EFFECTS OF EXPLICIT TEACHING AND PEER TUTORING ON THE READING-ACHIEVEMENT OF LEARNING-DISABLED AND LOW-PERFORMING STUDENTS IN REGULAR CLASSROOMS

We examined the effects of explicit teaching and peer tutoring on the reading achievement of students with learning disabilities (LD) and nondisabled, low-performing readers (LP) in academically integrated general education classrooms. 24 general education teachers in grades 2-5, 44 LD students, and 24 LP students participated in the 16-week mainstream classroom-based study. 16 experimental teachers were assigned randomly to explicit teaching (ET) or explicit teaching plus peer tutoring (ET+PT) conditions; 8 teachers served as controls. Explicit teaching was conducted in teacher-directed group reading instruction, whereas peer tutoring occurred outside of class during independent reading time. Teachers and students were observed during teacher-directed reading instruction, and reading achievement was measured pre- and postintervention. Observations indicated no significant differences among groups on teacher or student behaviors during teacher-directed group instruction, and explicit teaching students did not achieve reliably better than controls. Students in the explicit teaching plus peer tutoring condition, however, scored significantly higher on reading fluency and comprehension measures than did explicit teaching or control students. Findings are discussed in terms of (a) the difficulty of modifying teachers' reading instruction to improve the reading achievement of LD and LP pupils, and (b) the potential of peer tutoring as an adjunct to reading instruction in general education.