Peer tutoring for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: effects on classroom behavior and academic performance.

The team set up classwide peer tutoring, or CWPT, in real elementary classrooms. Kids with ADHD tutored classmates and were tutored back during daily math and spelling blocks.

An alternating-treatments design flipped CWPT days with regular-teacher days. Observers counted who was on-task and who was staring out the window.

When CWPT was running, most students with ADHD stayed focused longer and stayed off-task less. Half of them also scored better on quick math and spelling checks.

The gains showed up fast and held while the program stayed in place.

Williams et al. (2002) got the same drop in off-task behavior using peer-delivered praise plus prompts instead of full tutoring. Both studies prove peers can drive classroom contingencies for ADHD.

Pilowsky et al. (1998) looks like a contradiction. They saw kids with ADHD give up faster when rewards came only some of the time. The difference is setting: T used a quiet lab task, while CWPT keeps the ratio rich and adds social fun. Rich peer praise beats lean partial points.

Voss et al. (2019) later showed ADHD learners handle stretched ratios just fine if you thin them slowly. That supports thinning the praise schedule inside CWPT once attention is solid.

You already have the main ingredients: classmates, 10-minute sessions, and simple point charts. Start CWPT tomorrow for math facts or sight words. Pair each ADHD student with a supportive peer, award points for correct answers and quiet bodies, and swap roles every two minutes. Track on-task with a 30-second glance chart; you should see a jump by day three.