In three experiments, we compared the effects of instructional arrangements that varied in: (a) teacher versus peer mediators, (b) methods used, (c) levels of student academic responding generated, and (d) content taught and tested. Instructional arrangements (i.e., tasks, structure, teacher position, teacher behavior) and students' levels of academic responding were measured by an observation system which served as an index of the independent variables. Students' accuracy on weekly spelling, arithmetic, and vocabulary tests and pre-and post-standardized achievement tests (Experiments 2 and 3 only) were the dependent variables. Results indicated that the classwide peer tutoring, compared to the teacher's procedure, produced more student academic responding and higher weekly test scores, regardless of treatment order or subject matter content (Experiment 1). The four lowest performing students in each class, in particular, benefited from peer tutoring, often performing as well as the other students. These findings were replicated in Experiments 2 and 3 wherein content taught/tested was also manipulated. Standardized test score gains were higher in those areas in which peer tutoring was used longest. Issues related to the functional analysis of instruction and achievement gain are discussed.DESCRIPTORS: academic behavior, peer tutoring, classroom, elementary studentsOnly within the last 5 years have standardized achievement outcomes been causally attributed to teaching (Becker, 1977(Becker, , 1978Becker & Gersten, 1982;Brophy, 1979). Investigations of teaching practices that produce academic gains are beginning to yield exciting information on how to arrange lessons, how these arrangements affect student behavior, and in the long term, how they

We conducted a study designed to assess implementation of the classwide peer tutoring program and the relationship between implementation variation and student outcome. A clinical replication design was used. Five volunteer elementary teachers were trained to implement the program; their implementation was monitored for 19 consecutive weeks during 1 school year. Overall, the results indicated that specific variations in program implementation were associated with students' responses to treatment. It was also demonstrated that different teachers' applications of the program produced differential levels of student outcome. Implementation factors related to lower spelling achievement were (a) reduced opportunities to receive program sessions, (b) reduced probabilities of students' participation in program opportunities, (c) too many students assigned unchallenging spelling words, and (d) reduced rates of daily point earning reflecting lower levels of spelling practice during tutoring sessions. The implications of these findings and methods of preventing these implementation problems are discussed in the context of quality assurance and social validity.

For the past 18 years, we have engaged in a program of research designed to improve the literacy of poor culturally and linguistically diverse students and English language learners (ELL) in urban elementary schools. Intervention research has addressed the issue of what works best, how it can be applied and sustained schoolwide, and how computer and information management technology can improve quality and reduce teachers' work loads. The net product of this research is the ClassWide Peer Tutoring Learning Management System (CWPT-LMS). In this article, we report on use of the CWPT-LMS in the literacy instruction of elementary-level ELL. Five ELL teachers and 117 students in a multiracial/multiethnic urban elementary school, including students with disabilities, participated in the study. Results indicated that ELL made considerable progress in mastering the curriculum over periods ranging from 15 to 21 weeks of school across teachers, teachers implemented CWPT to high standards of fidelity, students' and teachers' satisfaction with the CWPT program was high, and consultation improved program implementation and student outcomes of all but one classroom. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Application of Skinner's principles to socially significant human behavior had been well articulated by 1968 (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968). Applications of these principles by Baer, Wolf, Risley, Hall, Hart, Christophersen, and their colleagues were in evidence as early as 1964 in the homes, schools, and clinics of inner-city Kansas City, Kansas, at the Juniper Gardens Housing Project. The work continues relatively uninterrupted, having contributed extensively to the literature of applied behavior analysis and the lives of community residents. This article describes the project and illustrates how applied behavioral research was initiated and extended, how the work addressed general concerns in psychology, and how it continues to address contemporary concerns within the community.

Progress monitoring and data-based intervention decision making have become key components of providing evidence-based early childhood special education services. Unfortunately, there is a lack of tools to support early childhood service providers' decision-making efforts. The authors describe a Web-based system that guides service providers through a decision-making process informed by child performance on Infant and Toddler IGDIs (Individual Growth and Development Indicators), the provider's professional judgment, and information from the child's primary caregiver. Using a case example, the authors describe how a service provider integrates the system into an existing service delivery model. Finally, they describe barriers and potential solutions to implementation within the context of a traditional early childhood service delivery model and implications for policy and practice.