One study reviewed by the WWC investigated the effects of Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies and included 132 students in 12 classrooms. The study (Sáenz, Fuchs, & Fuchs, 2005) was a randomized controlled trial that met WWC evidence standards. Although the primary purpose of the study was to examine the effects of the intervention on the reading performance of English language learners with learning disabilities, the study also examined the intervention's effectiveness on the reading performance of English language learners at various levels of achievement. All students were in grades 3–6 and were English language learners—at least two students in each classroom had a learning disability. The program was conducted during reading instruction periods only, using the reading version of Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies for grades 2–6. Students in the intervention groups were rank-ordered by reading ability and then divided into two groups (high and low ability levels). Stronger readers were paired with weaker readers, and both students in each pair served as the tutor and tutee for each of the three reading activities (partner reading with story retell, paragraph shrinking, and prediction relay). Reading instruction for students in the control group was unchanged—it was mainly teacher-led and consisted of little one-on-one peer instruction.
The WWC categorizes the extent of evidence in each domain as small or medium to large (see the What Works Clearinghouse Extent of Evidence Categorization Scheme). The extent of evidence takes into account the number of studies and the total sample size across the studies that met WWC evidence standards with or without reservations. 3
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.
|Institute of Education Sciences
