How to Elevate Your Buddy Program
Cross-grade buddy programs are well-regarded for building positive school culture. With the right planning, they can boost academic and social skills as well—for both older and younger students.
September 28, 2023
For more resources on stepping up a buddy program, read Gina Robles’s article for Edutopia, “How a Buddy Program Can Foster SEL.” Or watch these other Edutopia videos about using buddy programs to develop literacy skills, foster social connections, and build technology skills.
To learn more about the research cited in the video, check out the links below.
- Samantha Burton, Elizabeth B. Raposa, Cyanea Y. S. Poon, Geert Jan J. M. Stams, and Jean Rhodes’s meta-analysis of research on cross-age peer mentoring for youth (2021)
- Melissa Coyne-Foresi and Elizabeth Nowicki’s investigation into how youth peer mentoring builds connections and relationships at school (2020)
- Eric Jenner, Katherine Lass, Sarah Walsh, Hilary Demby, Rebekah Leger, and Gretchen Falk’s impact study on the effects of a cross-age peer mentoring program (2022)
- North Cooc and James S. Kim’s analysis of peer influence on children’s reading skills in elementary school classrooms (2017)
- Catherine C. Chase, Doris B. Chin, Marily A. Oppezzo, and Daniel L. Schwartz’s research on how teachable agents increase the protégé effect and increase efforts toward learning (2009)
- Krista R. Muis, Cynthia Psaradellis, Marianne Chevrier, Ivana Di Leo, and Susanne P. Lajoie’s study on learning by preparing to teach in elementary math (2016)
- John F. Nestojko, Dung C. Bui, Nate Kornell, and Elizabeth Ligon Bjork’s research on how expecting to teach enhances learning and organization of knowledge in free recall of text passages (2014)