Classwide peer tutoring (CWPT) procedures have been shown to substantially increase academic performance. Other positive outcomes, incidentally observed, include enhanced prosocial behaviors and increased appropriate interactions among peers. This study examined the direct effects of a CWPT program on peer relations and academic performance. A mixed first- and second-grade general education classroom participated in a CWPT spelling intervention with a comparable control classroom. The study consisted of three phases-Baseline (4 weeks), Intervention (6 weeks), and Follow-up (4 weeks). Dependent measures included sociometric peer rating scales and spelling test scores. Results were analyzed by determining mean change for each participant and each social status group for both experimental and control classrooms. The data indicate that CWPT positively influenced students' peer acceptance and improved spelling performance.

No description available.

The present review examined the effectiveness of three peer tutoring programs: cross-age peer tutoring, Classwide Peer Tutoring (CWPT), and Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS), for elementary students in the academic areas of math and reading. The research reviewed indicates students who participated in cross-age peer tutoring and CWPT had improved test scores on basic math facts as well as increased math scores on standardized assessments. Students also showed improvement in reading fluency, reading comprehension, spelling, and reading level after participating in cross-age peer tutoring and CWPT. High-, average-, and low-achieving students as well as students in special Ill education benefitted from these peer tutoring programs. In addition, both tutors and tutees received benefits from the tutoring programs, although fewer studies examined outcomes for tutors. Although cross-age peer tutoring, and CWPT resulted in mostly positive outcomes, this was not the case for the PALS program. Students participating in this program demonstrated little change from pre- to post-assessment. Since the PALS studies were better designed with tighter experimental control, it is less likely results were due to another variable. The cross-age and CWPT studies lacked the tight experimental control of the PALS studies.