Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning benefits English learners as much as native speakers
English learners (ELs) in kindergarten benefit just as much from Kindergarten
Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (K-PALS) as their native English-speaking
peers, reports a study published in Exceptional Children.
Although the study is based on a small number of children, the University of
Minnesota researchers say it supplies evidence that classroom-based instruction
by a general classroom teacher could raise the beginning reading achievement of
ELs and that K-PALS could serve as a "Tier 1" approach for ELs in a response-to-
intervention (RTI) model. This would allow schools to reserve increasingly
intensive interventions for more severely struggling beginning readers.
"Disproportionate numbers of ELs are referred to special education, with many
either over- or underidentified as having LD (learning disabilities)," write the
University of Minnesota researchers.
"There is an especially urgent call for effective early intervention
approaches targeting ELS, with the view that inappropriate special education
referral, school failure, and other negative academic outcomes could be
prevented if strong, evidence-based practices are in place early on.
In K-PALS, higher performing readers are paired with lower performing readers
to practice skills identified as critical for beginning reading, including
phonemic awareness, letter-sound recognition, decoding and fluency.
The study was part of a large-scale randomized trial that examined how
different levels of support impacted teachers' implementation of K-PALS and
students' beginning reading achievement.
The large-scale study included approximately 1,800 kindergartners attending
46 public elementary schools in Tennessee, Texas and Minnesota.
The study of K-PALS and ELs included 60 kindergartners in Minnesota: 20
K-PALS ELs, 20 control ELS and 20 K-PALS non-ELs. Control ELs were matched to
K-PALS ELs and K-PALS non-ELs based on two pretest measures: Rapid Letter Naming
(RLN) and Rapid Letter Sound identification (RLS).
In this study, K-PALS ELs reliably outperformed Control ELs on phonemic
awareness (blending and segmenting) and letter-sound recognition. However, there
were no statistically significant differences between K-PALS ELs and Control ELs
on the WRMT-R Word ID and Word Attack subtests, the WIAT spelling test or Oral
Reading.
The researchers say this could be attributed to lack of sensitivity of the
measures or it could indicate that K-PALS was not intensive enough to effect
greater performance on those measures.
ELs more responsive to intervention K-PALS
ELs were more
responsive to the intervention than K-PALS non-ELs. For example 5% of K-PALS ELs
were unresponsive based on RLS scores, compared with 35% of Control ELs and 30%
of non-ELs.
The researchers note that the non-ELs were lower-performing students based on
the pretest measures used to match participants in the three groups. The ELs in
the study (both K-PALS and Controls) also received more outside reading help
than K-PALS non-ELs, they add.
"It is possible that the ELs were more responsive because their primary
difficulties were related to language proficiency, which improved over time,
whereas some of the non-ELs' difficulties were related to true reading
deficits," the researchers write.
Participants in the study all had teachers who were identified as
high-fidelity in their use of K-PALs in classroom in the larger study. Teachers
implemented K-PALS for 18 weeks, four times per week, for 20 to 30 minutes each
session. All K-PALS teachers attended a one-day K-PALS workshop conducted by one
of the researchers.
In future research on ELs and K-PALS, one issue that could be investigated is
whether ELs should be paired with other more English-proficient ELs who speak
their language or with English-speaking students.
K-PALS is not effective for all students, the researchers note, so it is
critical that teachers monitor students' progress and make instructional changes
when students are not sufficiently responsive.
"Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies: A 'Tier 1'Approach to Promoting
English Learners' Response to Intervention," by Kristen McMaster, Shu-Hsuan
Kung, et al. Exceptional Children, Winter 2008, Volume 74, Number 2, pp.
194-214.
Published in ERN March 2008 Volume 21 Number 3
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