Analyzes the first three cohorts of a one-to-one community volunteer tutorial program, an integral part of the Charlottesville (Virginia) City Schools' plan to ensure that all first- and second-grade children learn to read. Demonstrates that two sessions of one-on-one tutoring per week by a trained, supported, and supervised community volunteer…

A study implemented and evaluated the Book Buddies model using National Service volunteers as tutors for high-risk first-grade students in a high-poverty urban setting. Using a design with a randomly assigned control group, results show that tutoring sessions produced clear effects. Children who received 40 Book Buddies lessons significantly…

Volunteer tutors can make a difference in the reading skills and the lives of young children. This comprehensive tutorial manual has been developed from the Book Buddies Program of Charlottesville, Virginia, the first large-scale model to mobilize hundreds of community volunteers in an alternative of one-on-one intervention for children at risk…

Describes the Charlottesville (Virginia) Volunteer Tutorial, a one-on-one tutorial program that promotes the literacy development of young children and involves a wide range of community volunteers. Suggests that the program offers one model of an affordable, alternative form of early intervention. (SR)