First randomized evaluation performed of virtual early literacy tutoring

program in the US

By Cynthia Lake, Johns Hopkins University

The first randomized evaluation of a virtual early literacy tutoring program in the US has found positive effects on student achievement. Susannah Loeb and colleagues from Stanford University and Vanderbilt University conducted an evaluation of OnYourMark, a virtual tutoring program designed to equip students in grades K-2 with foundational literacy skills. Published by National Student Support Accelerator, the evaluation was implemented across 12 Texas schools during the 2022-23 academic year. Conducted within classrooms, yet facilitated by online tutors, the program offered four 20-minute sessions each week, spanning from September to May. The diverse study sample included 2,085 K-2 students: 510 randomly assigned to receive one-on-one tutoring, 570 to two-on-one sessions, and 1,005 to a business-as-usual control condition.

Overall, students who were assigned to receive OnYourMark tutoring scored significantly higher than their peers in the control group on the DIBELS (ES = +0.08), with lower-performing students and first graders in 1:1 sessions benefiting the most (ES = +0.18 and +0.19 respectively). It is of note that results did not translate to significantly better performance on the NWEA MAP (ES = +0.04).

In its conclusion, the report acknowledges the modesty of the virtual model’s effects compared to similar in-person programs. However, given the scores of students in need of reading remediation and the conditions where in-person interventions face challenges, understanding the effectiveness of virtual models is extremely important as an option to reach more students. The more research-proven models districts and schools can access, the better equipped they are to make informed decisions of what will best serve their students.