The practicum addressed the needs of 3- to 5-year-old language learning disabled (LLD) children who required more individualization in their curriculum and longer time on task. The practicum goals were: (1) to address 80% of the children's short term individualized education program (IEP) goals; (2) to increase the children's independent time on…

Five elementary special education students were mainstreamed to a regular classroom for portions of their school day. A support team, consisting of the school psychologist, the principal, and the guidance counselor, was established to monitor their progress and provide assistance with both behavioral and educational problems. Peer tutors were…

The need to decrease the number of students repeatedly receiving after-school detentions was addressed by the implementation of the Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program. The PAL program is based on the premise that students act out because they desire power. The program gave students power over tutoring situations by having input into planning for…

A practicum addressed the cognitive and affective needs of underachieving fifth grade students in a suburban school in southwest Florida. Twelve fifth grade students (the target group) were paired with same age tutors who provided supplemental reading instruction four times a week over a 12-week period. They also participated in weekly…

This report describes a cross-age tutoring program implemented to improve reading comprehension skills in a group of regular students in a rural elementary school. A targeted group of four fifth-grade students and four second-grade students were matched for cross-age tutoring sessions. The students developed reading comprehension skills through…

Because low achieving kindergarten children attending a neighborhood school in the South Area of the Dade County Public School System were experiencing difficulty during independent work periods, a practicum study was designed to improve their basic skills by providing closely supervised visual, manipulative, language, and listening activities.…

A practicum addressing the problems of low motivation and poor writing quality of 50 underachieving 9th-grade basic skills students is described in this report. The objectives were to increase motivation among the students and to improve the quality of their essay writing. Peer tutoring was used as a method for encouraging students to help each…

This practicum was designed to increase the literacy skills of first-grade students. Students were to improve their reading strategies necessary for success in reading through support from their families and through the use of cross-age reading tutors. A cadre of parent volunteers who presented four parent and child workshops focusing on early…

This practicum study developed a form for the evaluation of tutors by college students with learning disabilities at Brenau University (Georgia). Consultation with 15 experts in the field of college tutoring and a literature search led to the identification of 14 traits best evaluated by students. The evaluation form was developed and field tested…

This practicum report describes a staff development program that was designed to implement a peer tutoring program in which nonhandicapped students instructed three trainable mentally handicapped peers in a regular high-school setting. The program was implemented to increase the achievement of handicapped students in basic academic skills that…

This practicum report describes a primary school teacher's use of peer tutoring as a form of individualized instruction for at-risk students in a regular classroom. Targeted students were four 2nd graders and four 3rd graders who did not produce the quantity of work required but scored too high on psychological tests for placement in special…

A practicum addressed the problem that the traditional Chapter 1 program of a school district had not been effective in promoting literacy growth. The students repeatedly read the same stories with equal lack of success each time. They were not motivated to read or write because the purpose was irrelevant and failure was probable. The strategy…

This practicum report describes an intervention to improve the literacy skills of seven at-risk kindergarten children. Intervention objectives were that children will: (1) show an increase in letter recognition; (2) demonstrate book awareness skills; and (3) increase their use of prereading and prewriting strategies. The intervention involved the…

This practicum was designed to improve the attendance rate for African American male students in the After School Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) program. The attendance rate for male students was far below that of female students. The following strategies to increase male participation in the reading program were developed: local businesses and…

The preservice teacher education practicum described in this practicum paper sought to provide affordable, convenient reading tutorial services for K-8 children. Participants were mentor teachers, preservice teachers, and students from the community. A twilight school was established that provided professional development opportunites for teachers…