Effects of Collaborative Peer Tutoring on Urban Seventh Graders

Abstract

The effects of a collaborative peer tutor teaching program on the self-concept and school-based attitudes of seventh-grade students at a large urban junior high school were explored. Many of the students in the sample had been previously identified to be at risk by traditional school identification strategies. The study consisted of the 282 subjects enrolled in the seventh grade at F.C. Hammond Junior High School in Alexandria, Virginia. The Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale was used to measure self-concept in subjects. The Demos D (Dropout) Scale was used to measure student tendency to drop out of school. Data were collected at two points during the 16-week period (immediately before program onset and immediately after program completion. A post hoc analysis revealed that students in the collaborative peer tutor teaching program demonstrated significant improvement in dropout scores compared with students in both the traditional class using group learning activities and the traditional class using individual learning activities. There were no significant differences between the traditional class groups. The results of this study indicate that a collaborative peer tutor teaching program can be effective in eliciting improvements in self-concept and attitudes toward school in seventh-grade urban students.