Using Classroom Assistants to Tutor Struggling Third Graders: How Long Will it Take to Read at Grade Level?

Abstract

Based on a request from a local principal, this study evaluated how long it would take for third graders, who were reading at primer or first-grade level, to read at grade level; whether their reading gains would remain stable once they stopped receiving tutoring; and whether classroom assistants could provide the tutoring. Her questions were in response to her state's newly implemented Gateway policy, under which students in the third, fifth, and eighth grades could not be promoted if they failed a mandated reading assessment. Three cohorts of students received tutoring, 3 to 5 days per week, 40 minutes per session, across an academic year. Overall, 28 of the 37 tutees passed the state-mandated third-grade reading assessment; 26 passed the fifth-grade assessment two years later. However, only half of the tutees who passed the mandated third-grade assessment could read grade-level passages. Discussion focuses on the policy implications of the discrepancy between these two reading measures.

Keywords:

• accountability policies
• classroom assistants
• struggling readers

Notes

Huguley, S. (2003). A Texas-sized flaw in education standards. TheState.Com (Posted October 17, 2003, Accessed 27, 2003.)