The Power of Peers: Setting a Course for 21st Century Skills in Inclusive Classrooms

General education classrooms are growing increasingly diverse and include students with wide-ranging abilities, including children with disabilities, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and children from poverty. Coupled with the need to implement 21st Century Skills, teachers need the knowledge and skills to implement research-supported interventions in a flexible and student-centered manner. Based on these needs, the purpose of this chapter is to profile two strategies that have been exemplified in the content area of reading (i.e., class-wide peer tutoring, repeated reading). Both strategies are supported by research, are particularly suited for differentiation of instruction in classrooms that include diverse learners, and can incorporate various aspects of 21st century skills. It is hoped that teachers will gain the skills to implement effective interventions that support both the practice of reading and 21st century skills