Tutoring is an effective, quick, and easily implemented procedure to individualize instruction across dyads, small groups, or large groups. Most tutoring applications have occurred in school settings using classwide, cross-age, or one-to-one configurations, with traditional academic subjects (e.g., reading, math, spelling) serving as the targeted skills. Limited home-based applications have also been reported, with the focus remaining essentially within an academic context. This article reviews how tutoring systems have been applied across specialized subject areas (e.g., music, horticulture, health and safety, social interactions). The authors summarize research findings, provide an analysis of skills learned within each tutoring system, identify the respective methodologies, and report relevant findings. Implications and suggestions for future research efforts are given.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allsopp, D.H. (1997). Using classwide peer tutoring to teach beginning algebra problem-solving skills in heterogeneous classrooms. Remedial and Special Education, 18, 367—379.
2.
Arreaga-Mayer, C. (1998). Increasing active student responding and improving academic performance through classwide peer tutoring. Intervention in School and Clinic, 3, 89—94, 117.
3.
Balenzano, S., Agte, L.J., McLaughlin, T.F., & Howard, V.F. (1993). Training tutoring skills with preschool children with disabilities in a classroom setting. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 15(1), 1—35.
4.
Barbetta, P., & Heron, T.E. (1991). Project SHINE: Summer home instruction and evaluation . Intervention in School and Clinic, 26, 276—281.
5.
Barbetta, P., Heron, T., & Heward, W.L. (1993). Effects of active response during error correction on the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of sight words by students with developmental disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 26, 111—119.
6.
Barbetta, P.M., Miller, A.D., Peters, M.T., Heron, T.E., & Cochran, L.L. (1991). TUGMATE: A cross-age tutoring program to teach sight vocabulary. Education and Treatment of Children, 14, 19—37.
7.
Bell, K.E., Young, R., Salzberg, C.L., & West, R.P. (1991). High school driver education using peer tutors, direct instruction, and precision teaching. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 24, 45—51.
8.
Blew, P.A., Schwartz, I.S., & Luce, S.C. (1985). Teaching functional community skills to autistic children using handicapped peer tutors. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 18, 337—342.
9.
Board of Education of Sacramento City Unified School District v. Holland. (1992). 18 IDELR 761—767 . U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California.
Callahan, K., Rademacher, J.A., & Hildreth, B.L. (1998). The effect of parent participation in strategies to improve the homework performance of students who are at risk . Remedial and Special Education, 19, 131—141.
12.
Christenson, S.L., & Buerkle, K. (1999). Families as educational partners for children's school success: Suggestions for school psychologists. In C. R. Reynolds & T. B. Gutkin (Eds.), The handbook of school psychology (3rd ed., pp. 709—744). New York: Wiley.
13.
Cooke, N.L., Heron, T.E., & Heward, W.L. (1983). Peer tutoring: Implementing classwide programs in the primary grades. Columbus, OH: Special Press.
14.
Cooper, H., & Nye, B. (1994). Homework for students with learning disabilities: The implications of research for policy and practice. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27, 470—480.
Elksnin, L.K., & Elksnin, N. (1991). Helping parents solve problems at home and school through parent training. Intervention in School and Clinic , 26, 230—233, 245.
18.
Ezell, H.K., Kohler, R.W., & Strain, P. (1994). A program description of evaluation of academic peer tutoring for reading skills of children with special needs. Education and Treatment of Children, 17, 52—67.
19.
Gardner, R. (1981). The e fect of cross-age tutoring on the mealtime behavior of severely disturbed children. Unpublished master's thesis, The Ohio State University, Columbus.
20.
Goor, M.B., & Schween, J.O. (1993). Accommodating diversity and disability with cooperative learning. Intervention in School and Clinic, 29, 6—16.
21.
Greenwood, C.R. (1991). Longitudinal analysis of time, engagement, and achievement in at-risk versus non-risk students. Exceptional Children, 57, 521—535.
