional learning interventions and positive behavioral interventions and supports. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.The term relational aggression refers to behaviors that harm others through damaging their relationships, feelings of acceptance, inclusion in social groups, and friendships (Crick et al., 1999). Stated another way, relational aggression might be considered as deliberately unfriendly behavior designed to hurt another person through words or other nonphysical means. Interest in the notion of relational aggression has expanded substantially in recent years. This increased interest is evident not only from the large number of research studies that have appeared in child development and developmental psychology journals but also from the "mainstreaming" of the topic into popular books such as And Words Can Hurt Forever (Garbarino & deLara, 2002) and Odd Girl Out (Simmons, 2002), successful Hollywood films such as Mean Girls (Messick, Michaels, Fey, & Waters, 2004), and a spate of pop-culture discussions on television talk shows, including the enormously popular Oprah and Dr. Phil programs. Clearly, interest in relational aggression is on the upswing in American society, and it is evident that educators and mental health professionals need to better understand this issue.This article is intended to provide the reader with an overview of the literature on relational aggression of school-aged children and adolescents, and to propose potential best practices in school settings to effectively impact this concern. First, the general notion of relational aggression is discussed in terms of definitions, typologies, and the importance of the school context. Second, the literature on the influence of gender in the development and maintenance of relational aggression is addressed, and conclusions from this research are presented within the context of dispelling some overly simplified popular notions about how relational aggression differs between girls and boys. Third, the impact of familial and extrafamilial influences in promoting or inhibiting relational aggression is overviewed, with a focus on particular familial and extrafamilial contexts that may be most conducive to the onset of this form of ant...

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Few prospective studies have examined school mobility in children in foster care. This study described the school moves of 86 such children and 55 community comparison children (primarily Caucasian), living in a medium-sized metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest who were approximately 3-6-years-old at the study start. Additionally, the effects of moves from kindergarten through Grade 2 on academic and social emotional competence in Grades 3 through 5 were examined. A greater number of early school moves was associated with poorer later social emotional competence and partially mediated the effects of maltreatment and out-of-home placement on social emotional competence. This was only the case for children with poorer early learning skills in kindergarten. Implications for preventive intervention are discussed.

Problem In order to obtain and maintain positive outcomes garnered from evidence-based practice (EBP) models, it is necessary to implement them effectively in “real world” settings, to continually monitor intervention fidelity to prevent drift, and to train new staff due to turnover. The fidelity monitoring processes that are commonly employed in research settings are labor intensive and probably unrealistic to employ in community agencies given the additional burden and cost that they represent over and above the cost of implementing the EBP. Efficient strategies for implementing fidelity monitoring and staff training procedures within the inner context of agency settings are needed to promote agency self-sufficiency and program sustainability. Method A cascading implementation model was used whereby agencies who achieved proficiency in KEEP, an EBP designed to prevent placement disruptions in foster and kinship child welfare homes, were trained to take on fidelity management roles to improve the likelihood of program sustainability. Agency staff were trained to self-monitor fidelity and to train internal staff to achieve model fidelity. A web-based system for conducting fidelity assessments and for onsite/internal and remote program quality monitoring was utilized. Results Scores on fidelity ratings from streamed observations of intervention sessions showed no differences for foster parents treated by first generation interventionists trained by model developers compared to a second generation of interventionists trained by the first generation. Conclusion and relevance to child welfare Development of the local intra-agency capacity to manage quality intervention delivery is an important feature of successful EBP implementation. Use of the cascading implementation model appears to support the development of methods for effective monitoring of fidelity of the KEEP intervention, for training new staff, and ultimately for the development of internal methods for maintaining program sustainability and effectiveness.