Introduction

In the past, many volunteer programs were content simply to match students with tutors after a screening and orientation period. Program staff members recognized that struggling students benefit greatly from the one-on-one attention of a caring adult, even when the benefits were not so easy to measure. Three years ago, the Corporation for National and Community Service and the U.S. Department of Education joined forces to support the goal that every child read well and independently by the end of third grade. This initiative sharpened the focus of volunteer tutoring toward specific literacy goals. However, there was minimal guiding research around the volunteer tutoring practices that help students learn.

But that was then ... and now we know more. New research on tutor programs is out, and ...

Ongoing tutor training and support is now a standard expectation for volunteer programs in national and community service. But programs vary widely in what, when, and how they train tutors. To help kick off a new school year, this issue of The Tutor examines key aspects in planning and implementing a tutor training plan. These are:

• Guidelines for training delivery
• Suggested content and timing for tutor training
• Tips for finding trainers
• Peer approaches to training
• Training evaluation
• Resources for tutor training

1. The Abt Associates' study of 68 AmeriCorps tutoring programs across the country identified tutor training as one of four effective practices that correlated with higher student learning gains. In fact, when tutors received preservice and ongoing training, students showed significantly higher gains in reading skills (Moss, Swartz, Obeidahhah, & Green, 2001). www.americorps.org/research

In a meta-analysis of 29 separate studies, researchers from the University of Texas and the University of Miami found that tutors who receive intensive training are more effective in improving reading skills (Elbaum, Vaughn, Hughes, & Moody, 2000).