Describes a project to determine how teachers can best implement new ideas and strategies learned at staff development programs by using peer coaching as a follow-up to training. The project, based on an understanding of the usefulness of mathematics manipulatives, increased teachers' use of a new teaching strategy. (SM)

The differences between collaborative culture and contrived collegiality as forms of joint work and interaction among teachers is defined. Peer coaching, especially one variant known as technical coaching, is used to investigate and interpret these differences. Technical coaching is seen as fostering contrived collegiality rather than…

The effects of peer collaboration on mathematical and spatial reasoning were assessed for 152 fourth graders. Effects on learning with logical-physical materials were assessed 1 year later. Findings suggest that peer collaboration is effective for tasks that require reasoning but not for tasks that require rote learning or copying. (SLD)

Interactions and relationships emerging from 2 programs to promote social integration of normal children and children with mental handicaps were compared. For the 53 pairs participating, peer tutoring interactions tended to be less reciprocal than those of the Special Friends program patterned after a program of L. J. Voeltz and others (1983).…

Proposes that ethnography is a useful tool for helping teachers understand the cultural context of their students. Examines a high school writing lab, emphasizing the role of the tutor. Describes the experiences of the writing lab staff in learning the culture of adolescents through ethnography. (RS)

The Kirklees (England) local educational authority trained parents in the Paired Reading technique in which the tutee chooses the reading material and tutor and tutee read aloud together. Subjective feedback from parents, peer tutors, and teachers (2,521 questionnaires) showed that parents and peer tutors rated progress more positively than…

When children with learning disabilities fail to learn effective reading strategies, they lose enthusiasm and develop negative self-perceptions and attitudes, jeopardizing future achievement. In response, instructional approaches emphasizing clear explanation of reading strategies and discussion of processes for constructing meaning have been…

Studies the reactions to "self-threatening help" of members of 103 dyads of second-, fourth-, and sixth-graders in a peer tutoring context. Results indicated that threatening conditions were those in which tutors and tutees were similar in age and achievement levels. (RJC)

Findings are examined from studies published from 1980 to the present concerning the effects of peer tutoring on mathematics performance. Findings indicate the effectiveness of peer tutoring in promoting significant cognitive gains for both the tutor and the tutee with populations of low achievers, mildly handicapped, or socially disadvantaged…

A program developed at Bluffton College (OH) to provide a support group for high school physics teachers is described. The support group provides a forum for sharing ideas, methods, and common concerns. Concern on the national level about the level of training of high school physics te teachers is also discussed. (IAH)

A peer-delivered incidental teaching procedure was used to instruct appropriate requesting in three adults with moderate/severe mental retardation or autism during lunch-preparation sessions. The procedure proved to be effective in increasing appropriate requesting. Generalization was obtained, and increased interaction between the residents was…

This paper discusses different formats of peer tutoring, focusing on uses of peer tutoring with students with behavior disorders. While cross-age, small group, one-to-one, classwide, and reverse-role peer tutoring have all been found to produce social and academic benefits, none appears to benefit students' self-esteem. (Author/PB)

The use of classwide peer tutoring with six at-risk fourth graders resulted in moderate to substantial improvements in spelling performance for five students. In a second experiment, the addition of "Language Master" to the tutoring process resulted in only slightly greater improved performance for two of four students. (Author/DB)

Evaluation of peer-mediated reading instruction with three fifth-grade and sixth-grade boys with behavior disorders found that marked improvement in on-task behavior and positive peer-to-peer comments corresponded to the implementation of peer-mediated instruction. (Author/DB)

Peer tutoring in the use of computer software for engineering design was used at the University of New South Wales (Australia) to bring 63 students to the mastery level already attained by other students. Analysis indicated that both students and tutors (n=31) received educational benefits from this approach. (MSE)