Class Wide Peer Tutoring Strategy Analysis

According to Friend & Bursuck (2002), Class Wide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) is a type of type of effective instructional strategy that has been developed to teach specific information to both students with disabilities and those without disabilities or students who have a variety of skill levels. In this strategy, both sets of students work together in learning a certain set of information. CWPT strategy uses a combination of instructional materials and components among which include partner pairing, systematic content coverage, immediate error correction, regular testing, and team competition as well point earning among others. All the students in a classroom are actively engaged in the learning process with CWPT. The strategy allows the student to practice basic skills systematically and in a fun way regardless of whether they are disabled or not. CWPT strategy is carried out in such a way that it will encourage positive student interaction through pairing and tutoring (Bender, Vail, & Scott, 1995).
In the CWPT strategy, both sets of students are taught by peers who are highly trained to present daily or weekly set of information where they can provide immediate feedback for both correct and incorrect information.
Engagement in the daily lessons allows each of the partners
to assume the role of both the tutor and the tutee for both students with disabilities and without disabilities. The strategy uses immediate response feedback, error correction, and a specific technique of tutoring that benefits both sets of set of students. When the strategy is structured in the correct ways, it allows teachers to engage all students actively in the classroom. They also monitor processes simultaneously through daily and weekly assessments (Giangreco, 1997). Barnard-Brak, Lechtenberger, & Lan, (2010) say that read-aloud accommodation is another strategy that has been proposed as one of the ways that can help to remove barriers that students with disabilities face the process of reading comprehensions. There have been many empirical studies examining how effective the strategy is, and the outcomes have recommended the strategy as effective. According to a meta-analysis conducted to examine the effect of the strategy, it showed that both students with disabilities and students without disabilities benefited from the strategy while both are in the same classroom setting. However, the strategy effect size for students with disabilities was larger than the effect size for students without disabilities. Also, the analysis revealed some of the important factors that have an influence on read-aloud accommodations. One such revelation is that the strategy effect was stronger when the area of study was math. Therefore, the strategy would be of great importance if it were to be incorporated into the classrooms where both students with disabilities and students without disabilities are learning together. Additionally, it would be more effective in teaching certain subject areas such as math as asserted by Hurst & Smerdon (2000). Among other strategies that have shown that they are effective in putting both students with disabilities and students without disabilities in the same classroom is the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Universal Design for Instruction (UDI).
The universal design strategies are a framework for issuing instructions that aim to include different sets of students specifically students with disabilities and students without disabilities. The strategy helps in creating an inclusive environment for students with disabilities specifically physical and mental impairment that would have a limiting factor on some life activities. The strategy helps in removing barriers such as (Lee et al.,
2010):
• Students with visual impairments not being in a position to receive learning materials in an accessible format
• Hearing impaired students being exposed to lectures that require hearing
• Students in wheelchairs having classrooms in inaccessible locations
• Students with autism and fine gross motor problems being made to take impromptu tests or engage in handwritten activities
• Students with general learning disabilities receiving accommodations that do not enable them to demonstrate their knowledge The strategy helps in accommodating students in learning environments with other students without disabilities. It makes the existing facilities readily available and accessible to the students with disabilities. The strategy involves making changes to the equipment and devices, adjusting them appropriately for examination purposes, and providing them with qualified readers and interpreters. The idea behind the strategy is access for all students. It also involves various approaches like presenting learning in multiple formats so that students with disabilities can have easy access to the materials according to Mamiseishvili & Koch (2010).