Overview
Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies is an instructional program for use in elementary school classrooms to improve student proficiency in reading and math. It was developed for use with students with diverse academic needs, including English language learners. Although other programs emphasize peer-to-peer learning strategies that can be utilized in classrooms, this report focuses on Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies because of its possible usefulness with students with diverse academic needs, including English language learners with learning disabilities.
Research
One study of Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies for English language learners met the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. The study included 132 Spanish-speaking English language learners from grades 3–6 in South Texas.1 The WWC considers the extent of evidence for Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies to be small for reading achievement. No studies that met WWC standards with or without reservations addressed math achievement or English language development.
Effectiveness
Peer-Assisted Learning Strategie s was found to have potentially positive effects on reading achievement.
| Reading achievement | Mathematics achievement | English language development | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating of effectiveness | Potentially positive | na | na |
| Improvement index2 | Average: +12 percentile points Range: +6 to +24 percentile points |
na | na |
| na = not applicable | |||
