Volunteer tutoring programs in reading: A review

THE AMERICA Reads Challenge Act of 1937 makes a national commitment to the goal that every child will read independently and weil by the end of the third grade. The primary means of achieving this goal are to place 1 million volunteers in schools to tutor children in reading. This article reviews both the quantitative and qualitative findings of 17 programs/studies in volunteer tutoring. Only 3 of the programs had an evaluation comparing equivalent treatment and comparison groups to determine the effectiveness of the programs. Five of the programs had no evaluations at all. The limited research does indicate that volunteers can be successful if they are trained and follow specific guidelines. Important aspects of volunteer tutoring programs are summarized. Considerably more research needs to be done to ensure that tutoring by volunteers will result in meaningful benefits to children.