Classwide peer tutoring (CWPT) is described as a potential tool for preventing early school failure, with emphasis on three areas relevant to its successful classroom implementation: (1) the classroom program; (2) the administrative model; and (3) implementation quality assessment. Studies showing CWPT's long-term positive effects on academic…

Investigates Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development using peer social dialogue integrated with teacher support to develop children's reading, writing, and abstract thinking in story reflection and sense of audience. Reports that students showed improvement in word recognition, in fluency, and in evaluating their own reading…

Peers with mild intellectual disabilities taught first aid skills to 4 students (ages 7-11) with moderate intellectual disabilities. Results suggested that the peer teaching program resulted in acquisition of first aid skills, and the participants' skills generalized to the home, to novel simulated-injury locations, and to new trainers.…

A workshop on interactive video was designed for fourth and fifth grade students, with the goals of familiarizing students with laser disc technology, developing a cadre of trained students to train other students and staff, and challenging able learners to utilize higher level thinking skills while conducting a research project. (JDD)

Student support systems (small groups of students who meet to learn), help combat the problem of large student-to-teacher ratios and increase cognitive and affective outcomes. Small groups allow large amounts of participation and interaction, rapid error correction, individualized practice, and self-paced work that actively involves students in…

Presents study results showing that a range of modes of interactive organization coexist in expert-novice problem-solving activity and vary with the asymmetry of the relationships. Reports that by combining high achieving status with task-related expertise, the resulting interactive dynamic is guidance/tutoring. Argues for multidimensional…

Analysis of "tutor talk" occurring between native or proficient nonnative speakers of English and limited- or non-English-speaking elementary students found that, although tutors used little sentence-level simplification, they made extensive use of conversational and tutorial strategies similar to those used by native and nonnative adults. (59…

This study of implementation of a classwide peer tutoring program for 108 disadvantaged students found that specific variations in program implementation and teachers' applications of the program produced differential levels of student outcome. Implementation factors considered included, among others, opportunities to receive program sessions and…

Three typical preschoolers were trained as peer tutors for three young children with autism. Tutors used incidental teaching to obtain verbal labels of preferred toys by children with autism. Adult supervision and assistance were faded systematically with resulting maintenance of increased reciprocal interactions. (Author/JDD)

Describes a month-long tutoring project involving the use of fairy tales which combined storytelling and process writing. Notes that students responded favorably to the project. (RS)

This paper describes and evaluates the efficacy of a combination of curriculum-based measurement and peer tutoring incorporated into 40 elementary education mathematics classes, to differentiate instruction and improve student achievement. The evaluation indicated that students with low achievement, average achievement, and learning disabilities…

This study investigated the relationship among input, interaction, and second-language production among 16 native-nonnative dyads. The results indicated that both modified input and interaction initiated by the native speaker lead to greater comprehension by the nonnative speaker, as measured by task performance. (Contains 48 references.) (MDM)

Presents one parent's perspective on what children of different abilities teach each other. The parent gained this perspective as a result of her son's experience with a developmentally disabled classmate in his fourth grade class. (BB)

Discusses advantages of flexible grouping over ability grouping. Maintains ability grouping is nonprogressive, and blames it for the unequal treatment of students who have a low perception of themselves. Flexible grouping is based on the use of a variety of group patterns to accommodate diverse interests, learning rates, and special styles. (DG)

Twenty-one articles employing peer-mediated interventions to promote social skills of children and adolescents with behavioral disorders were analyzed on their experimental, procedural, and generalization components. The review found that peer-mediated approaches produce immediate positive treatment effects and have contributed to the…