I will always remember being paired with a boy in elementary, maybe around 3rd or 4th grade, where the teacher just moved me over to where he was sitting and directly told me that I would not get in trouble if he needed help on anything, she would appreciate my helping. He was extremely quiet, kind of a big kid so maybe he'd been held back. I was somewhat proud of this distinction from the teacher, and it seemed to me not to be paraded in front of the other kids, but maybe they noticed - I was already the smart kid so no big shift there for me. Maybe it was painful for the other child, he didn't express this to me, however. I don't recall specifically helping on much of anything big, maybe some reading, some spelling. The main benefit I think I derived is getting to know this pretty imposing fellow somewhat better - basically it opened my eyes to the idea of not reading a book by it's cover. (Perhaps the teacher just put us both together because we were both pretty quiet/friendless).
So, some slight benefit for me, maybe a bit for him, however I couldn't say any of that would outweigh some of the negatives that this sort of thing would usually risk.
Anyone else remember this coming up for them as a child?