22.
Gumpel, T.P. (1994). Social competence and social skills training for persons with mental retardation: An expansion of a behavioral paradigm. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities , 29, 194—201.
23.
Gumpel, T.P., & Frank, R. (1999). An expansion of the peer tutoring paradigm: Cross-age peer tutoring of social skills among socially rejected boys. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 32, 115—118.
24.
Harper, G.F., & Maheady, L. (1999). Aligning course objectives, student practice activities, and testing: Effectively using classwide student tutoring teams. Proven Practices, 1(2), 55—59.
25.
Harper, G.F., Mallette, B., Maheady, L., Bentley, A.E., & Moore, J. (1995). Retention and treatment failure in classwide peer tutoring: Implications for further research. Journal of BehavioralEducation, 5, 399—414.
26.
Heron, T.E., Guy, A., Heron, K.M., Villareal, D., & Yao, M. (2002, September). Cross-age tutoring in an inclusive classroom: Preliminary findings with typically developing students and students with autism. Paper presented to The Ohio State University's Third Focus on Behavior Analysis in Education Conference, Columbus, OH.
27.
Heron, T.E., & Harris, K.C. (2001). The educational consultant: Helping professionals, parents, and students in inclusive settings (4th ed.). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
28.
Heward, W.L. (1994). Three “low-tech” strategies for increasing the frequency of active student response during group instruction. In R. Gardner III, D. M. Sainato, J. O. Cooper, T. E. Heron, W. L. Heward, J. Eshleman, & T. A. Grossi (Eds.), Behavior analysis in education: Focus on measurably superior instruction (pp. 283—320). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
29.
Heward, W.L., Heron, T.E., Ellis, D., & Cooke, N.L. (1986). Teaching first grade peer tutors to use praise on an intermittent schedule. Education and Treatment of Children , 9, 5—15.
30.
Houghton, S., & Bain, A. (1993). Peer tutoring with ESL and below-average readers. Journal of BehavioralEducation, 3, 125—142.
31.
Jenson, W.R., Sheridan, S.M., Olympia, D., & Andrews, D. (1994). Homework and students with learning disabilities and behavior disorders: A practical, parent-based approach. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27, 538—548.
32.
Johnson, M., & Ward, P. (2001). Effects of classwide peer tutoring on correct performance of striking skills in 3rd grade physical education. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 20, 247-263.
33.
Kay, P.J., Fitzgerald, M., Paradee, C., & Mellencamp, A. (1994). Making homework work at home: The parent's perspective. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 27, 550—561.
34.
Knoske, J.L. (1996). E fects of peer tutoring on the acquisition and maintenance of plant identification with vocational students. Unpublished master's thesis, The Ohio State University, Columbus.
35.
Konukman, M. (1998). The e fects of classwide peer tutoring on team handball skills in sixth grade physical education classes. Unpublished masters thesis, TheUniversity of Nebraska, Lincoln.
36.
Lancioni, G. (1982). Normal children as tutors to teach social responses to withdrawn mentally retarded schoolmates: Training, maintenance, and generalization . Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 15, 17—40.
37.
Maheady, L. (1997). Four classwide peer tutoring models: Commonalities, di ferences, and implications for research and practice. A symposium presentation presented at the annual convention of the Association forBehavior Analysis, Chicago.
38.
Maheady, L., & Harper, G.F. (1987). A class-wide peer tutoring program to improve the spelling test performance of low-income, third- and fourth-grade students . Education and Treatment of Children, 10, 120—133.
39.
Maheady, L., Harper, G.F., Mallette, B., & Winstanley, N. (1991). Training and implementation requirements associated with the use of a classwide peer tutoring system. Education and Treatment of Children, 14, 177— 198.
40.
Maheady, L., & Sainato, D.M. (1985). The effects of peer tutoring upon the social status and social interaction patterns of high and low status elementary school students . Education and Treatment of Children, 8, 51—65.
