Peer tutoring with or without home-based reinforcement, for reading remediation

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Applied Linguistics

Background:

• Reading deficiency affects numerous students, impacting academic success.
• Peer tutoring offers a potential low-cost, high-impact intervention strategy.
• Integrating home-based reinforcement may amplify educational program effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a peer tutoring program for reading-deficient students.
• To determine the added benefit of home-based reinforcement in a peer tutoring intervention.
• To assess the feasibility and satisfaction of a school-based peer tutoring system.

Main Methods:

• An operant-based corrective reading program was implemented over 15 weeks in seven public schools.
• Sixty-nine second to fourth graders were matched and randomly assigned to Peer Tutoring Only, Peer Tutoring with Home-Based Reinforcement, or Control groups.
• Standardized and internal measures assessed changes in oral reading accuracy and comprehension.

Main Results:

• Peer tutoring significantly increased both reading accuracy and comprehension compared to the control group.
• The addition of home-based reinforcement doubled the gains observed with peer tutoring alone.
• Students in the peer tutoring with home-based reinforcement group showed an average oral reading gain of 1.27 years.

Conclusions:

• Peer tutoring is an effective intervention for improving reading skills in deficient students.
• Home-based reinforcement substantially enhances the effectiveness of peer tutoring programs.
• The program demonstrated feasibility and high participant satisfaction, suggesting scalability within school systems.