How do students with disabilities benefit academically from their involvement in peer support interventions?

In addition to the social benefits associated with peer support interventions, research also is demonstrating the myriad ways that students with disabilities benefit academically. Below are examples of recent research studies showing the academic outcomes associated with peer support interventions.

Carter, E. W., Cushing, L. S., Clark, N. M., & Kennedy, C. H. (in press). Effects of peer support interventions on students’ access to the general curriculum and social interactions. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities.

Collins, B. C., Branson, T. A., Hall, M., & Rankin, S. W. (2001). Teaching secondary students with moderate disabilities in an inclusive academic classroom setting. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 13, 41-59.

Cushing, L. S., & Kennedy, C. H. (1997). Academic effects of providing peer support in general education classrooms on students without disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 30, 139-151.

Cushing, L. S., Kennedy, C. H., Shukla, S., Davis, J., & Meyer, K. A. (1997). Disentangling the effects of curriculum revision and social grouping within cooperative learning arrangements. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 12, 231-240.

Gilberts, G. H., Agran, M., Hughes, C., & Wehmeyer, M. (2001). The effects of peer delivered self-monitoring strategies on the participation of students with severe disabilities in general education classrooms. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 26, 25-36.

McDonnell, J., Mathot-Buckner, C., Thorson, N., & Fister, S. (2001). Supporting the inclusion of students with moderate and severe disabilities in junior high school general education classes: The effects of classwide peer tutoring, multi-element curriculum, and accommodations. Education and Treatment of Children, 24, 141-160.

Miracle, S. A., Collins, B. A., Schuster, J. W., & Grisham-Brown, J. (2001). Peer- versus teacher-delivered instruction: Effects on acquisition and maintenance. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 36, 373-385.

Sideridis, G. D., Utley, C., Greenwood, C. R., Delquadri, J., Dawson, H., Palmer, P., & Reddy, S. (1997). Classwide peer tutoring: Effects on the spelling performance and social interactions of students with mild disabilities and their typical peers in an integrated instructional setting. Journal of Behavioral Education, 7, 435-462.