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Clifford K. Madsen, David S. Smith, Charles C. Feeman, The Use of Music in Cross-Age Tutoring Within Special Education Settings, Journal of Music Therapy, Volume 25, Issue 3, Fall 1988, Pages 135–144, https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/25.3.135
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Abstract
Extremely disruptive special education students served as tutors for kindergarten students who were also identified as being low in social and academic skills. A Basic Skills Asessment Test was used to identify deficit skill areas for kindergarten subjects. Music was used by the music therapist initially as a teaching aid, and also as a contingency for the older students' participation. Tutor planned intervention strategies were implemented during a 10-week period. Results of a Likert-type attitudinal assessment, completed by each participant at the close of every session, indicated that both tutor and tutee rated each of the 16 sessions as being very positive. While both experimental and control kindergarten groups showed significant gains on the post Basic Skills Assessment, a significant pre-posttest difference was also found between the gains made by each group, with the Experimental group evidencing a greater number of learned skills. Additionally, a videotape analysis was completed by trained professionals of each instructional dyad. Surprisingly, older students were judged as somewhat gifted, quite on task, positive, socially appropriate, above grade level, and behaviorally normal. Younger students were perceived to be just slightly handicapped and below grade level, but mostly on task, positive, socially appropriate, and behaviorally normal. Narratives written by older students concerning the tutoring experience indicated strong bonding between tutor and tutee during the course of the study.
