What Peer Support Strategies Are Not

Peer support strategies certainly offer a promising avenue for promoting social relationships and access to the general curriculum for students with severe disabilities. However, it is important to acknowledge some limits of peer support interventions, so we close with a few caveats related to what peer support strategies are not.

• Peer support interventions are not sufficient by themselves to sustain inclusion. Peer support arrangements represent just one component of comprehensive educational programming for students. The numerous benefits highlighted here will always remain elusive if peer support arrangements are implemented apart from careful planning, collaborative teaming, relevant curriculum, thoughtful adaptations, and effective instruction. Peer support arrangements should augment good instruction, not be implemented in lieu of it. They should be combined with other individualized support strategies -- such as curricular and instructional modifications, related services, and other classroom-level practices -- rather than be established in isolation.
  
  

• Peer support interventions are not intended to eliminate the need for adult support. The effectiveness of peer support arrangements does not imply that adult support is no longer needed or that paraprofessionals always hinder peer interaction and learning. Peer support arrangements ask educators to reconsider the roles of paraprofessionals within inclusive classrooms. Rather than serving as the exclusive source of support to students with severe disabilities, paraprofessionals should shift to more supplemental roles, providing direct support only when more natural supports are unavailable, insufficient, or cannot be accessed.
  
  
• Peer support interventions are not automatic. It takes more than simply seating two or more students next to each other to produce the academic and social outcomes described here. Peer support strategies work best when accompanied by thoughtful planning, ongoing adult guidance, and frequent monitoring. Like any individually designed supports, some massaging and refining may be required until the fit is just right.

[Excerpted from Peer Support Strategies for Improving All Students' Social Lives and Learning by Erik W. Carter, Lisa S. Cushing, and Craig H. Kennedy. (Published by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.; 978-1-55766-843-1. Copyright © 2009; all rights reserved.)]

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