Responds to an article in the April 1998 issue of this journal. Shares evidence about the effectiveness of peer tutoring. Discusses literacy tutoring of K-3 emergent readers by volunteers. Explains why tutoring is not teaching, and offers a model for successful tutoring practices. (SR)

Replies to an article in the same issue of this journal, which responded to this author's earlier article. Elaborates two fundamental points of disagreement (the definition of tutoring and the characteristics of the children being tutored). (SR)

Cross-age and peer-tutoring projects are innovative approaches which both harness untapped school resources and provide opportunities for children to help one another. In order to implement effective tutoring programs, there is a need to delineate precise tutoring behaviors employed, as well as the requisite behaviors of supervisors. A multiple…

Describes a project in which ninth graders wrote and made children's books for first graders. Describes students' enthusiasm, the interactions between first and ninth graders, and the benefits to all. (SR)

Describes "Reaching for the Stars," a program which develops teaming and mentoring skills in senior physics students. Phase 1 requires student pairs to design a rocket; Phase 2 pairs seniors with gifted second graders who build the rocket from written instructions; and in Phase 3, pairs of seniors create a children's storybook explaining…

The Playground Leader program at Wells Elementary School provides an opportunity for trained students to direct structured small and large group activity stations during recess. Fourth graders are leaders in the setting described in this document, but older students could be trained in other school settings. The playground leaders are chosen…

One of the programs included in "Effective Reading Programs...," this program serves over 3,100 first, second, and third grade, predominantly disadvantaged children. Approximately 2,000 junior high school students also participate in the program as cross-age tutors. Begun in 1972, the program focuses on reading and language development.…

Describes an activity that involved eight-year-old children writing stories for three- to five-year-old children. (DF)

This study compared the task activities and social interactions of 10 five-year-old kindergarten children in a mixed-age (MA) classroom of children age 4 through 6 to those of ten 5-year-old kindergartners in an organizationally equivalent same-age (SA) classroom. Compared to children in the SA class, kindergartners in the MA class remained…

The Study Buddies program is a partnership between an upper elementary classroom and a primary classroom. The program could be modified for any grade level as long as all the class members are willing to work with a different grade level class on a regular basis throughout the school year. Participating students and teachers plan social…

In this cross-age tutoring project, severely learning-disabled high school students tutored primary students who were having difficulty with reading. Tutors were trained in good teacher behaviors (giving positive and corrective feedback, avoiding overprompting) and in the use of established techniques for teaching reading. (JDD)

Describes the Reading Buddies program in which high school students tutor first graders at risk of failure in reading while receiving training provided by university professors. (SR)

An action research project focused on how a child's academic achievement is affected by his or her chronological age. The population consisted of kindergarten and third-grade students in a growing middle class community within a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Evidence for the existence of this problem was gathered from teacher surveys,…

This practicum was designed to provide low-achieving first graders with the opportunity to improve their concept of what a word is and motivate children to become more enthusiastic about the reading process. Cooperative learning, cross-age tutoring, and skill-oriented instruction were utilized in the classroom during the 3-month period to…