Welcome to the site for peer teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Explore the teaching resources here. Read about some classroom practices, research, and new ideas that support K-12 peer teaching and peer tutoring. Find resources for action research on peer teaching projects. Connect with professional educators like you, who explore innovative strategies for student achievement. See and hear testimonies about peer teaching.

The Hoenny Center works with teachers and students. We do national, statewide, and classroom research; develop programs to help PreK-12 students teach better; and disseminate information.

The Hoenny Center began its work in January 2003 with a serious and comprehensive look at research in K-12 peer teaching, collaborative learning, and cooperative learning. A bibliography and research reports are in the Research section of this web site.

And, a bit of peer teaching inside information: "Hoenny" rhymes with "penny."

Why study K-12 peer teaching?

Peer teaching is what makes collaborative learning work as well as it does, and The Hoenny Center is dedicated to exploring peer-to-peer instruction and cross-age peer teaching. What do kids think about when they teach, and how do their teaching skills grow over the years? When well-structured experiential and discovery learning has a peer teaching component, kids can begin to form such concepts as learning styles, leadership skills, effective communication, and individualized instruction. They use these concepts to make peer teaching better each time it occurs. Project learning and collaborative learning provide effective opportunities for peer teaching.

Our national, state, and local research studies, and research by others, support a What-Works approach to understanding peer instruction, an approach we insist on. We are committed to sharing the results of our work with you. Click on the "Research" section of this web site for more.

What is good peer teaching?

Peer teaching works best when

• Tutors and peer group leaders are assigned to their roles after they have learned the content thoroughly.
• Teachers provide clear, simple directions for the peer tutor or peer teacher to follow.
• Teachers coach peer tutors before, during, and after they finish their work, suggesting appropriate teaching strategies and facilitating peer-group discussions about teaching experiences.
• Peer tutors and peer group leaders have some choice over their teaching materials and methods.
• Teachers provide opportunities for peer tutors to fine-tune their teaching skills, usually by repeated encounters with the same students.
• Teachers provide increasing challenges to students who are effective peer teachers and are rewarded by the achievement of the students they help.
• Teachers give appropriate recognition and reinforcement to both peer teachers and to the students they help.
• Teachers convey information about their students' peer teaching skills to other teachers.

Can peer teaching lead to systemic educational change?

The Hoenny Center research and development program is built upon the belief that the next frontier of teacher education reform in America lies in systematically helping all K-12 students teach each other more effectively. Collaborative learning strengthens achievement scores to the degree that the students in each group teach each other well. We can get more out of collaborative learning if improving peer teaching were practiced nation wide. After all, teaching something is a good way to learn it more deeply.

In teacher education, systemic reform must now extend to a future educator's pre-college years. Further gains in teacher quality are delayed when we continue to confine teacher preparation only to college and beyond.

Future teachers begin to build successful personal teaching methods much earlier than we currently assume—in all areas of schooling.

What has been missing is a teaching pathway, and that is what we are building at The Hoenny Center. Students who show early promise, giftedness, or interest in math, communication arts, sciences, the arts, athletics, trades, and more already have pre-college programs—pathways ready for them to follow.

Until now, no comprehensive program exists for K-12 students who show effectiveness and interest in teaching. Our YouthTeachUSA program fills this need.

Why should all students learn to teach better?

Peer teaching is good general education. Students who teach build success in all their interactions, regardless of their ultimate occupations. When professional educators nurture teaching abilities in students, the students:

• Learn more deeply.
• Improve their interpersonal skills.
• Develop stronger character.
• Build confidence.
• Provide valued community service.
• Gain future career experience.
• Build a stronger post-secondary school resume.

Finally, most K-12 students will be parents one day. And as the saying goes: "Parents are a child's first and most important teachers." Learning to teach builds parenting skills and provides a better foundation for contributing to society.