41.
Marchand-Martella, N., & Martella, R.C. (1993). Evaluating the instructional behaviors of peers with mild disabilities who served as first-aid instructors for students with moderate disabilities. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 15(4), 1—17.
42.
Martella, R.C., Nelson, R., & Marchand-Martella, N.E. (1999). Research methods: Learning to become a critical research consumer. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
43.
McCavera, S. (1991). Music: Striking the right notes. BritishJournal of Education, 18, 146—148.
44.
Mercer, C.D., & Mercer, A.R. (2001). Teaching students with learning problems (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
45.
Miller, A.D., Barbetta, P.M., Drevno, G.E., Martz, S.A., & Heron, T.E. (1996). Math peer tutoring for students with specific learning disabilities. Learning Disability Forum, 21(3), 21—28.
46.
Miller, A.D., Barbetta, P., & Heron, T.E. (1994). START tutoring: Designing, training, implementing, and adapting tutoring programs for school and home settings. In R. Gardner, J. O. Cooper , T. E. Heron, W. L. Heward, J. Eshleman , & D. Sainato (Eds.), Behavioral analysis in education: Focus on measurably superior instruction (pp. 265—282). Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole.
47.
Osguthorpe, R.T., & Scruggs, T.E. (1986). Special education students as tutors: A review and analysis. Remedial and Special Education, 7(4), 15—26.
48.
Peach, W.J., & Moore, L. (1990, March). Peer tutoring to increase spelling scores of the mildly mentally handicapped. Journal of InstructionalPsychology, 17, 43—49.
49.
Pilewskie, A.A. (1995). E fects of peer tutoring on the percussion instrument performance of a student with moderate developmental disabilities. Unpublished master's thesis, The Ohio State University, Columbus.
50.
Prater, M.A., Serna, L., & Nakamura, K.K. (1999). Impact of peer teaching on the acquisition of social skills by adolescents with learning disabilities . Education and Treatment of Children, 22, 19—35.
51.
Schrader, B., & Valus, V. (1990). Disabled learners as able teachers: A cross-age tutoring project. Academic Therapy, 25, 589—597.
52.
Tabacek, D., McLaughlin, T.F., & Howard, V.F. (1994). Teaching preschool children with disabilities tutoring skills: Effects on preacademic behaviors. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 16(2), 43—63.
53.
Thomas, S.B., & Rapport, M.J.K. (1998). Least restrictive environment: Understanding the directions of the courts. The Journal of Special Education, 32, 66—78.
54.
Utley, C.A., Reddy, S.S., Delquadri, J.C., Greenwood, C.R., Mortweet, S.L., & Bowman, V. (2001). Classwide peer tutoring: An effective teaching procedure for facilitating the acquisition of health education and safety facts with students with developmental disabilities. Education and Treatment of Children, 24, 1—27.
55.
Ward, P., Smith, S.L., Makasci, K., & Crouch, D.W. (1998). Differential effects of peer-mediated accountability on task accomplishment in elementary physical education. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 17, 442—452.
56.
Ward, P., & Ward, M.C. (1996) The effects of peer tutoring on correct cardiopulmonary resuscitation performance by physical education majors. Journal of BehavioralEducation, 6, 331—342.
57.
Weinbaum, M.L. (1996). The e fect of peer tutoring on inappropriate behavior of a child with multiple disabilities while playing games. Unpublished master's thesis, The Ohio State University, Columbus.
58.
Wright, J.E., Cavanaugh, R.A., Sainato, D.M., & Heward, W.L. (1995). Somos todos ayudantes y estudiantes: Evaluation of a classwide peer tutoring program in a modified Spanish class for secondary students identified as learning disabled or academically at-risk. Education and Treatment of Children, 18, 33—52.
59.
Zimmerman, B.J., & Risemberg, R. (1997). Becoming a self-regulated writer: A social cognitive perspective. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 22, 73—101.
