The Impacts of Peer Tutoring for English Learners in Elementary School

 

Not all education research is equal—the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) identifies high-quality studies and meaningful findings to inform educator decisions and improve student outcomes. This week, the WWC highlights two new study reviews of peer tutoring among English learners in elementary school. The studies examined the effects of two peer tutoring interventions, in which students provided support to English learners in their grade or in a lower grade. The tutoring sessions focused on improving student literacy skills, including vocabulary and reading comprehension. Study One: Silverman et al. (2017) study of Martha’s True Stories Buddies Program In this study, students received the Martha’s True Stories Buddies Program for 14 weeks to support vocabulary and reading comprehension learning strategies during four STEM thematic units. Teachers paired a kindergarten student with one or two grade 4 students. When possible, Spanish speakers were paired together. Each week, students participated in one teacher-led session for about 30–45 minutes with direct instruction on reading comprehension strategies and target vocabulary words, including STEM-related and general academic vocabulary. The instruction for grade 4 students also included guidance and role-playing on how to implement peer tutoring strategies with the kindergarten students. The day after these teacher-led sessions, students participated in a 45-minute peer learning lesson, during which the grade 4 student(s) led their paired kindergartner through a series of activities aimed at helping them learn vocabulary and reading comprehension. These activities included watching a video or reading text, reviewing vocabulary, and doing a writing or drawing activity. Study design: Silverman and colleagues (2017) recruited 12 kindergarten classrooms and 10 grade 4 classrooms in a public school district in the mid-Atlantic region to participate in the study. The study used a quasi-experimental design in which classrooms implemented Martha’s True Stories Buddies Program or continued with usual activities which involved independent reading time. Across the classrooms, 203 kindergartners and 239 grade 4 students were included in the study. The study reported findings separately for English learners (101 kindergartners and 48 grade 4 students) and native English speakers (102 kindergartners and 191 grade 4 students). The WWC’s review focused primarily on the findings for English learners. Across the full sample, nearly two-thirds were Hispanic (63%), one-quarter were Black (25%), and 4% were White; most (83%) were eligible to receive free- or reduced-price lunch. Study findings: The study examined the effects of the program on the literacy skills of both the kindergarten and fourth grade students because the program intended to benefit both. Compared with usual instruction, Martha’s True Stories Buddies Program demonstrated the following for English learners: No discernible effects on standardized measures of English language proficiency for kindergartners or grade 4 students No discernible effects on a researcher-designed measure of reading comprehension for kindergartners Although not the primary focus of the WWC review, the study also reported findings for native English speakers. Compared with usual instruction, Martha’s True Stories Buddies Program had: No discernible effects on a standardized measures of English language proficiency for kindergartners or for grade 4 students Positive effects on a researcher-designed measure of reading comprehension for grade 4 students, and no discernible effects for kindergartners No discernible effects on a standardized measure of reading comprehension for grade 4 students WWC research rating: This study meets WWC standards with reservations. Access the study review here, in the WWC data from study reviews. Evidence tier: The WWC has not assigned an evidence tier to this study because it does not report favorable, statistically significant main findings. The findings for the subgroup of English learner students were the main findings for this review. See the video titled Using the WWC to Identify ESSA Evidence Ratings to learn more about how the WWC assigns evidence tiers to studies. Study Two: Klingbeil et al. (2017) study of peer-mediated incremental rehearsal In this study funded by IES and the University of Wisconsin, peer tutors in grade 3 helped English learners in grades 2 and 3 learn vocabulary words that they did not previously know through peer-mediated incremental rehearsal. Peer tutors were all Hispanic students who primarily spoke Spanish at home and who had high levels of English proficiency. During each tutoring session, lasting about 10 minutes, the peer tutor taught and helped another student practice three previously unknown words alongside seven known words. Each student pair participated in three sessions per week, totaling between eight to 25 tutoring sessions. Study design: Klingbeil and colleagues (2017) conducted a single-case design study, using a multiple baseline design across five students. Teachers at one public school in Wisconsin nominated five students (three students in grade 2 and two students in grade 3) to receive additional reading support and four high-achieving students in grade 3 to serve as peer tutors. During the baseline period, the students received usual classroom instruction. With the multiple baseline design, students began participating in the intervention at different time points. Students who began participation in the intervention earlier in the study had more peer tutoring sessions than students who began participation later in the study. During the tutoring sessions, the students worked with their peer tutors outside their classroom. All five students were Hispanic and three were male. The four peer tutors were also Hispanic and primarily spoke Spanish at home. Study findings: Peer-mediated incremental rehearsal had a positive effect on reading fluency for English learners according to a researcher-developed measure of the number of words students read correctly. However, the intervention had no discernible effect on reading fluency using a standardized measure. WWC research rating: This study meets WWC standards without reservations. Access the study review here, in the WWC data from study reviews. Evidence tier: The WWC assigns evidence tiers to main findings from studies that meet WWC standards with or without reservations. The study meets WWC standards and has favorable, statistically significant findings, but includes fewer than 350 students. As such, the WWC has assigned a Promising Evidence (Tier 3) designation to this study in accordance with the Department of Education’s evidence definitions. See the video titled Using the WWC to Identify ESSA Evidence Ratings to learn more about how the WWC assigns evidence tiers to studies.