INITIAL EVALUATION OF AN AFTER-SCHOOL READING TUTORIAL FOR 2ND AND 3RD GRADE STUDENTS: LESSONS LEARNED AND NEXT STEPS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term literacy tutoring program designed to meet the needs of second and third grade students considered to be at-risk for long-term literacy learning difficulties. The study was conducted at a K-5 elementary school where an after-school tutoring program was provided during the second half of the 2022-23 school year. Tutoring sessions were approximately one hour long on Tuesdays and Thursdays; a total of 21 sessions were offered between late January and the end of April. Eight second grade and 10 third grade students participated in the tutoring; seven second grade and five third grade students who did not participate in the tutoring but who were similarly at-risk served as comparisons. The primary goals of the study were 1) to determine if students who participated in the tutoring improved their rate of growth in reading from the middle to the end of the year as compared to their growth from the beginning to the middle of the year and 2) to determine if students who participated in the tutoring demonstrated greater improvement in their reading skills from the middle to the end of the year as compared to students who did not participate in the tutoring. Preservice teachers from a nearby university and paraprofessionals from the K-5 elementary school served as tutors. Findings indicated that second grade students benefited more from the tutoring than did third grade students. While no results were statistically significant, second grade students did, on average, demonstrate an improved rate of growth in the second half of the year and greater improvement in their reading skills than comparison students. A description of the tutoring is provided and an analysis of the data is discussed with implications for the design, intensity, and timing of literacy tutoring interventions and the need for ongoing training and supervision of volunteer tutors.