The effect of an early grade literacy program that pairs one-on-one tutoring with family engagement

The effect of an early grade literacy program that pairs one-on-one tutoring with family engagement
By Chenchen Shi, School of Education, Renmin University of China
SPARK (now renamed Future Forward), developed by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee (BGCGM) in 2005, is an early grade literacy intervention for students in high-poverty schools. As a school-community-family partnership strategy, this program seeks to improve K-3 students’ literacy skills through in-school one-on-one tutoring provided by AmeriCorps volunteers or college students in teacher preparation programs and family engagement in around literacy.
Jones and Christian evaluated the effect of SPARK in 7 public schools in Milwaukee serving primarily low-income students of color. They randomly assigned 576 participating students in grades K-2 into either the intervention or the comparison groups. 79.7 % of these students were African American, 12.3% Hispanic, 95.3% qualified for free or reduced-price lunch. While all students were eligible to participate, most students (85%) were not proficient in reading at baseline. After 2 years of implementation, SPARK was found to have significantly positive effect on foundational literacy skills (PALS; ES = +0.23, p < .01) and regular school day attendance (p < .05). However, there were no significant impacts on reading achievement (MAP; ES = +0.10, n.s.) after two years. Students performing in the bottom half at baseline who received SPARK were also found to have better foundational literacy skills (PALS; ES = +0.46, p < .01), but no significant impacts on attendance or reading achievement (MAP).
This study provides further evidences supporting the use of in-school tutoring to accelerate literacy learning for students, particularly those performing below grade level.

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