PALS has potentially positive effects on reading achievement for English language learners, with a combined effect size of 0.31 but no statistically significant effects on individual measures¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i1 small
Currency · newest study 2010 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i1 In a randomized controlled trial with 99 English language learners in grades 3-6, PALS showed a combined reading achievement effect of ES = 0.31, though no statistically significant effects on the three individual measures once clustering corrections were made. → Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies 2010

q3 i? Across the one study meeting WWC evidence standards, the average student-level improvement index for reading achievement was +12 percentile points, with a range of +5 to +25 percentile points. → Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies 2010

Evidence¶

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies 2010¶

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies. (2010). WWC Intervention Report. What Works Clearinghouse, U.S. Department of Education. http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/pals

q3 · i1 · causal · r2

WWC re-analysis of the Saenz, Fuchs, and Fuchs (2005) randomized controlled trial, in which 99 English language learners from 12 classrooms in grades 3-6 in one Texas school district were randomly assigned by classroom. The combined effect was "positive and large enough to be considered substantively important (ES = 0.31)".

"There were no statistically significant effects on the three reading achievement measures once clustering corrections were made. However, the WWC found that the combined effect for reading achievement across all measures was positive and large enough to be considered substantively important (ES = 0.31)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Peer-assisted instruction and small-group instruction by adults have large, robust short-term effect sizes for K-6 struggling students — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• In the Vaughn, Cirino, et al. (2006) trial, no reading measure reached statistical significance, but five of seven effect sizes were substantively important — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)

• The WWC improvement index is +31 percentile points for English language development and +3 percentile points for reading achievement — related
• Peer Tutoring and Response Groups has positive effects on English language development for English language learners, with an average improvement index of +17 percentile points — related
• The WWC rates Instructional Conversations and Literature Logs as having potentially positive effects on reading achievement and English language development — related