An Intervention Strategy to Enhance Spelling Performance and Social Interaction and to Decrease Inappropriate Behaviours of Students with Mild Disabilities and Typical Peers in an Inclusive Instructional Setting

Abstract

An intervention strategy to enhance spelling performance, social interactions and decrease inappropriate behaviours of students with mild disabilities and typical peers in an inclusive instructional setting This study investigated the ability of Class Wide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) to enhance the social interactions and improve the spelling of three students with mild disabilities and three of their typical peers. Social interactions were assessed using the Multiple Option Observation System for Experimental Studies. Spelling performance was measured by weekly pre-post-tests. Using a single-subject design, the results indicated that the duration of positive social interactions emitted by the students with mild disabilities and their typical peers during the CWPT intervention were dramatically increased. In addition, CWPT produced large gains in academic achievement for both groups of students. The implications of the findings for the use of direct observation and CWPT to enhance the social interactions and spelling performance of students with mild disabilities in the regular education classroom are discussed.