Differential Effects of Peer Presence Variations during Embedded Instruction for Preschoolers with Intensive Needs
Peer presence during embedded instruction is neutral—teachers can teach with peers at the table without losing impact.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team ran embedded instruction for preschoolers with developmental delays.
They compared two set-ups: teacher embeds goals while peers watch, or teacher works one-to-one with no peers.
An alternating-treatments design flipped the two conditions day by day in the same classroom.
What they found
Both set-ups taught the goals.
Scores rose when peers were present and when they were absent.
No clear winner emerged; peer presence neither helped nor hurt learning.
How this fits with other research
Collier et al. (1986) first showed that peer prompting lifts communication.
Hawkins-Lear et al. (2025) now shows you can skip the prompting and still win; just having peers nearby is enough.
Odom et al. (1986) pitted peer initiations against teacher prompts and found teacher prompts created longer talk chains.
The new study lines up with that: the teacher’s embedded targets drove learning, not the peer variable.
Zhang et al. (2022) later moved peer-mediated NET into elementary grades and still saw social gains, proving the peer theme keeps working as kids age.
Why it matters
You no longer need to pull a child away from peers to teach new skills.
If staffing is thin, embed goals right at the play table while peers stay.
You save time, keep natural contexts, and still get strong acquisition.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A single-case parallel treatments design was used to compare the effects of embedded instruction when provided with peers present and peers absent in an inclusive preschool classroom. Three children exhibiting delays across multiple domains of development participated. Results indicated that both peer presence variations were effective, and neither was consistently superior for any examined outcome measure. Implications of this finding suggest that when teachers plan for embedded instruction, concerns and considerations about the presence of peers may not be warranted. For teachers working in classrooms with high staff to child ratios, this finding may be particularly welcomed given assumed difficulties in planning for and conducting one-on-one instruction with limited adult support to oversee large numbers of children engaged in other activities (osf.io/9yv37/).
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2025 · doi:10.1007/s40617-024-00975-5