Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Goli Rezai-Rashti
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
academic support, adolescence, attitude, cross-age tutoring, Curriculum Associates, Inc., developmental needs, geometry, grade 6, grade 8, mathematics, measurement, middle school, mock standardized tests, peer tutoring, report card grades, standardized test scores, tutor training, tutoring programs
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to assist 6th-grade students who were not performing at grade level in mathematics. Students entered the 6th grade with a great disparity of skills and abilities in mathematics and then progressed through the middle school grades unable to complete tasks appropriate to their grade level as outlined by the state-mandated mathematics curriculum. These findings were documented both by report card grades and by standardized test scores.
The writer developed a cross-age tutoring program that paired 6th-grade students with 8th-grade students who were trained as tutors. The program was executed as an extra-subject period to provide additional opportunities for the 6th-grade students to develop skills and to deepen their understanding of the mathematics curriculum. During the program sessions, the 8th-grade tutors assisted their 6th-grade partners in completing selected curriculum materials that were published by Curriculum Associates, Inc.
An analysis of the data indicated that slight improvement occurred in individual performances as evidenced by the report card grades and mock standardized test scores of the 6th-grade students who participated in the cross-age tutoring program. The 6th-grade students’ second-quarter mathematics grades were consistently higher than their first-quarter mathematics grades. The mock standardized test results of the 6th-graders revealed an increase in the number of accurate responses in each of the strands of the mathematics curriculum except geometry and measurement. Secondary gains were also observed in independence and attitude for both tutors and tutees.