The early experiences of these 61 reading tutoring programs seem to support what research indicates: Tutoring can work. In their rich diversity of organizational norms, tutor recruitment, placement, training, and support, these programs show that there are many roads up the mountain. The common goal of all, of course, is children across the nation becoming more adept readers.
Tutors everywhere describe initially reluctant, even tearful children becoming enthralled with their new power: the power to comprehend the written word. "I want to read every book in the United States," says a child in Miami. A child in Las Cruces, New Mexico, who was once considered for special education placement, is now an honor student. One mother in Mississippi begs her child's tutor to work with her daughter for another year, exulting that her child is now more self-confident and motivated in all areas of her schoolwork. A child in Monterey County, California, who once refused to speak begins in her tutoring sessions to repeat first words, then phrases. Eventually, she begins to speak on the playground and to participate in class. One child in Salt Lake City tells another, "There's my tutor. She is showing me how smart I am."
Not only do the effective and promising practices explored by the partnerships in their day-to-day activities offer direction to the reading tutoring movement across the country, but these programs are also providing very real opportunities to build reading skills for the children they serve.
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