Developed by Lynn and Doug Fuchs, Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies is distributed by Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. Address: Vanderbilt University, Attn: Flora Murray/PALS Orders, Box 328 Peabody, Nashville, TN 37203-5701. Email: flora. murray@vanderbilt.edu. Web: http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/pals. Telephone: (615) 343-4782.
Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies, developed more than ten years ago, was designed to be used with all students—from kindergarten through high school. It has been implemented in Tennessee, and teacher trainings have been conducted in other states, including Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Arizona, and Ohio. The program has been used with English-proficient students with learning disabilities; the developers have also expanded its scope of use to include English-language learners with learning disabilities.
The program uses both instructional principles and practices and peer mediation to help students with math and reading. The math program can be used with students in kindergarten through sixth grade, and the reading program can be used with students in kindergarten through high school. Teachers assign students to pairs based on an area in which one student is deficient and the other is proficient. Students are assigned different partners throughout the intervention and have the opportunity to be both the provider and recipient of tutoring. Activities last 25–35 minutes two to four times a week and are intended to supplement the existing reading and math curriculum.
Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies materials range from $15 to $35. The Math Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies video ($15) is necessary for grades 2-6, and large print lessons ($15) are recommended for using Reading Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies in kindergarten classrooms. All other materials—the teacher's manual ($35), overview video/DVD ($15), and math student materials ($25)—are optional and specific to reading or math for different grade levels. Additional information can be found on the Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies website (http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/pals).
|Institute of Education Sciences
