Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies: Early Intervention Reading Program
Jessica C. Thompson
Corrective & Remedial Reading
University of West Alabama
Abstract
Early intervention reading programs are crucial in helping struggling readers develop the necessary strategies for successful reading. Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) is a supplemental peer-tutoring program that has been proven to be an effective intervention for helping increase the effectiveness of reading instruction. This paper fully describes the PALS program, and it also explores the strengths and weaknesses of the program.
Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies: Early Intervention Reading Program
Developed by Lynn Fuchs and Doug Fuchs in 1997, Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) is a supplemental peer tutoring program (U.S. Department of Education, 2012). It uses the help of stronger students to assist students who have more educational needs. “The purpose of PALS is to strengthen general education’s capacity to meet the academic needs of a broader range of children” (Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., & Burish, P., 2000). The acronym PALS suits the program very well, considering it is a class-wide peer-tutoring program. The program is a combination of peer tutoring and effective instructional techniques.
Teachers strategically pair students based on their reading capabilities and social compatibility. Each pair of students consists of a “coach” and a “player”, and pairs are changed regularly so that all
The 2001 Summer Reading Program sought to meet the following goals: (1) provide children in grades pre-K–3 with the opportunity to improve and retain reading skills in order to achieve greater success in school; and (2) encourage parents to participate and play an active role in reading with their children. The data from all stakeholders in the program - libraries, students, parents, and teachers - demonstrate that the Program made great strides towards meeting its
Early reading success is the foundation of a student’s knowledge and self-esteem. The foundation also provides future opportunities for growth. Students must learn to read proficiently so that they are able to learn more in future grades, post-secondary schools, and the workforce. Beverly Tyner’s Small-Group Reading Instruction: A Differentiated Teaching Model for Beginning and Struggling Readers states “In the United States, which offers few career opportunities for the illiterate, teaching children to read proficiently is the most important single task in education.” (Tyner, 2009). Beverly Tyner created the Small-Group Differentiated Reading Model which incorporates research-based strategies for teaching beginning reading skills and skills
Reading is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information which is essential in being a productive member of society. If and when a student missed an opportunity to learn the skills necessary for reading, it’s has a profound impact on their lives. As educators we realize that teaching all children to read requires that every child receive excellent reading instruction. We are also aware that children, who are struggling with reading must receive
Reading Recovery is a highly effective short-term intervention of one-to one tutoring for low-achieving first graders. The intervention is most effective when it is available to all students who need it and used as a supplement to good classroom teaching” (Cox, 254).
The intervention used first was the Peer-Mediated instruction with repeated reading (PRR). During this phase, the students were seated across from each other. The students were then given a copy of the passage, one in which to read, and the other in which to mark the time and note any errors observed, along with a stopwatch. Both students began reading from the selected text for the pair for a duration of twenty minutes at the beginning of the class. Next, the “paired reading” time consisted of each student taking turns reading using only a whisper. To ensure the fidelity of the intervention, measures were taken to ensure that one student didn’t have to be the first reader every time. During the read aloud, the student who wasn’t reading would follow protocol and read the following sentence “Stop. That word is _______. What word? Yes, ________. Please read that sentence again.” After the paired reading time, the reader would then be asked to read
The effects of the implementation of the Common Core Standard continues to affect students testing scores and, as a result, the demand for more and more volunteers from the Book Buddies & Classroom Book Buddies program. With more students not meeting the required reading proficiency level, particularly, low-income and minority students, the need for this intervention-type of program is in greater demand than ever. In the current program year, the program has experienced over 30% growth than anticipated. The Book Buddies program is stretched beyond its resources to meet the need of children struggling with reading, the demand for the program from schools and parents.
