Abstract
Synopsis Based on increasing demands for accountability in schools, school administrators are looking for ways to increase the academic performance of students including tutoring. Currently a variety of tutoring approaches are used including volunteer tutoring, peer tutoring, cross-age tutoring, and one-on-one tutoring. The evidence base related to volunteer tutoring has grown in recent years; consequently, this review is based upon only those evaluations of volunteer programs in which tutees were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. We found 21 studies (with 27 different study cohorts in those studies because several studies provided separate reporting on multiple cohorts) reporting on randomized field trials to guide us in assessing the effectiveness of volunteer tutoring programs. Abstract Background Volunteer tutoring programs are intended to improve student performance, provide mentorship, and improve student self-esteem, as well as behavior. Despite the best of intention and effort, schools are not certain which volunteer tutoring programs are most effective. Therefore, we contend that a rigorous analysis of the extant literature regarding volunteer tutoring programs can provide schools with information about the most effective types of tutoring programs. Objectives To assess the effectiveness of volunteer tutoring programs for improving the academic skills of student enrolled in grades K-8 in the USA, and to further investigate for whom and under what conditions tutoring can be effective.
Highlights
Volunteer tutoring programs are intended to improve student performance, provide mentorship, and improve student self-esteem, as well as behavior
The results of the review were based on the data from 1,676 study participants in 28 study cohorts in 21 research articles or reports
The objective of this systematic review was to gather, summarize, and integrate the empirical research on volunteer tutoring programs in order to help policymakers, educators, parents, and other stakeholders understand whether this type of intervention might be an effective tool for improving academic skills for elementary students
Summary
Volunteer tutoring programs are intended to improve student performance, provide mentorship, and improve student self-esteem, as well as behavior. We contend that a rigorous analysis of the extant literature regarding volunteer tutoring programs can provide schools with information about the most effective types of tutoring programs. The two decades witnessed an increased interest in tutoring programs staffed by adult volunteers for a variety of reasons: (1) increased public concern with the quality of education after the National Commission on Excellence in Education’s release of “A Nation at Risk” in 1983; (2) rising interest in community service in the 1990s, and (3) the encouraging results from effective yet costly programs that employ professional tutors. By 1987, the National Research Council estimated that there were over one million volunteer tutors who donated an average of four hours per week in the nation’s public schools. The survey found that three-fourths of public elementary schools in the United States reported the involvement of volunteers, with schools having an average of 24 volunteers (Michael, 1990)
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