Previous findings demonstrate peer support arrangements improve academic and social outcomes for secondary students with severe disabilities, but further research is needed to determine (a) the degree to which this practice would benefit younger students, (b) the impact on student independence, and (c) how teachers can best support paraeducator implementation. In this multiple-probe-across-participants design study, a teacher trained five paraeducators to facilitate peer support arrangements with four elementary students with multiple disabilities who were eligible for alternate assessment. We identified functional relations between teacher training and paraeducator implementation and between peer support arrangements and peer interactions. Interactions increased to levels similar to those of peers without disabilities. Students decreased their reliance on paraeducators for classroom routines when peers provided support. These findings show that the effectiveness of peer support arrangements extends to elementary students with multiple disabilities and replicate initial evidence for a promising model of teacher-implemented training for paraeducators.

先前的研究结果表明，同伴支持安排改善了严重残疾中学生的学业和社会成果，但需要进一步研究以确定 (a) 这种做法对低年级学生的益处，(b) 对学生独立性的影响，以及 ( c) 教师如何最好地支持辅助教育者的实施。在这项多调查参与者设计研究中，一名教师培训了五名辅助教育工作者，以促进与四名有资格接受替代评估的多重残疾小学生的同伴支持安排。我们确定了教师培训和辅助教育者实施之间以及同伴支持安排和同伴互动之间的功能关系。互动增加到与没有残疾的同龄人相似的水平。当同龄人提供支持时，学生减少了对辅助教育工作者的课堂常规依赖。这些研究结果表明，同伴支持安排的有效性扩展到有多种残疾的小学生，并复制了最初的证据，证明了教师实施的辅助教育者培训有前途的模式。