A randomized evaluation of 15 versus 25 weeks of individual tutoring for children in care

Abstract

BackgroundBecause children in out-of-home care lag behind their peers in educational achievement, there have been increased efforts to improve their academic success. Previous research has found that 25 weeks of the Teach Your Children Well (TYCW) tutoring program enhances the academic skills of children in care. ObjectiveThis randomized control trial aimed to assess how much TCYW tutoring is enough to accelerate learning.Participants and Setting: In this study, we compared a shorter version of the TCYW method (15 weeks) with a longer version (25 weeks) in a sample of 72 children in care. Method36 children were randomly assigned to the 15-week group and 36 to the 25-week group. The reading and math tutoring was conducted on a one-on-one basis by paid adult tutors in the children's placement homes. ResultsWith but one exception, ANCOVAs via multiple hierarchical regression revealed no significant differences between the 15 and 25-week tutoring groups on the Woodcock-Johnson (WJ) III reading and math subtests. After we had collapsed across experimental conditions, paired t-tests revealed significant pre-test/post-test improvements on WJ-III Letter-Word Identification, Reading Fluency, Broad Reading composite, Calculation, Math Fluency, Applied Problems, and Broad Math composite. An attribute-treatment interaction analysis, conducted to assess potential moderating variables of the effectiveness of tutoring, revealed that children with higher executive functioning benefited more from the 15-week group. ConclusionsFindings suggest that a shorter version of the TYCW program is as effective as a longer version in improving math and reading skills for children in care.