Impacts of Supplemental Tutoring Configurations for Preschoolers at Risk for Reading Difficulties

• In Event: Literacy and Mathematics Instruction and Skills

Abstract

This study was designed to determine whether pair-based tutoring, in which a preschool child who is at-risk for reading difficulties, is more effective when a child is tutored with a peer with similar levels of skill (i.e., who is also at risk) or with a higher-achieving peer. The results showed that (1) tutored children had greater gains than control children on the print concepts, definitional vocabulary, and receptive vocabulary measures, but not on the alphabet knowledge, letter-sounds, and phonological awareness measures, and (2) children who were tutored in the matched peer condition and those in the high-achieving peer condition revealed no significant differences in gains. The results are discussed in terms of maximizing children’s learning and human resource use.

Authors

• Carol Vukelich, University of Delaware

• Laura M. Justice, The Ohio State University

• Myae Han, University of Delaware

• Martha J. Buell, University of Delaware