Identifying Essential Instructional Components of Literacy Tutoring for Struggling Beginning Readers

Abstract

This study examined the components of a one-on-one literacy tutoring model to identify the necessary and sufficient elements for helping struggling beginning readers. The tutoring components of interest included word work using manipulative letters, written word work, and a generalization component. Reading assessment data from 100 first-grade students, randomly assigned to four tutoring conditions and a control group, were analyzed. Following the treatment period, groups were evaluated on phonological awareness, sight word knowledge, decoding, and word attack. Results indicated that children who received all of the tutoring components performed better than those in the control condition across all four reading performance indicators under consideration.

Keywords:

• manipulative letters
• reading intervention
• struggling readers
• tutoring
• UFLI

This study was conducted with support from the US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Grant H324D000066-01.

The authors extend their deep appreciation to Dr. Lynda Hayes for her work in the development of the tutoring model and to Dr. Joseph Torgesen for his helpful feedback on a previous draft of this article.