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When I walk into our district middle and high schools, I see special education teachers who are stretched with high caseloads, long meetings, hundreds of emails, managing students who aren’t attending, and covering classes when subs can’t be found. Our amazing teachers leave each day with limited stamina to do anything creative or new because they are just keeping their heads above water until the next break.

Secondary principals come to me equally as drained and worried about burning out their staff, unsure of how they can help. Together we are often ill-equipped to meet those ambitious outcomes for our students that we all want to achieve. As many of us face dwindling budgets with increasing costs, it is hard to begin to imagine solutions that might provide any sort of relief. And yet, there are some solutions that might be available if we look at the resources available to us in the incredible talent of our existing staff and the students who spend their days inside our buildings. Peer tutoring is one of those amazing solutions that could be implemented at any school with huge impacts.

A quick Google search shows that peer tutoring has a variety of definitions and a plethora of research behind it. In essence, it is pairing students to support learning. This simple concept can work in many ways to adapt to the unique systems of any school. In over a decade of implementation within our school district, we have found four essential components for schools to create a peer tutoring program. By planning with these elements in mind, any school can implement a creative and innovative peer tutoring system at little to no cost. (To read more about one middle school’s successful journey with peer tutoring, visit bit.ly/43XvNas.)

Element 1. Recruiting

The first step for implementing peer tutoring is planning ahead to recruit peer tutors for the semester or school year. Many schools plan to have peer tutoring as a course offering in the course catalog to allow for students to submit their interest in the same way they would for any elective. Even so, students need to know what peer tutoring is, what their responsibilities will be, and what they will learn from the experience. Consider ways to highlight the course through websites, flyers, announcements, or meetings throughout the spring. Many schools start by recruiting peer tutors from the National Honor Society.

Keep in mind that any student can benefit from serving as a peer tutor. Some of the very best peer tutors are struggling learners, those who might not fit in well at the school, and neurodiverse learners whose creative learning approaches are desirable in peer tutoring.

Also, consider advertising peer tutoring to staff in the building. School counselors are wonderful partners to recruit. Work closely with them to figure out the best ways to identify a recruiting approach. After you create this initial system, you may find that other teachers in the building are often skilled at identifying and recruiting students as tutors.

Next, consider a process to learn about those who are interested. Interview their current teachers, survey the students, and consider where they could be a good fit. A student who is struggling in reading might not be the best peer tutor in a language arts class. However, they might be an amazing fit in math or physical education.

Element 2. Matching Students and Needs

Now that we have students and know more about them, we need to match them to needs. Have your teachers create a wish list of where they want tutors in classes. As a special education director, I help place peer tutors in our life skills or affective needs classrooms. However, peer tutors can provide support in inclusive classrooms for students of any need. You might have a student who is often not attending school. Could they have a peer tutor during their first period to check in and motivate them to come to school? What about that science class with several English learners? Another class with many gifted students might benefit from small groups working on extensions. Peer tutoring can have far-reaching implementation depending on the needs of your school.

Peer tutoring at Centaurus High School in Lafayette, CO. PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE BRENNER

Keep in mind that peer tutors are not part of IEP services or replacements for them. However, the use of a peer tutor might help a student or classroom needing less specialized instruction as it might be more universally designed for success. A good match can absolutely help students with special needs remain in their least restrictive environments with limited support and, over time, reduce the need for more extensive IEP services. Again, peer tutors should not be placed in classrooms to fulfill IEP service minutes; they are not specialized service providers.

Once a wish list is created to determine where peer tutors are needed or desired, during which classes and which periods of the day, then review the list of students who expressed interest to assign them to a class or student for tutoring. In real terms, this means that peer tutors spend a class period in a classroom as a tutor during a period when they are available. There is not one set period of the day where peer tutors meet and have a class in a dedicated room. They must be able to operate with some direction in a classroom and then follow up with some coursework to supplement their tutoring for course grades and ongoing learning. More on how and when that coursework happens falls under element 4.

Element 3. Permission

When sharing information about students and their unique needs, consider what permissions are needed. Spend some time thinking about what communications you should have with parents of peer tutors, informing them of this unique role, as well as what communications and permissions you want to have for those being tutored. We often ask peer tutors to sign a confidentiality agreement noting that students are not to disclose any personally identifiable information about students they tutor or any educational records from their work as a tutor. A letter to our peer tutor families explaining what peer tutoring is, who the teacher leader is for the program, the requirements for it and understanding of confidentiality expectations is helpful. We ask parents to sign that they understand these expectations and that they give permission for their student to be matched as a peer tutor before we complete the matching process.

Lastly, consider a similar permission slip for families of students who are receiving tutoring. This might not be needed if a tutor is assigned for general classroom assistance. However, it becomes more critical when we are asking them to support specific students in a class where we need to disclose more information about a student’s disability and needs.

Element 4. Coursework

The final step for implementing peer tutoring is to have ongoing coursework for the peer tutors to learn and receive course credit. This can occur in a variety of ways depending on what works for your school. Some schools have a monthly lunch group or a group that meets twice a month after school. Some schools offer a half day course before school starts, a virtual platform for coursework and reflections, or hold virtual meetings after school. Any other approach can work for your tutors and teachers.

Some of the very best peer tutors are struggling learners, those who might not fit in well at the school, and neurodiverse learners whose creative learning approaches are desirable in peer tutoring. 

Course content can vary as well yet may focus on disability awareness (if that is the focus of your program) or inclusive practices. Other coursework often focuses on prompting levels in terms of tutoring support, working independently in classrooms, and goals for tutoring. As the year goes on, these sessions might offer tips for working with a particular student or classroom and include YouTube videos or articles on topics of interest. I’ve seen some great monthly classes where the key focus is simply celebrating successes and challenges for the group to have authentic problem-solving discussion. Remember that this coursework also requires a system for daily attendance so that the tutor receives credit for tutoring and completes a daily or weekly reflection log about their work. These two items can be used to give a course grade or pass/fail rating for course credit.

After implementing peer tutoring, the incredible and positive impacts of the program appear almost immediately. What may be less apparent is the role this program can play in inspiring future educators. What better way to inspire someone to teach than to offer them real teaching experience?

As I observe tutors in school after school, they very frequently share with me that teaching is now something they are good at and something they see as a career pathway. I’ve had adults come back to share their stories as a peer tutor in how it gave them purpose and meaning when they were most lost as a teenager. Over the years, I’ve had adults share their stories about how they were tutored in middle school, and it changed their lives, learning to be more independent, and being able to show their teachers that they didn’t need an adult hovering over them all the time.

Conclusion

By implementing a peer tutoring program that aligns to these four key elements, our special educators can find some renewed joy in the work of teaching. We can begin to rejuvenate our teams if they are burned out. We can begin to see their excitement and hope for our students, both peer tutors and those being tutored, and for the inclusive future that we envision for all of them.

Michelle Brenner is the executive director of special education for the Boulder Valley School District in Boulder, CO, and co-author of Redesigning Special Education Systems through Collaborative Problem Solving: A Guidebook for School Leaders.