S.P.I.R.E. (Specialized Program Individualizing Reading Excellence) is a comprehensive reading intervention program developed by Sheila Clark-Edmands, M.S.Ed., published by EPS Literacy and Intervention and is currently in its third edition (Clark-Edmands, 2012). While S.P.I.R.E. is most appropriate for Tier 2 and Tier 3 students with learning differences and struggling learners, the program has been used in a variety of settings, including classroom, small group and one-on-one. Based on the Orton-Gillingham approach, S.P.I.R.E. incorporates the most recent research regarding best practices in reading and language arts instruction as well as the professional standards published by professional organizations such as the International Reading Association and the International Dyslexia Association (Balajthy, 2014). The program is designed to build
Recognizing that illiteracy is a family issue, our Book Buddies and Classroom Book Buddies programs recruits volunteers to read one-to-one once a week with a child who is struggling with reading in the 2-4 grades. Our goal is to prevent adult illiteracy by helping children achieve grade-level or better reading skills at the critical time when children are transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn.
The program being evaluated in this paper is an intervention program that is used with Tier 2 students who need more intensive reading instruction. The program is called Enhanced CORE. It is designed to correlate with the district purchased reading curriculum called Journeys published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The program is designed to pre-teach students skills that they will be learning during the core instruction time period in order to give them extra exposure to the curriculum as well as extra practice with phonics and fluency skills. Consequently, students are getting a preview of all the phonics skills, high frequency words and reading practice before it is taught to the whole class in order to help
The authors of the journal article, A Diagnostic Teaching Intervention for Classroom Teachers: Helping Struggling Readers in Early Elementary, organized a study that focused on the development of a reading program that would help struggling readers. Three key points that the authors incorporated into the study were the elements of the intensive instruction in reading, the importance of a code based learning environment, and the TRI system. All of these elements were geared toward testing the students on their fluency, phonological,
100 middle school boys will receive tutoring services after school to improve their reading proficiency skill levels. Backfield in Motion will provide a Reading Specialist for one hour of one-on-one and small group instruction, four days per week. The expected outcome is for each student to improve their fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary skill development by 50% each
Although literacy coaching may be new to some schools, using peer coaching as a procedure of professional development is not offered in many districts across America. A significant amount of research has been circulated on its effectiveness (Joyce & Showers 1982, 2002). According to Vygotsky (1981), learning is deeply rooted within the culture and social relationships, making these relationships key components of learning. Accepting professional development from a Vygotsky’s point of view has many suggestions for literacy coaching (Rodgers & Rodgers, 2007). Literacy coaches today are more knowledgeable and are ready to support, implement ways to improve literacy within schools. Having such support, professional development provides learning that is fundamentally social and collaborative, with teachers of whom are actively participating in their own learning.
Use of peers as instructional agents is a hallmark component of the corrective reading program, and one that is supported by empirical evidence. Simmons et al. (1995) investigated the effects of peer instruction on reading abilities of students with learning disabilities and statistically low performing readers. Academic engagement increased as well as spelling and reading posttest scores, suggesting that use of peer tutoring within the corrective reading approach is an effective and productive means to provide reading instruction to students with low reading performance and/or disabilities. Often, peer instruction was found to be more effective than a traditional teacher-mediated instruction.
Many students around the United States have reading difficulties, which can be due to a variety of reason such as: low socioeconomic status, family history of learning disabilities, a neurological disorder, limited exposure, etc. Reading difficulties can lead to further problems with education and learning, therefore the struggles should be addressed and intervention techniques should be implemented promptly. The interventions need to be individualized for the student based on their needs in order to improve the student’s reading to the best of their abilities.
The next intervention strategy is to accelerate student learning by providing small group instruction in reading, math, and writing classes and conducting after school and Saturday tutorials as additional instructional support. The Funtas &Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) – a short-term program designed to improve reading levels of struggling readers - will be implemented with fidelity in reading and writing classrooms to provide intentional small group lessons and build comprehension skills to ELL and AA students. Furthermore, Mentoring Minds Total Motivation Math – a program that offers higher-order problem-solving and mathematical processing skills into lessons - will be used in math classes to support rigorous instruction to improve students’