At-Risk Readers and Community Volunteers: A 3-Year Perspective

Abstract

The Charlottesville Volunteer Tutorial, known locally as Book Buddies, is a one-to-one community volunteer tutorial that is an integral part of the Charlottesville City Schools' plan to ensure that all first- and second-grade children learn to read. Analyses of the first 3 cohorts reveal the growing efficacy of the program. Participants with greater than 40 sessions significantly outperformed participants with fewer than 40 sessions on most pre- and posttest gain scores and on both outcome measures of text reading and word recognition. Effect size for word recognition in Cohort III was +1.29, considerably higher than effect sizes reported for other tutorials using paraprofessionals and volunteers. The gains over the years have demonstrated that 2 sessions of one-on-one tutoring per week, by a trained, supported, and supervised community volunteer for a minimum of 20 weeks, can be an effective and affordable alternative intervention for children at risk for reading failure.