What is it?
Peer Tutoring is when students work with other students to have their questions answered and their work supported. While this can happen within the classroom, it can also be beneficial to have students from higher grades be able to work with younger students. Working with others is a skill necessary outside the classroom, and peer tutoring is a great chance to teach the complementary skills needed to have this work.
When to use it?
Peer tutoring can be used at any time in a classroom, however it must be properly set up or it could turn into unproductive time. It can be used when a student needs help but the teacher is not available to help at that moment, or it could be used as a set part of class where students can ask their peers for help on their work.
Who to use it with?
This can be used with most students who are able to work with others and don't need many prompts to stay on task. The peer who is tutoring needs to be knowledgeable in the subject and be mature enough to work with other students properly. The student who is working with the tutor needs to be able to ask proper questions so that the tutor can help them more efficiently.
How to Progress monitor?
This can be progress monitored by observing the students as they work, their grades, as well as self-rated rubrics to help the students know if they have improved on their work.
Implementation:
In order to implement this support, the teacher must cover how each student in the peer tutoring needs to work, including how to ask questions, and how to help students without being rude or giving away answers. This may take a few class periods to review and then practice before students can continue this on their own. Below is a picture of a student helping another on a math assignment. They have worked together before, so they are comfortable asking each other questions and being guided towards the correct answer. In order to get to this level of work in this support, the teacher had to spend a few class periods using roleplay, examples, and guided work in order to see the students were ready to work on their own.
Citations:
Byrd, D. E.. (1990). Peer Tutoring with the Learning Disabled: A Critical Review. The Journal of Educational Research, 84(2), 115–118. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.www2.lib.ku.edu/stable/27540419
Houston, K., & Lazenbatt, A. (1996). A peer-tutoring scheme to support independent learning and group project work in mathematics. Assessment & Evaluation In Higher Education, 21(3), 251.
Latino, J. A., & Unite, C. M. (2012). Providing academic support through peer education. New Directions For Higher Education, 2012(157), 31-43.
Houston, K., & Lazenbatt, A. (1996). A peer-tutoring scheme to support independent learning and group project work in mathematics. Assessment & Evaluation In Higher Education, 21(3), 251.
Latino, J. A., & Unite, C. M. (2012). Providing academic support through peer education. New Directions For Higher Education, 2012(157), 31-43.