We attempted to strengthen an evidence-based, peer-mediated, first-grade reading program (First Grade Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies [PALS]) by modestly revising its content and adding a repeated-reading (RR) component. In a cluster-randomized trial, we conducted a component analysis of the revised program by creating two versions of it.…

Experimental and quasi-experimental designs are used in educational research to establish causality and develop effective practices. These research designs rely on a counterfactual model that, in simple form, calls for a comparison between a treatment group and a control group. Developers of educational practices often assume that the population…

This study determined the effectiveness of Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (K-PALS) for students with disabilities. The researchers randomly assigned 89 kindergartners with individualized education programs (IEPs) from 47 classrooms to control (n = 9); K-PALS Level 1 (teachers received 1-day workshop; n = 19); or K-PALS Level 2…

Factors were explored that predicted whether teachers sustained the use of a validated reading intervention. Seventy-three teachers from 37 schools in 3 states were asked in interviews whether they continued to use Kindergarten Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (KPALS) 1 year after their involvement in the program. A logistic regression model was…

This experimental study examined the influence of a classwide peer-tutoring reading program (Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies; PALS) on the quality of social relationships of elementary school children. Using a sociometric procedure, social preference and friendships were evaluated before and after the PALS program. Overall (mean) and…

This article provides an overview of Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) for reading. First, specific activities and research supporting PALS for Grades 2 through 6, High School, Kindergarten, and First Grade are described. Then, research addressing the characteristics of students who have not responded to PALS, as well as approaches to…

The debate about whether special education should abolish or conserve its cascade of services model has produced conservationists, who believe in a case-by-case approach to integration by which movement into less restrictive settings is planned, implemented, and evaluated individually, and abolitionists, who work for full inclusion of all students…

This article describes a teacher-researcher collaboration, "Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies for Kindergartens," or K-PALS, which was the reading readiness program produced by the partnership. The development of K-PALS is discussed, along with research showing that it promotes young children's reading development and fits easily into classrooms.…

A classwide peer tutoring program in reading, implemented at 12 elementary and middle schools in three contiguous districts in the middle of a southern state, was evaluated for its effectiveness with three learner types: low achievers with disabilities, low achievers without disabilities, and learners of average achievement. Twenty teachers…

First graders (N = 323) participated in an evidence-based classwide reading program (Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies; PALS). A dual-discrepancy approach was used to identify 56 children whose reading performance and growth rates were substantially below those of average readers, indicating they were not responding sufficiently to PALS. This…

Examines the effects of a dyadic peer-mediated treatment, Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS), on first-grade children's mathematics development. Results indicated that treatment implementation was strong; teachers judged PALS to be effective and generally feasible; and students with and without disabilities, at all points along the…

This study examined effects of peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS) on students' literacy development and beliefs about reading in nine secondary remedial and special-education classes. Analyses of variance indicated that, compared to control groups, PALS students grew more on reading comprehension and reported more positive beliefs about…