Direct Replication of a Cross-Age Tutoring Program Involving Handicapped Adolescents and Children

Abstract

A cross-age tutoring program designed to improve school performance of tutors (adolescents classified as emotionally disturbed) and tutees (children classified as educable mentally retarded) was replicated in an urban public school district. Results of the present investigation were similar to those of an earlier study in that both tutors and tutees improved on academic and social measures of school performance. Current findings, therefore, enable increased confidence to be placed in a conclusion that the cross-age tutoring program is a practical and effective approach for use in schools as well as an initiative worthy of additional empirical investigation by school psychologists. Discussion focuses on the importance of the findings from the current investigation, the importance of replication in applied research in school psychology, and directions for continued empirical investigation.