Like self-help, peer tutoring in schools has multiple benefits that extend far beyond improved grades. It activates and empowers students—an often underutilized resource in education—and builds a community ethos of cooperative values.
While traditional peer tutoring programs focus almost exclusively on the impact of tutoring on the tutees, the models developed by the Peer Research Laboratory emphasize the special benefits for the tutors—learning through teaching, and being helped by giving help.
The following data indicates how crucial the act of teaching someone else is for a student’s own retention and comprehension.
Active Learning and Retention
| Method of Learning | Average Retention Rate |
|---|---|
| Reading | 10% of what we read |
| Hearing | 20% of what we hear |
| Seeing | 30% of what we see |
| Seeing and Hearing | 50% of what we both see and hear |
| Discussing with Others | 70% of what we discuss with others |
| Personal Experience | 80% of what we experience personally |
| Teaching Someone Else | 90% of what we teach someone else |
Key Findings in Peer Education
- Accelerated Reading Growth: At-risk high school students raised their reading scores by almost three years during a five-month period as a result of tutoring fourth graders in reading.
- Cost-Effectiveness: Peer tutoring is the most cost-effective way to increase math and reading achievement when compared with computer-assisted instruction, reduced class sizes, or lengthened school days.
- Positive Attitudes: Both peer tutors and the students being tutored report significantly improved attitudes toward school as a result of their participation.
- Self-Esteem: In helping others, tutors reinforce their own knowledge and skills, building self-confidence and self-esteem.
A New Tutor-Centered Model
The Peer Research Laboratory has designed a new model to answer a vital question: “If the tutor role is so effective, why not give all students the opportunity to be a tutor?”
We have applied this model in a number of demonstration programs. Here are two examples:
- Whole-Class Tutoring: At one elementary school, whole classes of students, regardless of individual academic ability, act as tutors to younger students. For example, sixth graders are matched with third graders, and second graders tutor kindergartners. This program shifts the teacher’s role from a simple lecturer to a facilitator of the collaborative learning process.
- Reciprocal Tutoring: In a high school program designed to eliminate the hierarchical relationship between tutor and tutee, tutees were involved in regular group meetings with tutors for joint planning, training, and support. Tutees were then offered the opportunity to become tutors themselves the following semester. Compared to students in traditional tutoring programs, these tutees had a higher rate of course completion and achieved significantly higher grades.
Features of the Tutor-Centered Model
Our model relies on four core elements:
- In-Depth Preparation: Extensive training of peer tutors and ongoing reflection on the tutoring process.
- Reciprocal Exchange: All students participate in both giving and receiving help, removing the stigma traditionally associated with receiving academic assistance.
- Pathways to Leadership: Being a tutee is treated as direct preparation for becoming a tutor.
- Systemic Shift: Scaling these practices leads to the creation of student-centered, peer-focused schools.