READING
Programmes that work
activity combines prediction, reading,
and summarisation. Points are earned for
accuracy.
Research has demonstrated the potential
of PALS to enhance children’s reading
comprehension.
The “active ingredient” of PALS may reside
both in its specifi c activities and in its overall
organisation. PALS-related activities - taken
from or inspired by Reciprocal Teaching,
CIRC, and CWPT - encourage pupils to
practice research-based strategies, which
have been shown to strengthen reading
comprehension when implemented regularly
on instructional-level text. Furthermore,
PALS organises highly structured, reciprocal,
one-to-one interaction, which:
●
Provides all pupils with frequent
opportunity to respond.
●
Facilitates immediate corrective feedback.
●
Increases academic engaged time.
●
Offers social support and encouragement,
with all pupils sharing the esteem
associated with the tutoring role.
Moreover, with the PALS scoring system
pupils work co-operatively with partners,
but compete in teams to earn points. We
have often observed that this keeps pupils
assigned to one of two classroom teams, as part of their allocated reading time, working in a focused, productive, and
and the points the pairs accumulate go to implementing the programme with all constructive manner.
their team. A winner is declared each week. children in their classes. Every pupil in the
Points and teams are meant to serve only as class is paired, with each pair including Conclusion
motivation. a higher- and a lower-performing pupil. Despite the apparent effectiveness of the
A majority of teachers and pupils conduct Although tutoring roles are reciprocal, the programmes we have discussed, peer
these activities well enough to bring higher-performing pupil reads fi rst for each mediation is an under-appreciated and still
about notable improvement in basic skills activity to serve as model for the lower- infrequently used approach to differentiate
mastery. In the most ambitious study of performing pupil. Both pupils read from and strengthen learning and teaching. Yet
the effectiveness of CWPT, pupils aged material appropriate for the lower reader, the programmes have a stronger evidence
six and seven were randomly assigned to which typically is literature selected by base than many other approaches that
either experimental or control conditions. the teacher. are far more expensive and diffi cult. Peer
Experimental pupils participated in CWPT Pairs are also assigned to one of two teams mediated instruction does not solve every
activities until they were age ten. At the end for which they earn points. At the end of each problem, and there are still small numbers of
of this period, they demonstrated superior week the teacher calculates each team’s children who need additional interventions,
reading, language, and mathematics scores points and the class applauds the winning such as small group or one-to-one tutoring.
on a standardised test. Furthermore, pupils team. Every four weeks the teacher creates Yet it makes sense to use classwide methods
in CWPT classes were less likely to have new pairs and team assignments. Thus, like known to help most children, and only then
been identifi ed as having learning diffi culties CIRC, the motivational system combines consider additional interventions for the few
or behavioural problems. competitive (team vs. team) and co-operative who do not respond well enough.
(combined effort of the pair) structures. This highlights the importance of
PALS Programme Each PALS session includes: monitoring at-risk pupils’ reading progress
Fuchs and Fuchs’ Peer-Assisted Learning
●
Partner reading, with each pupil reading throughout the school year to identify those
Strategies (PALS) was developed with aloud for fi ve minutes and the lower- who require programme adjustments. In this
the goal of combining the supportive, performing pupil retelling what occurred. regard, we support new policies which re-
engaging, and practical pairing format of Pupils earn one point for each correctly defi ne general education as multiple levels
CWPT with some of the rich, challenging read sentence and 10 points for the retell. of increasingly intensive prevention.
content of Reciprocal Teaching and CIRC.
●
Paragraph shrinking, with pupils
PALS programmes in reading have been taking turns in their pairs to orally read About the authors
developed and fi eld-tested with children one paragraph at a time and stop to Douglas Fuchs and Lynn Fuchs hold the
from reception through to secondary, but summarise. Tutors guide the identifi cation Nicholas Hobbs chair in Special Education
this description focuses on pupils aged of the main idea. Points are earned for and Human Development at Vanderbilt
seven to eleven. understanding. University in the US. They conduct research
Following initial training, teachers conduct
●
Prediction relay extends paragraph on reading and maths instruction and on
three 35-minute PALS sessions each week shrinking to larger chunks of text. This classroom assessment.
spring 2009 Better: Evidence-based Education 19
Better Spr09 pp18-19 Peer-mediated.indd 19 20/4/09 09:19:04
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