Provider: Literacy Mid-South
Program Description
The program placed part-time tutors, typically college students or community members with at least a high school diploma who passed a screening test, in schools to work in person with groups of about three students. Sessions were planned for 45 minutes, three times a week, over 24 weeks. Tutoring took place in a classroom or the cafeteria, using workbooks and phonics materials aligned with the state’s reading curriculum.
Findings
- Null effect: The study found no meaningful effect overall. Students assigned to tutoring performed comparably to those not assigned to tutoring. But students who started behind grade level gained about three months of additional learning (+0.20 SD), while students who started out higher performing declined (-0.15 SD).
- Students who participated received, on average, 32.8 hours of tutoring, out of a possible 40.5 hours. Under ideal conditions, 54 hours of tutoring would be offered, but the rollout was delayed.
- Students who started with lower reading scores benefited the most from tutoring, improving by about 0.20 standard deviations, while students who started with higher scores did somewhat worse than similar students who did not receive tutoring, suggesting that focusing tutoring on those who need it most would maximize its benefits. The results also suggest that economically disadvantaged students benefited less from tutoring than other students.
- What students were doing who were not participating in Literacy Mid-South tutoring was not formally tracked, but comparison students were expected to use i-Ready, supervised by a teacher, with occasional small-group support provided by the teacher. No comprehensive cost analysis was reported, but tutors were paid $20–30/hour.
- Researchers say the delayed rollout and shortened tutoring period likely explains the lack of overall effect. The study sample included some higher-achieving students who were not part of the original target population. Some subgroup comparisons used small samples, making those results less certain.
| Research Partner | Abt Global |
| Study Year | 2024-25 |
| Study Location | A mid-sized, suburban school district in Tennessee |
| Modality | In-Person |
| Study Design | RCT (Randomized Controlled Trial) |
| Total Sample | 333 students randomly assigned (321 included in the final results), across 2 schools |
| Characteristics of Treatment Group | Female: 51% Male: 49% Black/African American: 44% White: 43% Asian: 2% Economically Disadvantaged: 38% English Language Learner: Not reported Students with Disabilities (IEP): Not reported (excluded from eligibility by design) |
| Subject | Reading/ELA |
| Grades | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Average Actual Dosage | 32.8 hours |
| Scheduled Dosage | 40.5 hours |
