How does peer tutoring contribute to the development of reading comprehension? Evidence from ten years of practice

Abstract

This study investigates the development of reading comprehension in primary school students who took part in a peer tutoring programme. Data were collected from 8,128 students (aged 6–12) from 58 schools that participated in the programme between 2012 and 2022. Adopting a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, two research aims are addressed: 1) to detect changes in reading comprehension in a pretest-posttest, and 2) to analyse the interaction of a subsample of pairs to explain these changes. Pretest-posttest subgroup analyses show a significant improvement in reading comprehension for all levels, tutoring options, and roles (i.e., same-age tutors and tutees, same-age reciprocal role, cross-age tutors and tutees) (.43 ≤ ES ≤. 97). A linear mixed model shows that grade level and the interaction between this variable and tutoring option may moderate the increase in reading comprehension, after controlling for initial score. Interaction analysis points to key elements that can explain this improvement, mainly students’ explicit use of strategies for reading comprehension, repeated episodes of reading the text aloud, and joint construction of answers. Overall, these findings support the use of peer tutoring for the development of reading comprehension throughout primary education. Limitations of the study as well as implications for research and practice are discussed.