Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS-UK)

PALS aims to raise reading attainment among pupils by developing skills in areas such as oral reading fluency, reading comprehension and motivation to read. A key element of the design is that it is peer-led. Pupils benefit both from coaching and receiving support from their partner throughout the PALS session, with their teacher monitoring the interactions in the class. Developed in the US by Profs Doug and Lynn Fuchs at Vanderbilt University, the programme now has international reach with Iceland, Taiwan and UAE being some of places implementing PALS (Vardy et al., 2022).

An Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) funded evaluation of PALS-UK led by Manchester Met University reported that Year 5 pupils who received PALS-UK made on average two months' additional progress in reading compared to pupils in schools not participating in the programme (business as usual control group). This is the largest evaluation of PALS  with 114 schools participating and over 4,800 Year 5 pupils taking part in the randomised controlled trial. Teachers reported PALS-UK was ‘high impact for minimal workload’, praising the structured nature of the programme, the resources and other positive benefits seen such as enhancing a reading for enjoyment culture as pupils were engaging in informal book talk with their friends.