Teaching math skills to at-risk students using home-based peer tutoring

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Special Education

Background:

• Children with deficits in mathematics often face challenges that can be exacerbated by histories of abuse or neglect.
• Peer tutoring offers a potential avenue for targeted academic support within a familiar environment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of home-based peer tutoring for teaching mathematics skills to girls with math deficits and histories of abuse or neglect.
• To assess the maintenance of learned math skills over time.

Main Methods:

• A multiple baseline design was employed with 4 girls in home-based tutoring dyads.
• An expert tutor trained one peer tutor, who then instructed a tutee in 3-minute sessions on specific math skills.
• Interventions were adjusted for skill improvement, and maintenance was tested after 3-5 months.

Main Results:

• All participants demonstrated improved performance on targeted mathematics skills.
• Accuracy gains were observed across all participants following the peer tutoring intervention.
• Long-term maintenance of accuracy was noted for 7 out of 12 assessed skills after a 3-5 month period without practice.

Conclusions:

• Home-based peer tutoring is an effective intervention for improving mathematics skills in vulnerable girls.
• The peer tutoring model facilitates skill acquisition and demonstrates potential for long-term skill retention.
• This approach offers a viable and accessible method for supporting children with learning deficits in home settings.