Effects of Relative Competence on Learning Disabled Children'S Oral Reading Performance

The effect of social facilitation, particularly the impact of perceived evaluation and relative competence of handicapped learners, was tested to determine its efficacy in predicting 26 learning disabled children's oral reading performance. Two conditions reflected the competence variable: low relative competence and similar relative competence. The dependent measure was number of oral reading errors. Results revealed a significant main effect, indicating that children who read with similar-ability peers performed significantly better than when they read with peers of superior ability. Results are discussed in relation to mainstreaming decisions and homogeneous groupings of students for direct academic instruction.