Effectiveness
Start Making a Reader Today® was found to have potentially positive effects on alphabetics, fluency, and comprehension.
Program Description
Start Making a Reader Today® (SMART®) is a volunteer tutoring program widely implemented in Oregon for students in grades K–2 who are at risk of reading failure. The program is designed to be a low-cost, easy-to-implement intervention. Volunteer tutors go into schools where at least 40% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch and read one-on-one with students twice a week for half an hour. Typically, one volunteer works with two children on four types of activities: reading to the child, reading with the child, re-reading with the child, and asking the child questions about what has been read. The program also gives each student two new books a month to encourage families to read together.
Research
One study of SMART® met the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. The one study included more than 125 students in first grade in six schools across four school districts in Oregon. The WWC considers the extent of evidence for SMART® to be small for alphabetics, fluency, and comprehension. No studies that met WWC evidence standards with or without reservations addressed general reading achievement.
