Role of Collaborative Dialogue in Teacher's Conceptions of Appropriate Practice for Students at Risk

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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate structured dialogue as a means of creating alternative classroom practice for students at risk for academic failure. Of primary concern were the kinds of interventions teachers developed, the relative complexity of these interventions, and teacher perceptions of the effectiveness of those interventions. Forty-eight teachers were trained to use a structured dialogue, titled peer collaboration, that used the metacognitive strategies of self-questioning, summarization, and prediction. Qualitative analysis of transcripts of 70 peer collaboration sessions indicated that a wide variety of simple classroom interventions were developed and implemented spanning instructional, management, and interpersonal concerns. Teachers reported improvement in 86% of the targeted situations.