In the Department of Speech Communication at Humboldt State University, there are two programs (a tutoring program and the Undergraduate Instructional Assistant program) through which undergraduate students help provide instruction to other undergraduate students. Volunteer tutors provide one-on-one assistance to students who need help in their…

The Indiana Free Library Literacy Program had two major goals during Fiscal Year 1989: to maintain and expand the present services and to extend the existing literacy program. Tutors were recruited through public service announcements and extensive free coverage in the Indiana Gazette. Four tutor training workshops were held to train 40 new…

Michigan Literacy conducted a project to collect, review, summarize, and compile a reference document of all student assessment tools currently being used by adult volunteer literacy programs in Michigan. Data were gathered through a survey questionnaire that was sent to 134 volunteer literacy programs (with 82 responses). Respondents reported…

This paper examines the literacy services provided by public libraries in the rural areas (communities of 25,000 people or less) of West Virginia and Kentucky. Of the 93 libraries (68%) which responded to the survey, 89.8% acknowledge illiteracy as being a problem. However, although 92% of the librarians agree that illiteracy programs are an…

Over the years, a composition instructor has watched the metaphor of the writing center as a spider web unfold on three different college campuses, all of which have a culturally diverse student body. As a junior college peer tutor, a graduate student tutor, and a faculty member trying to get out of doing some committee work, the instructor has…

This handbook documents the Prison Literacy Project (PLP) in order to provide a model for other community groups to follow in developing their own literacy projects. The PLP worked to have prison residents learn to read or significantly raise their reading levels through an ongoing literacy tutoring program. All project participants were involved…

The Nassau (New York) Library System contracted with Literacy Volunteers of America to address the problem of adult literacy by increasing the number of trained volunteer tutors who can teach basic literacy skills. Specifically, the project's goals were to: (1) conduct 6 tutor training workshops at library locations; (2) recruit and train 180-200…

HOSTS, "Helping One Student To Succeed," is a nationally-validated Chapter I program adopted by 24 schools in the Portland School District. It was designed to help low performers learn to read by providing individualized instruction on a one-to-one basis through the use of trained volunteer tutors. The HOSTS curriculum is designed as a…

One college's examination of its tutoring program led to conclusions that can be applied to many tutoring programs. The most important conclusion was that faculty should be involved in as many stages of the tutorial process as possible. Specifically, five conditions should be met to create a productive teacher tutor relationship: (1) the teacher…

Intended for use by classroom teachers and supervisors, this paper presents guidelines for implementing a peer tutoring program. The contents provide a definition of peer tutoring, a program rationale, and a list of steps for program implementation. Responsibilities of participating teachers and guidelines for selecting tutors and tutorial…

This research study was designed to investigate whether tutors and tutees derive any benefits from tutoring. Two classes of fifth graders and two classes of third graders were the subjects in this experiment. One class each of fifth graders and third graders was randomly divided into tutor and study-alone categories. The other classes served as…

Adult education opportunities can be increased through cable television technology, which provides home-based instruction as an alternative to the strictures of the classroom or learning center. The 18-month Salem project used television for primary instruction together with the services of paraprofessional tutors as a personal contact for…

Results of a study which examined the performance of tutored students in a university introduction to psychology course indicate that the efforts of students in tutored groups are no better than in untutored groups. Suggests further research into the tutor's role in developing positive attitudes about and knowledge of psychology. (Author/KC)

A recent number of FORUM (Vol. 17, No. 3), focusing on "The Question of Size", suggested the formation of "schools within schools" as a possible solution to the problems of large schools. Here two teachers from Countesthorpe College, Leicestershire, develop this approach, based on their own experience. (Editor)

Criticizes Robert Slavin's "best evidence" rejection of mastery learning research for being potentially biased, highly subjective, and misleading. Apparently, Slavin threw out studies of less than four weeks' duration, discounted certain nonclassroom results achieved by teachers, and rejected studies not using standardized,…