Ls. Fuchs et al., Effects of peer-assisted learning strategies on high school students with serious reading problems, REM SPEC ED, 20(5), 1999, pp. 309-318
This study examined the effects of peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS)
on students' literacy development and beliefs about reading, when PALS is
implemented with secondary-level students in remedial and special education
classes. Teachers were assigned to PALS (n = 9 classes) and contrast (n =
9 classes) treatments. Teachers implemented PALS with their entire classes
five times every 2 weeks, for 16 weeks. To designate research participants
for outcome measurement, teachers identified all students whose reading ins
tructional levels were Grades 2 through 6. Reading comprehension and fluenc
y were measured before and after treatment: beliefs were indexed after trea
tment. Analyses of variance indicated that, compared to contrast counterpar
ts. PALS students grew more on reading comprehension and reported more posi
tive beliefs about working hard to improve reading. However, PALS and contr
ast students grew comparably on reading fluency and reported similar belief
s about being and wanting to become better readers. Implications are discus
sed for developing effective forms of peer-mediated instruction for use in
high school remedial and special education classes.