Power of Peers in the Classroom

Karen R. Harris, EdD, is Regents Professor Emeritus and the former Mary Emily Warner Endowed Professor of Education at Arizona State University, and a former general and special education teacher. Her research focuses on theoretically based interventions for the development of academic and self-regulation abilities among at-risk students and those with disabilities, as well as effective models of inservice teacher preparation for writing instruction for all students. She developed the Self-Regulated Strategy Development model of strategies instruction. The former editor of the Journal of Educational Psychology, Dr. Harris is coauthor or coeditor of several books and over 200 peer-reviewed publications. She is a recipient of the Distinguished Researcher Award for special education research from the American Educational Research Association and the Career Research Award from the International Council for Exceptional Children. She is President of Division 15 (Educational Psychology) of the American Psychological Association and has served as President of the Division for Research of the Council for Exceptional Children.Lynn Meltzer, PhD, is President and Co-Founder of the Research Institute for Learning and Development (ResearchILD) in Lexington, Massachusetts. Since the 1980s, her clinical work, research, publications, and presentations have focused on understanding the complexity of learning and attention differences. Dr. Meltzer is founder and Program Chair of the annual Executive Function and Learning Differences Conference, which she established in 1984. A Fellow and past president of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities, she served for 30 years as an Associate in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Child Development at Tufts University. Dr. Meltzer has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences, and has received many awards, including the Outstanding Researcher Award from the Council for Learning Disabilities and the Innovative Program of the Year Award from Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD). Together with her ResearchILD colleagues, she has developed SMARTS, an evidence-based executive function curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school students that is used bv schools in 48 states across the United States and in 38 countries worldwide (www.smarts-ef.org).

"Edited and written by leading scholars, this book not only makes a compelling case for why peers should be a central element in any teaching strategy, but also shows how to make it happen. This is an extraordinary resource for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers. In a word, it’s a masterpiece!"--Donald D. Deshler, PhD, Williamson Family Distinguished Professor of Special Education, University of Kansas"The Power of Peers in the Classroom pulls together the very best of what works for engaging peers in the social lives and learning of students with disabilities. This compelling book outlines practical pathways educators can use to draw upon the most widely available--and often most effective--source of natural support in schools. These approaches are also promising in their impact on the peers who get involved--the opportunities they receive to get to know and learn alongside their classmates with disabilities can have a lasting influence on their attitudes, expectations, and future pathways.”--Erik Carter, PhD, Department of Special Education, Vanderbilt University"An invaluable resource for classroom teachers in K-12 who are preparing their students to be college and career ready. The in-depth, research-based instructional strategies relate directly to teaching students to collaboratively problem-solve, support each other in the learning process, and accomplish goals together. Teachers will take away an understanding of why each strategy works and how to put it to use in their classrooms and daily lesson planning. Harnessing the power of peers will increase students' achievement in the classroom and in life--just what every teacher hopes for."--Barbara Friedlander, teacher and professional development leader, Montgomery County, Maryland -

• 1. Executive Function and Peer Mentoring: Fostering Metacognitive Awareness, Effort, and Academic Success, Lynn Meltzer, Michael Greschler, Katelyn Kurkul, & Wendy Stacey2. Peer Interactions in the Content Areas: Using Differentiated Instruction Strategies, Kelley S. Regan, Anya S. Evmenova, Margo A. Mastropieri, & Thomas E. Scruggs3. “Thank You for Helping Me Write a Better Paper”: Peer Support in Learning to Write, Anne Mong Cramer & Linda H. Mason4. Using Collaborative Strategic Reading to Promote Student Discourse, Karla Scornavacco, Brooke Moore, Alison Boardman, Cristin Jensen Lasser, Pamela Buckley, & Janette K. Klingner5. Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies to Improve Students' Word Recognition and Reading Comprehension, Devin M. Kearns, Douglas Fuchs, Lynn S. Fuchs, Kristen L. McMaster, & Laura Saenz6. Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies in Mathematics, Sarah R. Powell & Lynn S. Fuchs7. Maximizing the Benefits of Working Cooperativelywith Peers, Kimber L. Wilkerson & Jenna L. Lequia8. Peer-Supported Instruction for English Learners, Cara Richards-Tutor, Terese Aceves, & Colleen Reutebuch9. The Power of Preschool Peers to Influence Social Outcomes for Children with Special Needs, Phillip S.Strain & Edward H. Bovey II