EFFECTS OF SAME-AGE PEER TUTORING ON THE SPELLING PERFORMANCE OF A MAINSTREAMED ELEMENTARY LD STUDENT

Abstract. The effects of a peer-tutoring procedure on the spelling behavior of a mainstreamed elementary-school learning disabled student were investigated in an AB single-subject design. Overall results indicated that the subject obtained greater accuracy on the spelling tests during the peer-tutoring condition than dur-ing the baseline condition. Self-reports and ratings on the treatment Indicated that both the peer tutor and the tutored student felt they had improved their spelling performance. With the instructional, social, and temporal in-tegration of the handicapped child into the regular school system (Public Law 94-142), ad-ditional expectations and time constraints are placed on the classroom teacher. Not only is one teacher expected to provide academic instruc-tion to a group of 25 to 35 students of varying abilities and talents, he/she is required to and accountable for meeting the specific needs of any mainstreamed student. With the large dif-ferences in skills and academic repertoires of students in a mainstreamed classroom, a single common instructional method may not effective-ly meet the academic requirements of individual students. The obvious need for individualization and remediation increases the responsibilities of the professional teacher in terms of instruction, organization, and time. To help offset these ad-ditional demands on the classroom teacher, the use of a peer-tutoring procedure may present an alternative which ensures that the mainstreamed student receives the appropriate instruction without utilizing a large portion of the teacher's time. Peer tutoring has been defined by Ehly and Larsen (1980) as children teaching other chil-dren, usually on a one-to-one basis. Cohen, Kirk, and Dickson (1972) described peer tutor-ing as a situation in which a person provides in-structional assistance and guidance to another person. The use of students to tutor other stu-dents in academic areas is increasingly being used and advocated (Devin-Sheehan, Feldman