OAKLAND, Calif., March 4, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Community volunteers and AmeriCorps members can make a
significant impact on student reading proficiency and are a low
cost option for schools, according to the results of a study by
MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research
firm. The yearlong randomized control trial examined Reading
Partners, a national nonprofit organization that engages volunteers
to deliver a structured, evidence-based curriculum through
one-on-one tutoring to struggling readers in low-income
communities.
The study found that Reading Partners boosted three different
measures of reading proficiency over a control group of students,
many of whom also received supplemental reading services. It
also included a cost analysis, which revealed that the Reading
Partners program is substantially less costly for schools to
implement than typical literacy interventions.
Nationwide, two out of three fourth-graders are reading below
grade level, and almost one-third of children lack even basic
reading skills. Children who struggle with reading in elementary
school are at high risk of academic failure, high school dropout,
and other negative outcomes.
Key Study Findings
The rigorous random assignment study evaluated Reading Partners
in 19 schools in three states, involving more than 1,200 second- to
fifth-graders. Key findings, which reaffirm results released in
June 2014, include:
- Reading Partners was implemented across schools with a high
degree of fidelity, a notable achievement considering the
challenges of implementing a tutoring program that relies on
thousands of volunteers.
- Reading Partners had a positive and statistically significant
impact on all three measures of student reading proficiency
examined — reading comprehension, reading fluency, and sight-word
reading — that equaled approximately 2 months of learning relative
to the control group. This impact represents the value-add of
Reading Partners, since 65 percent of the students in the control
group also received supplemental reading services.
- The Reading Partners program was effective for a wide variety
of students — from different grades and baseline reading
achievement levels, for male and female students, and for students
of different ethnicities and those who are not native English
speakers.
- The study demonstrated that for every dollar invested in
Reading Partners, double the resources were provided to students
through the volunteer tutoring model so students benefit from an
average of $3,610 in resources per
student per program year for $1,700
in cash costs.
- The Reading Partners program is a low-cost option for
under-resourced schools. On average, schools bear only about 20
percent of the total value of the resources required to implement
the program.
- The portion of costs borne by the study schools to implement
Reading Partners was substantially lower than for the other
supplemental reading services provided by those schools. The
average cost to the study schools for Reading Partners was less
than half compared to other supplemental reading services available
at study schools.
"The results of this evaluation are particularly exciting," said
Robin Jacob, the principal
investigator for the study. "They show that, by using community
volunteers as part of a well-designed program, schools can provide
support to struggling readers at a fraction of the cost that is
typically required to support these students."
"There are 18 million Americans volunteering in schools every
year – a tremendous, untapped resource in making a meaningful and
measurable difference in raising reading achievement," says Reading
Partners CEO Michael Lombardo. "This
demonstrates that with a structured, evidence-based curriculum and
the right supports and resources, any one of them can change the
trajectory of a child's education. The cost study shows us that for
every dollar invested in our program, our volunteers and AmeriCorps
members double the resources provided to students."
The study is based upon work supported by the Social Innovation
Fund (SIF), a White House initiative administered by the
Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency
also responsible for AmeriCorps. The SIF is a public-private
partnership designed to identify and expand effective solutions to
critical social challenges. The research is also part of a larger
investment made by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, and
co-investors in the True North Fund in scaling up Reading
Partners.
"When the Social Innovation Fund was launched, we set a goal to
find solutions that work and make them work for more people," said
Wendy Spencer, CEO of the
Corporation for National and Community Service. "Five years later,
I am proud to talk about the extraordinary impact these programs
are having, and I am grateful to the Edna McConnell Clark
Foundation for helping us bring that promise to light. Reading
Partners is a great example of what is possible when we find
something that works and invest in its success."
How does Reading Partners work?
Reading Partners operates in under-resourced elementary schools
where supervised volunteers from the community provide one-on-one
literacy tutoring to struggling readers. At each school,
Reading Partners places a full-time staff member on site (typically
an AmeriCorps member), and recruits and trains up to 100 community
volunteers who commit an hour a week of their time to deliver a
highly-structured, modular curriculum in twice-weekly, 45-minute
sessions. Reading Partners volunteer tutors range in age from
14 to octogenarians and include all genders, ethnicities, and
occupations.
Reading Partners empowers students to succeed in reading and
in life by engaging community volunteers to provide one-on-one
tutoring. The national nonprofit organization has helped tens of
thousands of children master the fundamental reading skills they
need to succeed in school and beyond. To learn more visit
readingpartners.org
Headquartered in New York
City and Oakland, CA, MDRC
is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization with more than 40
years of experience designing and evaluating education and social
policy initiatives.
Contact:
|
Cindy Wilson, Reading
Partners
|
|
510-830-3030
|
|
cindy.wilson@readingpartners.org
|
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SOURCE Reading Partners