At least one finding shows strong evidence of effectiveness
At least one statistically significant positive finding
Meets WWC standards without reservations
Rating:
-
Meets WWC standards without reservations
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Alphabetics outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure
|
Comparison
|
Period
|
Sample
|
Intervention mean
|
Comparison mean
|
Significant?
|
Improvement index
|
Evidence tier
|
Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE)
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
All students;
1,147 students
|
92.78
|
91.37
|
Yes
|
|
|
Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE)
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Students in grades 2 and 3;
594 students
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Yes
|
|
|
Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE)
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Male students;
627 students
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Yes
|
|
|
Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE)
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Students who are ELs;
625 students
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Yes
|
|
|
Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE)
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Students who are not ELs;
498 students
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
No
|
--
|
|
Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE)
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Students in grades 4 and 5;
557 students
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
No
|
--
|
|
Reading Fluency outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure
|
Comparison
|
Period
|
Sample
|
Intervention mean
|
Comparison mean
|
Significant?
|
Improvement index
|
Evidence tier
|
AIMSweb CBM Words Read Correct
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
All students;
1,151 students
|
0.06
|
-0.03
|
Yes
|
|
|
AIMSweb CBM Words Read Correct
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Female students;
514 students
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Yes
|
|
|
AIMSweb CBM Words Read Correct
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Students who are ELs;
625 students
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Yes
|
|
|
AIMSweb CBM Words Read Correct
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Students in grades 2 and 3;
594 students
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
No
|
--
|
|
AIMSweb CBM Words Read Correct
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Students in grades 4 and 5;
557 students
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
No
|
--
|
|
AIMSweb CBM Words Read Correct
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Male students;
627 students
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
No
|
--
|
|
AIMSweb CBM Words Read Correct
|
Reading Partners vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Students who are not ELs;
498 students
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
No
|
--
|
|
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
-
55%
English language learners
-
Female: 45%
Male: 55%
-
- B
- A
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- I
- H
- J
- K
- L
- P
- M
- N
- O
- Q
- R
- S
- V
- U
- T
- W
- X
- Z
- Y
- a
- h
- i
- b
- d
- e
- f
- c
- g
- j
- k
- l
- m
- n
- o
- p
- q
- r
- s
- t
- u
- v
- x
- w
- y
California, District of Columbia, New York
-
Race
Asian |
|
9% |
Black |
|
19% |
Other or unknown |
|
1% |
White |
|
6% |
-
Ethnicity
Hispanic |
|
65% |
Not Hispanic or Latino |
|
35% |
Setting
The study took place in 19 schools: 16 schools in California, two in New York, and one in Washington, DC. The majority of the schools were Title I schools. Eight of the 19 schools were “in varying stages of federal School Improvement status.”
Study sample
The analytic sample was 55% male, 65% Hispanic, 19% African American, 9% Asian, 6% White, and 1% other race or ethnicity. Over 90% of students in the analytic sample were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, and 55% of students were English learners. The intervention and comparison groups had similar characteristics.
Intervention Group
The Reading Partners intervention was a pull-out program that was offered during school hours or afterschool programs. Volunteer tutors and students met in a dedicated space, and the program was designed to provide two 45-minute sessions per week. The average number of
Reading Partners tutors assigned to each student was 2.5. Across schools, the average number of tutors assigned to each student ranged from 1.7 to 3.6 tutors. On average, students received about 1.5 tutoring sessions per week for 28 weeks. In eight of the 19 schools, the Reading Partners center was in its second year of operation, while the rest had been operating a Reading Partners center for at least 3 years.
Comparison Group
Students assigned to the comparison group did not receive one-to-one tutoring through the Reading Partners program during the study period, but they were eligible for other supplemental reading services at school. The supplemental programs were usually offered in small group settings. The researchers found that 65% of comparison group students received supplemental reading services at school, and 21% of comparison group students received one-to-one tutoring. On average, the comparison students received 57 fewer minutes of supplemental reading instruction time per week than the intervention group. The researchers also found that 26% of comparison group students had received Reading Partners services prior to the study period.
Support for implementation
In addition to volunteer tutors, other core components of the Reading Partners program that supported the implementation of the individualized tutoring included the following: dedicated space and materials (including work stations, a library, and resource materials); a structured curriculum that tutors use with students; availability and use of assessment tools to be administered to students during the academic year; 2 weeks of training for new program managers; ongoing training provided to volunteers at the beginning of the year and on a monthly basis thereafter; and instructional supervision and support provided by staff to volunteer tutors.