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Version 1.1 – Updated August 2021

Peer tutoring

Overview

  • Influence: Peer tutoring
  • Domain: Student Learning Strategies
  • Sub-Domain: Student perspectives in learning
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to accelerate
  • Influence Definition: Peer tutoring is a teaching strategy that uses students as tutors. The student pairs might work on academic, social, behavioral, functional, or even social skills. There are many different ways to pair students, such as by ability level, skills mastered, or age. Many studies look at the effects on both the tutor and tutee.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 16
  • Number of studies: 807
  • Number of students: 17,954
  • Number of effects: 1,571
  • Effect size: 0.51

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author First Author's Country Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Counselor Education and Supervision Phillips Counselor training via computer. 1983 Tutorial training of conservation 302 0 302 0.98
School Psychology Review Mathes & Fuchs USA The efficacy of peer tutoring in reading for students with mild disabilities: A best-evidence synthesis. 1994 Peer tutoring in reading 11 0 74 0.36
Contemporary Special Education Research: Syntheses of the Knowledge Base on Critical Instructional Issues Elbaum, Vaughn, Hughes & Moody USA How reading outcomes of students with disabilities are related to instructional grouping formats: A meta-analytic review 2000 Peer tutoring in reading 32 1,248 216 0.41
Journal of Educational Psychology Elbaum, Vaughn, Hughes & Moody USA How effective are one-to-one tutoring programs in reading for elementary students at risk for reading failure? A meta-analysis of the intervention research. 2000 One-one tutoring programs in reading 29 325 216 0.67
School Psychology Review Bowman-Perrott, Davis, Vannest, Williams, Greenword, & Parker USA Academic benefits of peer tutoring: A meta-analytic review of single-case research 2013 Peer tutoring 26 938 195 1.17
Journal of Educational Psychology Rohrbeck, Ginsburg-Block, Fantuzzo, & Miller USA Peer-assisted learning interventions with elementary school students: A meta-analytic review 2003 Peer assisted learning in elementary students 90 0 90 0.59
Journal of Educational Psychology Ginsburg-Block, Rohrbeck & Fantuzzo USA A meta-analytic review of social, self-concept, and behavioral outcomes of peer-assisted learning 2006 Peer-assisted learning 28 0 26 0.35
Learning Disabilities Research & Practice Kunsch, Jitendra, & Sood USA The Effects of Peer-Mediated Instruction in Mathematics for Students with Learning Problems: A Research Synthesis 2007 Peer mediated instruction in math with LD students 17 1,103 17 0.47
International Journal of Educational Research Shenderovich, Thurston, & Miller United Kingdom Cross-age tutoring in kindergarten and elementary school settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2016 Cross age tutoring 15 0 15 0.19
Review of Educational Research Dietrichson, Bog, Filges, & Jorgensen Denmark The effect of cooperative learning on academic achievement: A metaanalysis on the relationship between the study group size and effect size. 2017 Tutoring 36 0 36 0.36
Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Alegre-Ansuategui, Moliner, Lorenzo, & Maroto Spain Peer tutoring and academic achievement in mathematics: a meta-analysis. 2018 Peer tutoring 50 7,043 50 0.33
International Journal of Educational Research Zeneli, Thurston, & Roseth United Kingdom The influence of experimental design on the magnitude of the effect size-peer tutoring for elementary, middle and high school settings: A meta-analysis 2016 Peer tutoring 49 0 182 0.72
Journal of Educational Psychology Leung Hong Kong Preliminary empirical model of crucial determinants of best practice for peer tutoring on academic achievement. 2015 Peer tutoring 72 6,612 72 0.39
School Psychology International Leung Hong Kong An updated meta-analysis on the effects of peer tutoring on tutee achievement. 2018 Peer tutoring 16 0 46 0.43
doctoral dissertation Burton USA Cross-Age Peer Mentoring: A Meta-Analysis 2020 Cross-age peer mentors 6 685 6 0.45
Japanese Psychological Research Kobayashi Japan Learning by preparing-to-teach and teaching: A meta-analysis. 2018 Preparing to teach 28 0 28 0.37
TOTAL/AVERAGE 807 17,954 1,571 0.51

Confidence

The Confidence is the average of these four measures, each divided into five approximately equal groups and assigned a value from 1 to 5 based on the following criteria:

  • Number of Meta-analyses
    • 1 = 1
    • 2 = 2–3
    • 3 = 4–6
    • 4 = 7–9
    • 5 = 10+
  • Number of Studies
    • 1 = 1–10
    • 2 = 11–50
    • 3 = 51–200
    • 4 = 201–400
    • 5 = 400+
  • Number of Students
    • 1 = 1–2,500
    • 2 = 2,501–10,000
    • 3 = 10,000–20,000
    • 4 = 20,000–100,000
    • 5 = 100,001+
  • Number of Effects
    • 1 = 1–100
    • 2 = 101–300
    • 3 = 301–600
    • 4 = 601–1,200
    • 5 = 1,200+
Confidences
Number of Meta-Analyses Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Overall Confidence
Confidence Factor 5 5 3 5 5
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