With the advent of Common Core-based assessments, and resulting concerns about academic achievement, more and more students may require the level of instructional intensity tutoring affords. The extent of knowledge regarding the discourse that occurs within the tutoring context is, however, limited. As a result, it is difficult to envision and…

An earlier series of pilot studies and small-scale experimental studies had previously provided some evidence for the efficacy of a small group early literacy intervention program for young struggling readers. The present paper provides further evidence for efficacy based on a much larger sample of young, socially disadvantaged, at-risk readers.…

This study evaluates the impacts and costs of the Reading Partners program, which uses community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring to struggling readers in under-resourced elementary schools. The evaluation uses an experimental design. Students were randomly assigned within 19 different Reading Partners sites to a program or control…

This study evaluated the relative effects of Tier II computer-assisted tutoring in small groups (Team Alphie) and one-to-one tutoring provided to struggling readers in 33 high-poverty Success for All (SFA) schools. In this year-long study, struggling readers in the Team Alphie schools were tutored in groups of 6. In the control schools, students…

Reports a case study of an instructional program developed for a nine-year-old boy who was a severe underachiever in both spelling and reading. The program used a structured, systematic instructional approach along with token reinforcement. Both reading and spelling showed improvement that was sustained beyond the treatment period. (Author/JDH)

Two experiments are reported concerning the effects of the differential use of verbal approval by problematic adolescents serving as tutors in a remedial reading program for an inner-city school. Data are discussed as evidence that tutors had acquired the ability to recruit reinforcement from the classroom for appropriate behavior. (Author)

Suggests that readers' theater activities may help children with reading problems gain oral-reading fluency and confidence. Describes how readers' theater can be successfully integrated into a broader, multifaceted tutorial. Finds positive benefits of readers' theater preparation and practice during a summer reading tutorial. Presents classroom…

The success of the Paired Reading (PR) technique is examined, and a study involving 43 pairs of Hong Kong students (ages 10-11) in a PR project is reported. It is concluded that the projects' success may not lie in the technique itself but in improving tutees' motivation, confidence, and self-esteem as readers. (JDD)

Results of a Canadian study show that students with mild to medium reading disabilities benefited from tutorial remediation and continued to make normal progress the next nine months. (Author/RL)

This study evaluated the adaptation of individual reading tutorial methods to small-group instruction with 24 low-achieving readers in Grades 2 and 3. Students were instructed in phonemic awareness, phonetic decoding, high-frequency sight words, application of word identification strategies, and rereading of familiar text. Results support use of…

A study compared students at risk for reading disabilities who were provided phonics-based instruction in first grade (n=13), students tutored in comprehension skills in second grade (n=10), and students tutored in both grades (n=26). Students tutored only in first grade performed better than those also tutored in second grade. (Contains…

Studied for its effects on the reading fluency of elementary school students, R. C. Heckleman's Neurological Impress Method has proved an inexpensive but effective method for motivating low achievement readers. Twenty-six subjects from grades 2 to 6 practiced reading in unison with a tutor during four 15-minute sessions a week. During the sessions…

The effectiveness of using volunteer reading tutors to work with students with reading difficulties was examined. Changes in academic engaged time, active responding time, achievement, and student attitude were assessed, along with information from tutor evaluations. Nine intervention and 8 control students (grades 3-5) with mild handicaps…

Results of analyzing variables impacting the behavior of four ninth-grade poor-achieving tutors and 20 seventh-grade tutees with reading difficulties found that giving tutor points for reinforcing tutee responses was the most important component of the tutoring package for both tutors and tutees. (Author/JDD)

A study discusses the effects of a second year of one-on-one intervention on the literacy development of struggling second graders. Twenty-six children participated in the study and were assigned to either a second year of intervention or a control group that received no further intervention services. Participants in the intervention group…