Applies a theory of role conflict to the position of peer tutor. Argues that tutors' roles are more complex and problematic than those of many other occupations but that role conflict theory can be helpful in discovering constructive ways to deal with tutorial role ambiguity and conflict. (RS)

The Special Peer Action Network (SPAN) program in Jackson County (Florida) schools brings together gifted students and students with developmental disabilities. Gifted students received background information and training in how to serve as models, helpers, and friends of students with disabilities and then participated in structured interactions…

Proposes a learning community model for peer consultation among college faculty and offers examples of cohort-focused or issue-focused learning communities at Miami University (Ohio). Provides evidence of effectiveness based on annual reports and evaluations and on universitywide presentations, as well as advice on combining one-on-one and peer…

A study of production workers, supervisors, and peer trainers in three manufacturing companies found that most workers were trained by peers; neither peer trainers nor supervisors received trainer training; training was wholly outside the oversight of training/personnel departments. Training practices evolved from experience rather than from…

Lovell and Richardson discuss how, through the family and consumer sciences curriculum, preventing acts of school violence can be presented to students as early as the sixth grade. They suggest that incidents of school and family violence can be reduced by teaching relationship skills. Davis describes STOP the Violence, a program that uses peer…

A group of 10 women developing peer education services participated in collaborative inquiry in order to remove barriers to peer counseling. The following themes emerged: (1) adding experiential knowledge to textbook knowledge; (2) crossing cultures using difference as a creative resource; and (3) using public discourse to transfer knowledge to…

Argues that despite the widespread endorsement of peer collaboration in writing center theory, graduate student tutors are an asset because (1) they have excellent tutoring abilities; and (2) they will provide future support for writing centers as professors in all fields. (NH)

Describes Buddy Reading, a British reading program that pairs older (secondary) and younger (elementary) students to develop and improve reading skills. (JOW)

Goals for Health was a National Cancer Institute funded program designed to impact health behaviors of adolescents living in rural Virginia and New York. This study examined three specific objectives: (a) to examine participants' perceptions of the program components and the relationship between program components and overall program perception,…

This study examined how instructional challenges presented by gifted students shaped teachers' instructional strategies. This study is a qualitative research grounded in a social constructivist framework. The participants were three high school science teachers who were teaching identified gifted students in both heterogeneously- and…

In a statistics course for bachelor students in econometrics a new format was adopted in which students were encouraged to study more actively and in which cooperative learning and peer teaching was implemented. Students had to work in groups of two or three students where each group had to perform certain tasks. One of these tasks was: explaining…

This article describes techniques that can be used to enhance mathematics instruction for English language learners. Using the strategies suggested in this article, such as scaffolding instruction and accommodating their linguistic needs, mathematics teachers can help ELLs both succeed and increase their mathematics achievement. (Contains 3…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Practice Guide, "Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades" addresses the challenge of providing effective literacy instruction for English learners in the elementary grades. The Guide offers five specific recommendations for district…

In this study of peer instructors in three Learning in Retirement Programs, the constructivist elements embedded in Mezirow's theory of transformational learning are examined at the theoretical intersections of transformational learning and developmental constructivism, specifically the work of Robert Kegan, resulting in a suggested developmental…

Prior research has established that peer tutors can benefit academically from their tutoring experiences. However, although tutor learning has been observed across diverse settings, the magnitude of these gains is often underwhelming. In this review, the authors consider how analyses of tutors' actual behaviors may help to account for variation in…