Provide tutoring programs to help students
Tutoring programs work, yet Pennsylvania has diminished
its commitment to support them.
Recommendations
• Pennsylvania should make a sustained commitment to support high-quality tutoring programs
with emphasis on literacy skills in the low grades.
• School districts should implement research-based tutoring strategies and assign struggling students to programs based upon their needs.
• School districts should use peer and volunteer tutors, in conjunction with professional staff, as
a way to engage parents and community members to support student academic growth.
Tutoring provides additional, special, or remedial instruction usually in a one-on-one or small group setting. It is generally supplemental to other instruction and may be provided by a highly trained professional with specialized skill, certified teachers, specially trained instructional aids, or volunteers
working closely with school professionals.
Pennsylvania public schools have long used tutoring as one support for struggling students. Tutoring
has been a primary strategy of federal educa
tion policy since the inception of the Elemen+*)('&%
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tary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in
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1964. It remains a key intervention under the
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No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. In addi
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tion, Pennsylvania state government has inDollor amounts in millions.
termittently supported tutoring programs with earmarked state appropriations beginning
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+$##%% +$##%% +$##%
with TELS in the 1980’s and most recently as
an option under the Accountability Block
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Grants. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania has re
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duced its financial support for tutoring, and
general cuts in district funding have made it
difficult for schools to maintain tutoring proSource: Data prepared by PA Department of Education.
grams without that support.
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Tutoring programs positively impact student success
The U.S. Department of Education reported in 1997 that tutoring works.1 Features associated with
the most positive gains included, (1) close coordination with the
classroom or reading teacher, (2) intensive and ongoing training
Key Points
for tutors, (3) well-structured tutoring sessions in which the content and delivery of instruction is carefully scripted, (4) careful
• Evidence proves that
tutoring programs work
monitoring and reinforcement of progress, (5) frequent and regular tutoring sessions, and (6) specially designed interventions
• Tutoring helps students at
for the 17 to 20 percent of children with severe reading difficulrisk of reading failure
ties.2
• Peer tutoring is a proven
strategy
One-on-one tutoring programs benefit students at risk for
reading failure. A meta-analysis of 29 studies found that well• Declining state support
designed, carefully administered one-on-one reading instruction
has led to cuts in tutoring
programs
contributed to improved performance for many students struggling to read.3 Reading Recovery, a one-on-one instructional
program used in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, has been shown to be very effective at supporting students
to meet grade-level reading expectations. It depends on early intervention (first grade), specifically
trained teachers, and professional development around a teacher’s observational skills and intervention
procedures.4
Peer tutoring, where students work in pairs under the supervision of a trained adult and help one
another learn content and practice a skill, is a
proven instructional strategy. It works best when
students of differing ability levels work together and
when tutors are explicitly trained in the tutoring
process. In addition to higher academic achievement,
peer tutoring improved peer relationships, personal
and social development, and increased motivation.5
Unfortunately, declining state support has made it
difficult for Pennsylvania schools to offer evidencebased tutoring. Since the 1980’s Pennsylvania state
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government has funded programs to support remedial programs for students who struggle with basic
skill development. Recent programs include Read to Succeed, School Performance Incentives, Pennsylvania Accountability Block Grants, and the Educational Assistance Program, the state has earmarked
money that could be used for tutoring. However, in the last few years, state funding support has significantly declined. In 2007-2008, more than 360 million (in three state budget line items) was available for
school districts to support tutoring. In 2011-2012, the appropriations for these line items declined to just
$100 million, and has remained frozen at that level through 2013-14.6
_____________________________________
1
Wasik, B. A. (1997). Volunteer tutoring programs: A review of research on achievement (Report No. 14). Outcomes Center
for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR)
2
Wasik. B. A. (1997). Evidence that Tutoring Works. Retrieved from www.ed.gov.
3
Elbaum, B., Vaughan, S., Hughes, M. T., & Moody, S. W. (2000). How effective are one-to-one tutoring programs in reading for elementary students at risk for reading failure? A meta-analysis of the intervention research. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(4), 605-619. Retrieved from http://nichcy.org/research/summaries
4
Ibid.
5
Kunsch, C., Jitendra, A., & Sood, S. (2007). The effects of peer-mediated instruction in mathematics for students with learning problems: A research synthesis. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 22(1), 1-12.
Toppings, K. (2008). Peer-assisted learning: A practical guide for teachers. Newton, MA: Brookline Books.
6
Pennsylvania State Budgets (2003-2004) , (2011-2012). Harrisburg, PA: Author.
Revised January 2014
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