With the recent proliferation of college service-learning programs such as America Reads and tutoring programs such as Howard Street and Book Buddies, college students now have more opportunities to serve as tutors in elementary schools than ever before. A number of reports have appeared in the research literature describing tutoring programs that could serve as models for tutoring initiatives (Morrow & Woo, 2001; Fitzgerald, 2001; Juel, 1993; Presser & Levesque, 1997; Wasik & Slavin, 1993). Based on this research, we developed a service-learning tutoring program for our undergraduate prospective teachers designed to provide support for them in what was for many their first experience as elementary school teachers. Our evaluation of their experiences indicated that the undergraduate tutors in our program were transformed in significant ways and developed new perspectives and attitudes in such areas as: identity and personal development; teaching and learning; and service and responsibility to the community (Malone, Jones, & Stallings, 2002). The undergraduate tutors also enjoyed the opportunity to help others and to interact with the children.

We were also interested in whether the tutoring was having a positive effect on the elementary school children. As recently as 1997 there was "very little work documenting the effectiveness of using volunteers as tutors" (Wasik, 1997, p. 283, emphasis added). The structure of our program gave us an opportunity to help to fill this gap in the research record. The purpose of this article is to: (1) describe the service-learning tutoring program that we developed for prospective teachers; (2) assess the impact of the tutoring program on the tutees (elementary school children); and (3) discuss the implications of the results within the context of the growing body of research literature on tutoring programs.

Literature Review

One of the first studies on the effectiveness of tutoring programs was conducted by Cohen, Kulik, and Kulik (1982). These researchers concluded that tutoring programs that are able to demonstrate effectiveness using statistical data generally: are more structured; provide training; target basic skill acquisition; use achievement in basic skills as outcome measurements; use evaluation instruments that are locally developed specifically to measure the effect of tutoring, as opposed to more commercial standardized tests; and focus on more well-defined academic areas such as math rather than on more complex tasks such as reading. Cohen, Kulik, and Kulik further concluded that tutoring programs, in general, do have a positive effect on academic achievement, attitudes about learning, and student behavior.

Many of the findings of the seminal Cohen, Kulik, and Kulik study have been supported by more recent research. For example, Wasik (1998a) reviewed four tutoring programs that had been shown to demonstrate effectiveness. In examining the programs, Wasik found several common programmatic elements necessary to ensure effectiveness, including: structured tutoring sessions; ongoing training; regular participation; and supervision of tutors by a qualified professional. In another study, however, Wasik (1997) pointed out that conclusions drawn by researchers concerning the effectiveness of tutoring programs are frequently based on inadequate program evaluation. In examining 17 tutoring programs, Wasik found that a majority of programs claiming to be effective did not utilize comparison groups, lacked well-conceived evaluation design, failed to account for the achievement that may have resulted from maturation or classroom instruction, and in general lacked experimental rigor. Wasik concluded that while the potential for well-designed tutoring programs is significant, more attention and resources needed to be focused on evaluating existing programs.

Since the appearance of the Wasik articles, researchers have begun to address this need. In one such study, Elbaum, Vaughn, Hughes, and Moody (2000) conducted a meta-analysis of 29 studies of supplemental adult-delivered one-to-one instruction for elementary school students with low reading skills. Each of the 29 studies used in the meta-analysis "contrasted one or more groups of students who participated in a supplemental one to one instructional intervention in reading with a group of students who did not receive any one to one instruction" (p. 608). Almost all of the children represented in the meta-analysis were first graders (n = 1,164); the meta-analysis included only five samples of students in higher grades (n = 130). Elbaum et al. indicated that many factors appeared to have an impact on the reported effects of tutoring documented in the 29 studies. The researchers concluded: (1) children's grade level was significantly associated with the variation in effect sizes (The effects of tutoring in studies of students in grades four to six varied greatly and the overall mean effect was not significant; the mean effect in lower grades was significant.); (2) the qualifications of the tutor/instructor was significant (College students who served as a tutor had the greatest effect; paraprofessionals and community volunteers had a smaller but significant impact.); (3) training of tutors was positively related to achievement; (4) treatment fidelity was significant (e.g., tutors who came to each tutoring session and tutored for the entire time had a more positive effect); (5) research design and rigor varied among the 29 studies (In some studies, students in the control group received supplemental academic support in after school programs, thus perhaps confounding the results.); (6) the focus of the intervention had an impact on the overall effect (Focusing on reading comprehension appeared to have a greater effect than a focus on phonics or a mixed focus.); (7) the type of outcome measure utilized in a study was related to effect size (Studies that utilized non-standardized measures that were more closely aligned with interventions yielded larger effects than studies that utilized standardized tests as outcome measures.); (8) the particular aspect of reading that was measured after the intervention was associated with variation in effect sizes (Studies that used measures of listening comprehension and writing vocabulary as outcomes tended to report larger effects than studies that used reading comprehension or composites scores based on subtests of different skills); (9) the same amount of instructional time delivered over a shorter rather than a longer period of time appeared to have more powerful effects (Total instructional time by itself or duration of tutoring did not appear to have an effect.); and (10) the method of assigning children to comparison groups had an impact on effect size (Studies that used random assignment or matching yielded significantly larger effect sizes than studies that assigned children based on teacher judgment or convenience). In sum, Elbaum et al. concluded that one-to-one reading interventions that use trained college students and volunteers "can make a significant contribution to improved reading outcomes for many students whose poor reading skills place them at-risk for academic futures" (p. 617).

Over the past five years, research on the effectiveness of tutoring programs has increased dramatically. This phenomenon is perhaps the result of several factors: the advent of the America Reads Challenge (Adler, 1999); the proliferation of nationally recognized one-on-one reading interventions such as Reading Recovery (Clay, 1993), Success for all (Success for all Foundation, 2000), Wallach Tutoring Program (Wallach & Wallach, 1976), Book Buddies (2000), and Howard Street (Morris, 1999); a greater utilization of service learning as a pedagogical approach; an increase in volunteerism and civic engagement; low scores on reading achievement by fourth graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress; and the growing use of standardized tests in the early grades as methods of ensuring accountability. Given that the recent No Child Left Behind Act requires even more rigorous evaluation of students, tutoring will continue to play an important role in supporting student achievement, as will efforts to address the deficiencies in past evaluations of tutoring programs noted by Wasik.