Early literacy is a key developmental milestone for succeeding in school, yet far too many children in America, particularly the most socially vulnerable, are not meeting this key milestone. For example, NAEP data from 2013 shows that over 80% of Black and Latinx students are below proficient in reading by the end of fourth grade, as compared to…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the effects of a tutorial program on first-grade children's reading skills and their tutors' (also preservice teachers) knowledge of reading instruction. Participants consisted of a group of 30 first-grade children served in the program and a control group of 30 children. Literacy…

Given that many schools have limited resources and a high proportion of students who present with deficits in early literacy skills, supports aimed at preventing reading failure must be simple and efficient and generate meaningful changes in student learning. We used a randomized group design with a wait-list control to extend the work of Volpe,…

This article draws on previously employed methods for conducting fidelity studies and applies them to an evaluation of an unprescribed intervention. We document the process of assessing the fidelity of implementation of the Math Recovery first-grade tutoring program, an unprescribed, diagnostic intervention. We describe how we drew on recent…

This randomized-control trial examined the learning of preservice teachers taking an initial Early Literacy course in an early childhood education program and of the kindergarten or first grade students they tutored in their field experience. Preservice teachers were randomly assigned to one of two tutoring programs: Book Buddies and Tutor…

In this paper, the authors describe a case of measuring implementation fidelity within an evaluation study of Math Recovery (MR), a pullout tutoring program aimed at increasing the mathematics achievement of low-performing first graders, thereby closing the school-entry achievement gap by enabling them to achieve at the level of their…

The goal of the overall study was to evaluate the potential of Math Recovery (MR), a pullout, one-to-one tutoring program, to increase mathematics achievement among low-performing first graders, thereby closing the school-entry achievement gap by enabling them to achieve at the level of their higher-performing peers in the regular mathematics…

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…

"Tutor Huddle," a classwide peer-tutoring system, is described, and the results of a case study implemented to evaluate its operation are discussed. (MP)

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…

This article is a descriptive study of an evolving cybermentoring videoconferencing practice and tool developed to support preservice teacher training. Cybermentoring projects are synchronous distance learning collaborations using high-end video conferencing to foster interactive learning and tutoring among preservice teachers and K-12 students,…

This study investigated young children's ability to solve probability problems and studied the cognitive processes proposed by Piaget and Inhelder as necessary to solve probability problems. The effects of tutorial and self-discovery training were measured and discussed. Results from 168 first-graders in five training conditions indicated that:…

Twenty at-risk first graders received 30 minutes of individual instruction from community tutors four days a week for up to 23 weeks. Subjects outperformed the control group on all reading, decoding, spelling and segmenting, and writing measures. Tutors who implemented the program with a high degree of fidelity achieved significant effect sizes in…

Project Upswing is a pilot study sponsored by the Bureau of Educational Personnel Development, U.S. Office of Education, designed to determine whether first grade children with minimal learning difficulties can be aided by volunteer tutors. A major goal is to determine whether children receiving this personalized assistance make more progress than…

Processes and outcomes associated with Reading Recovery and Success for All reading instruction programs were studied for first graders in 3 schools (n=184). Reading Recovery strongly benefited tutored students, but Success for All was more beneficial for special education students and untutored students. (SLD)