Cross-Age Tutoring

Description of the Strategy

For years, educators have used a procedure whereby older, more proficient students teach younger students a new skill or provide practice opportunities for skill deficits. This instructional method is known as crossage tutoring and is distinctly different from peer tutoring, which typically involves students of similar ability levels and age teaching each other or practicing novel skills, although the term peer tutoring often refers to both types in the literature. In general, crossage tutoring involves a student who has already mastered the material teaching the skill to a younger child. For instance, a fifth-grade student might teach a first-grade student simple addition.

Tutoring “packages” typically involve training for the tutor, which includes how to (a) present the material, (b) ...