Abstract.

Martin P. Kavanagh, Jr.

Peer Tutoring for Vocabulary for Students with Disabilities.

2017-2018.

S. Jay Kuder, Ed. D.

Master of Arts in Special Education.

This study examined the effects of peer tutoring on the vocabulary acquisition of students with disabilities in a middle school setting. This study included twelve 8th grade students in co-taught classes. The participants included two Hispanic students, six Caucasian students, and 4 African American students. All participating students are 13 or 14 years of age. The 12 students in this study are classified as learning disabled, multiply disabled, or autistic.

Participating students worked in pairs for twelve weeks. The participants are from three separate classes, each class containing four participating students. Each class also included non-disabled students, who received instruction regularly with no changes to their daily activities.

Following peer tutoring implementation, 9 of the 12 students increased their accuracy on grade-level vocabulary quizzes. For the remaining 3 students, one student’s score stayed the same, and the other 2 only saw small decreases while maintaining a passing grade. Results of this study show the effectiveness of peer tutoring strategies for vocabulary acquisition.