Effects of Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies on High School Students with Serious Reading Problems

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 instructional levels were Grades 2 through 6. Reading comprehension and fluency were measured before and after treatment; beliefs were indexed after treatment. Analyses of variance indicated that, compared to contrast counterparts, PALS students grew more on reading comprehension and reported more positive beliefs about working hard to improve reading. However, PALS and contrast students grew comparably on reading fluency and reported similar beliefs about being and wanting to become better readers. Implications are discussed for developing effective forms of peer-mediated instruction for use in high school remedial and special education classes.

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