Abstract
The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the impact of synchronous online tutoring services on struggling middle school students’ mathematics achievement. The online tutoring was provided as a response to intervention (RTI) Tier 3 support (intensive, individualized intervention) in schools implementing a school-wide mathematics program that addresses Tier 1 (high-quality classroom instruction) and Tier 2 (small group interventions). We employed quasi-experimental, within- and between-group designs to examine impacts for 119 students in two schools to measure the tutoring’s impact on mathematics assessment scores. We also conducted qualitative analyses of student and tutor postsession commentary. The findings suggest that the tutoring contributed to statistically significant gains in student assessment scores postintervention. Online tutors’ descriptions of their practice centered on ongoing progress monitoring of student learning, delivery of guided practice to students, the use of multiple explanations and representations of target concepts. Student perceptions of the online tutoring were predominately positive in nature.
Highlights
This article examines the impact of an online tutoring program on struggling middle school students’ mathematics achievement, tutor descriptions of their online tutoring practices, and student perceptions of tutoring experiences as they occurred in real time
Within a response to intervention (RTI) framework, PowerTeaching math (PTm) embeds Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports through the provision of professional development and resources that focus on specific elements of primary and secondary prevention of learning difficulties, including (1) effective instructional strategies, (2) differentiation, (3) strategic grouping of students, and (4) progress monitoring (O’Connor & Sanchez, 2011)
Representativeness indices were calculated to provide information about the extent to which themes emerged across individuals, and how prevalent each was throughout the discourse. These indices provided context related to the number of sources with statements coded to each theme at least once, and the salience of themes in terms of the number of references generated across participants accruing to a single code
Summary
This article examines the impact of an online tutoring program on struggling middle school students’ mathematics achievement, tutor descriptions of their online tutoring practices, and student perceptions of tutoring experiences as they occurred in real time. The tutoring was provided as a Tier 3 support to enhance the overall effectiveness of a school-wide mathematics reform effort, PowerTeaching math (PTm), a program funded under the U.S Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation scaleup initiative This initiative is focused on the dissemination of research-based educational programming to high-need schools. No method works for all students all the time; students who struggle with mathematics even within the context of an instructional environment that applies validated, research-based methods require individual tailoring In these cases, systematic, ongoing progress monitoring facilitates the formulation of adjusted interventions that are effective for those students (Fuchs et al, 2011). This study explores how online mathematics tutoring impacted student achievement outcomes and perceptions in the context of a wider reform that provided primary and secondary supports, and functioned to augment that effort as a tertiary intervention
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