Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Claudia Chaille
Committee Member
Carolyn Buckenmaier
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
adult tutors, afterschool programs, benchmark assessments, computation skills, Criterion Test of Basic Skills, elementary school mathematics, Foster Grandparents program, government agencies, Grade 2 students, Grade 4 students, grandparents, intergenerational programs, mathematics achievement, mathematics instruction, performance tests, staff development, student tutoring, summative evaluation, tutor-student ratio, tutoring programs, unsatisfactory achievement levels, weekly tutoring sessions
Abstract
In this applied dissertation, 2nd- and 4th-grade students who were performing unsatisfactorily on the Criterion Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) were identified as a target group to receive the planned intervention. Nine students in Grade 2 and 11 students in Grade 4 received assistance from an adult tutor during and after school. In addition, teachers received increased staff development in mathematics instruction.
Senior adults were paid through the Foster Grandparents program under a government agency to tutor students in the target group. Tutors were trained by school staff. They met students twice a week in their respective mathematics classes and once a week in the afterschool program for 5 months. The tutor: student ratio was 1:1-3.
Students' growth was measured by performance on benchmark assessments, pre- and postintervention test results from CTBS, and mathematics grade for Grade 4 students. Summative results of the study indicated that students in the target group increased computation skills on the CTBS, but the overall expected gains were not demonstrated. Most students made significant growth on quarterly assessments and most students in Grade 4 earned grades of C or better in math. The study supports the benefits of tutoring but did not lead to the conclusion that performance increased because of the tutoring received.