The processes of puberty are now commonly observed in primary school-aged students. Schools, therefore, need to address puberty and sexuality education for students' health, well-being, safety and pastoral care. Similarly, preservice teacher education needs to address future primary school teachers' unfamiliarity and lack of confidence with these…

The America Reads Project is a program that trains San Francisco State University (SFSU) undergraduates to serve as tutors in local elementary schools. This paper focuses on the findings from the 3rd year of the project (1999-2000). For the 3rd year, 55 undergraduates were trained in a 3-unit course. Eleven elementary schools participated in…

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…

Investigated the relationship between the goals of the AmericaReads program for K-3 students and tutors' adherence to these goals by examining artifacts from the tutoring sessions, including audiotapes, interviews with supervisors, and questionnaires completed by tutors. Found an inconsistent fidelity to tutoring expectations, which was explained…

The Junior League/Vancouver School Board tutorial Program began in September 1973. A coordinator was hired to train and supervise community volunteers who would tutor children with reading difficulties using a synthetic phonic program with multisensory reinforcement. Forty children, seventy-seven tutors, and twenty-two schools have participated in…

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 study provided a review of literature related to peer tutoring and investigated the effects of three variables on peer tutor and peer tutee performance. The variables were (1) the achievement level of the tutor, (2) brief tutor training in reinforcement and corrective feedback procedures, and (3) tutor expectancy about tutee performance. A…

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…

Finds that at-risk first and second graders made statistically significant gains in instructional reading level that was attributable to tutoring by minimally trained America Reads Challenge college students. Finds that the greatest impact was in affecting children's ability to read words, and that most of their growth occurred during the second…

A study was conducted to ascertain the relationship between volunteer reading tutors and the reading scores of the tutored students in the primary grades. Two groups of children were studied (N=33), and their progress in reading was observed over a period of six months. One group of children from an urban public school worked with a volunteer…

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…

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:…

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…

A detailed analysis was conducted of the patterns of interactions between a child and a teacher in a one-to-one reading tutorial setting in the context of the Reading Recovery literacy program. The interactions between a teacher and two of her students were observed, videotaped, and analyzed. The participation of the two students in problem…

Describes "Start Making a Reader Today" (SMART), a volunteer tutoring program that helps K-2 students at risk of reading difficulties. Finds that the program improved students' word reading, reading fluency, and word comprehension, though level of performance at end of second grade was still much lower than that of average-achieving…