The purposes of the study were to develop an instructional management system and examine the effects of peer-assisted learning strategies on students' Chinese learning and peer relationships in the inclusive elementary school classroom. Sixty-nine third-grade students, including two students with learning disabilities, participated in this study for twelve weeks. The results of this study were: (1) The peer-assisted-learning instructional management (PAL TM) system can effectively enhance teacher's implementation of PALS, including the forming of pair-groups, recording and analyzing of students' scores, and rewarding of students' performance; (2) Students in the experimental group outperformed students in the control group on Chinese language achievement tests and reading comprehension tests (p<.05), with repeated ANOVA analysis of curriculum-based assessment in the experimental group showing linear regression (p<.005) and cubic curve regression (p<.05) for the best fit to students' performance; (3) PALS effectively enhanced the Chinese language learning of two students with learning disabilities in the inclusive classroom, with weekly improvement rates of 1.4 to 0.77 according to a curriculum-based assessment for two LD students (these rates were higher than the rates for general students in the same classroom); (4) PALS can effectively enhance higher-ability students' peer relationships (p<.05), and while there is no such effect on general-ability, low-ability and two LD students, the social index on the posttest was slightly lower than on the pretest for LD students. Results supported the theory that PAL TM-system and peer-assisted learning strategies can effectively enhance general and special students' Chinese learning in the inclusive classroom. Moreover, they also suggested that peer-assisted learning strategies are an excellent instructional model in the inclusive education.
The purposes of the study were to develop an instructional management system and examine the effects of peer-assisted learning strategies on students' Chinese learning and peer relationships in the inclusive elementary school classroom. Sixty-nine third-grade students, including two students with learning disabilities, participated in this study for twelve weeks. The results of this study were: (1) The peer-assisted-learning instructional management (PAL TM) system can effectively enhance teacher's implementation of PALS, including the forming of pair-groups, recording and analyzing of students' scores, and rewarding of students' performance; (2) Students in the experimental group outperformed students in the control group on Chinese language achievement tests and reading comprehension tests (p<.05), with repeated ANOVA analysis of curriculum-based assessment in the experimental group showing linear regression (p<.005) and cubic curve regression (p<.05) for the best fit to students' performance; (3) PALS effectively enhanced the Chinese language learning of two students with learning disabilities in the inclusive classroom, with weekly improvement rates of 1.4 to 0.77 according to a curriculum-based assessment for two LD students (these rates were higher than the rates for general students in the same classroom); (4) PALS can effectively enhance higher-ability students' peer relationships (p<.05), and while there is no such effect on general-ability, low-ability and two LD students, the social index on the posttest was slightly lower than on the pretest for LD students. Results supported the theory that PAL TM-system and peer-assisted learning strategies can effectively enhance general and special students' Chinese learning in the inclusive classroom. Moreover, they also suggested that peer-assisted learning strategies are an excellent instructional model in the inclusive education.