The role of assignment rationale on the attitudinal effects of peer tutoring is examined. Tutors had more positive attitudes than tutees when they had been given a competence or physical characteristic rationale but not when the tutors were provided a chance rationale or no rationale. (Author/GK)

Two studies compared (1) the pre- and posttest music performances of beginning fourth grade band students in tutor and tutee pairs and (2) the effects of tutor approval and disapproval (error-correction) on student music performance. (Author/SR)

A study that compared two instructional strategies for teaching reading comprehension to fourth-grade students found no differences between a peer-assisted procedure involving 25 students working in dyads to ask and answer questions and a teacher-assisted procedure involving 23 students working alone to develop questions followed by class…

A study investigated the efficacy of using the neurological impress method in peer tutoring during reading instruction. The neurological impress reading method is a unison reading procedure in which the student and teacher or tutor read aloud simultaneously and quickly, with the student placed slightly in front of the teacher so that the teacher's…

Presents samples of talk in peer writing conferences in an urban fourth grade class. Points out that talk in peer writing conferences fosters an exchange of ideas between students; is crucial for helping students revise first drafts; leads to greater sense of community in the classroom; and creates a classroom environment in which students'…

Examines writing conferences (between teacher and student, and between two students) in one fourth-grade classroom to see how the students engaged in sophisticated talk about writing, as they consistently assumed the roles of critical but curious readers capable of telling their peers when they were confused about a piece of writing or how they…

Investigated the relationship between peer-tutoring interactions of dyads and experience in a reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT) program in mathematics. Analysis of 40 at-risk fourth- and fifth-grade students indicates that RPT participants displayed significantly higher rates of mathematics achievement, social acceptance, and other favorable measures…

This study used a multiple-baseline-across-subjects design to assess the effectiveness of a peer tutoring intervention for fluency in basic math facts. Specifically, this study assessed the rate of recall of multiplication facts throughout the intervention period and determined whether the progress was matched by improvement in actual classwork.…

Achievement gains of 78 fourth-grade students taught with an individualized approach using peer teaching were compared with gains of 64 fourth-grade students in another school who were taught with a basal-reader approach. Analysis of results from pretesting and posttesting with the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills indicated that the gains of the…

This experiment studied the separate effects on student achievement and time-on-task of three components of the team learning technique, Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD): cooperative rewards, group tasks, and a focused schedule of instruction. (Author/GK)

Presents a rationale for studying collaborative writing and evidence that coauthors can learn about the writing process from each other. Explores collaborative writing as an activity that can help students expand their repertoire of writing strategies and their mastery of written communication skills. Describes a case study of fourth and fifth…

The relative impact of structured peer learning and group reward components of a reciprocal peer tutoring intervention on mathematics performance of 64 academically at-risk students in grades 4 and 5 was examined. Results indicate additive and distinctive effects of both components, with the highest gain for the component combination. (SLD)

A 2 x 3 factorial design was employed to assess the efficacy of peer teaching and token reward contingencies (contingent tokens, noncontingent "yoked" tokens, and no tokens) in a remedial reading program. The relationship between on-task performance and reading improvement was also assessed. Forty-two fourth grade to sixth grade rural Appalachian…

Concludes that students involved in a peer-interaction model and an individual teacher-student conference model of recreational reading instruction obtained higher scores on a reading attitude measure than students in a sustained silent reading and a control model. Students involved in the peer-interaction model received significantly higher…

Two teachers taught a unit to two classes of students. High- and low-ability students did better in the small group approach, while medium ability students did better in the large group. Analyses of group processes indicated students benefited from peer tutoring processes which occurred in small groups. (Author/DWH)