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The purpose of this investigation was to compare qualitative and quantitative outcomes associated with peer tutoring versus teacher–directed guided notes in world history for secondary–level students with mild disabilities. Sixteen students with mild disabilities (15 of whom had learning disabilities) participated in a nine–week quarter of one of the two instructional conditions. The same special education teachers taught students during world history classes. Measures included pre– and posttests of reading fluency, comprehension strategies, and content tests, including end–of–chapter tests, cumulative–delayed–recall tests, and a delayed–recall end–of–year final exam covering the entire academic year. In addition, qualitative procedures were employed, including interviews of teachers and students regarding their instructional preferences. Findings indicated that students who participated in peer tutoring significantly outperformed those who participated in the guided–notes condition on content–area tests. No significant differences were obtained on oral–reading–fluency measures, but students in the tutoring condition performed significantly better at using a reading comprehension summarization strategy independently, and at remembering the strategy steps. Results of student interviews suggested that students responded positively overall to tutoring and guided notes, and provided specific relevant insights on each procedure. Students in the tutoring condition indicated that the time spent tutoring felt like one of the shortest academic quarters for them. Findings are discussed with respect to both benefits and challenges associated with implementing peer tutoring in high school special education content–area classes.
Mastropieri et al. (2003) studied this question.