Tutoring has always been a salient part of education and schooling. When attending elementary school, 1934-1942, selected pupils were tutored after school, free, with no extra salary for teachers. It was then considered customary, evidently, for teachers to tutor those needing extra assistance.

According to recent research, there is a strong relationship between the amount of out-of-school reading a student engages in and his or her success in school in reading (Anderson, Fielding, & Wilson, 1988; Stanovich, 1986; Taylor, Frye, & Maruyama, 1990; Walberg & Tsai, 1984). This relationship reveals the importance of investigating why so few…

Describes a program designed to improve the reading skills of second and third graders using work-study students as tutors. Finds: (1) 81% of the students made progress in reading; (2) at-risk learners need extensive vocabulary instruction and background building; and (3) tutors lacked sufficient educational background and knowledge of the reading…