Effective programs for struggling readers: A best-evidence synthesis.

This article discusses research which was conducted to investigate the achievement outcomes of alternative approaches for struggling readers ages 5–10 who received one-to-one tutoring, small-group tutorials, classroom instructional process approaches, and computer-assisted instruction. Researchers evaluated randomized or well-matched control groups in studies which lasted at least at least 12 weeks and featured the use of valid measures independent of treatments. A total of 97 studies met their criteria. They found that one-to-one tutoring is very effective in improving reading performance and that tutoring models that focus on phonics obtain much better outcomes than others. They also found that teachers are more effective than paraprofessionals and volunteers as tutors and that small-group, phonetic tutorials can be effective, but are not as effective as one-to-one phonetically focused tutoring. They concluded that classroom instructional process programs, especially cooperative learning, can have very positive effects for struggling readers and that computer-assisted instruction had few effects on reading. They suggested that their research results indicate that there should be a strong focus on improving classroom instruction and then providing one-to-one, phonetic tutoring to students who continue to experience reading difficulties.