Developing and implementing a cross-age tutoring program
Abstract
The North Olmsted City Schools in Ohio enlist the help of 10th-grade students to tutor first-graders who tested "below grade level" in their reading skills. The "Spruce Up Your Reading Skills" program also engages the first-graders' parents in the cross-age tutoring program by encouraging them to attend the tutor trainings. The program staff members shared how they developed and implemented the cross-age tutoring program during a workshop session at the 2001 National Conference on Community Volunteering and National Service in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Issue
A good foundation in reading is vital to a child's future educational success. However, some first-grade students in North Olmsted City Schools were already testing at below grade level in reading.Action
"Spruce Up Your Reading Skills" (SPURS) is a 10-week program that uses materials from Houghton Mifflin's Early Success Intervention Program.
Program Logistics
- Tenth-graders assist first-graders in reading and reading-related activities during one-hour sessions conducted two evenings per week.
- An adult supervises the 10th-graders as they engage the first-graders in activities such as coached reading, making words, writing sentences, and writing story summaries.
- Computer programs also are used to reinforce the print material and to offer diverse activities to the first-graders.
- A college student helps to supervise the tutoring sessions and serves as a liaison between the program and the first-graders' teachers.
Tutoring Session
- During each session, the first-graders work with their tutors for 30 minutes and then they have a short snack break.
- After the snack break, they continue activities and then complete a summary sheet with their tutor of what was worked on and what could be followed up on at home.
- The child then takes the summary sheet home to share with parents or guardians.
- Additionally, when a child completes a book, he/she brings the book home to share with his/her parents.
Training for Tutors
- Prior to starting the program, both the parents and 10th-grade students are given a full-day literacy intervention in-service.
- The parents learn the same reading strategies and see the same materials the 10th-graders will use during the tutoring sessions. This prepares the parents to offer ongoing reinforcement and support to their children at home.
- The in-service covers advantages to using high school mentors, the assessments to be used in the program, nightly schedule of activities, reading strategies emphasized in the program, activities that can be done at home, materials available for home use, and other tips for parental involvement. There's also an opportunity for the parents to meet the high school mentors.
Context
The SPURS program is a literacy intervention program in North Olmsted City Schools in Ohio.
Reading Intervention for EARLY SUCCESS™ is a research-based reading intervention program for students in grades 1and 2 who need extra support to become proficient, grade-level readers. It is a small group model (5-7 students) that provides 30 minutes of daily instruction that is in addition to the core reading/language arts program. The daily lesson plan provides explicit, direct instruction in a three part lesson plan: Rereading for Fluency, Reading the Books of the Week, and Working with Words/Writing Sentences.
EARLY SUCCESS is based on 12 years of classroom research (Early Intervention in Reading or EIR®) conducted by Dr. Barbara Taylor of the University of Minnesota. EARLY SUCCESS develops reading fluency within a meaning based context. It is aligned with the five critical areas of reading instruction as outlined in the Reading First criteria of the No Child Left Behind Legislation.
Outcome
The 10th-graders proved to be committed tutors to the first-graders and held a position of influence with the first-graders that adults cannot duplicate.
The following quotes were obtained from the mentors, parents, children and staff who participated in the SPURS program.
10th-Grade Mentors
"This program helped me realize that some people need a little bit of extra attention and encouragement. It taught me to find other solutions to problems rather than giving up the first time things don't work out as planned."
"It's harder to teach than one might think. You have to adapt to unexpected situations and be able to adjust. Rigidity is not a good thing. You have to learn how to work with the personality of your student so as to maximize their benefits. You have to realize what works best for your individual while at the same time following the program."
Parents
"Ryan looked forward to attending this program. I have seen a big improvement in his reading. He really has had a big change in his reading habits."
"This program was excellent. So many positives and reinforcements for the kids. She has grown both with education but also with self-esteem and socially. I would recommend this program to any parent who has a struggling child. It also helped me and my husband focus and gave directions for us to help her at home."
First-graders
"I can read good now!"
"I can read books to my mom and dad now and they don't have to read to me all the time."
Teacher
"During the post-test, they all seemed to tackle the test with so much more confidence. They all took the time to sound out difficult words rather than giving up. Obviously they were using strategies they had learned."
Evidence
Pre- and post-test data from the Emergent Literacy Survey and the Tera-2 Test showed all the first-graders in the SPURS program moved from "below average" to at least the "low average" range . They all showed a gain in each subtest: rhyming recognition, beginning sound recognition, blending onsets, concepts of print, letter naming, word recognition and sentence dictation.Posted On
August 6, 2001For More Information