Maximizing Student Progress in One-to-One Programs: Contributions of Texts, Volunteer Experience, and Student Characteristics

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine why some students made greater gains in reading achievement than did others who participated in one volunteer tutoring program, Reading Partners. The relationships between gains in reading achievement and the texts students read, the experience of the volunteer with whom they worked, and student entering achievement were examined. The 34 student participants attended roughly 50 one-to-one sessions in which they read thematically related texts that aligned with their 4th-grade social studies curriculum. Simple correlations revealed that students' entering decoding ability, the experience of the volunteer with whom they worked, and reading of chapter books as well as a balance of text types and difficulty levels were predictive of gains in reading achievement. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that the relationships among these variables were complex. The findings were interpreted as supportive of arguments that poor readers will make the greatest gains in reading achievement if supported (in this case, by community volunteers) in the reading of texts that are difficult but thematically related and content rich.