Contingent Math Tutoring

 

 

OVERVIEW

 

Contingent Math Tutoring is a tutoring approach that increases the amount of support based upon the child's performance on a particular math problem.  In this evaluation, children were randomly assigned to contingent math tutoring or to two other tutoring strategies.  Results show that the students in the contingent math tutoring group had significantly higher math scores than students in the other two groups at the one month follow-up.

 

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

 

Target population: Fourth and fifth grade students

 

Contingent Tutoring is a tutoring strategy that provides a child with an increasing amount of support if the child does not follow the instructions correctly and less support if the child is successful.  The strategy involves nine levels including: (0) no directive, (1) general verbal directive, (2) general verbal hint, (3) labeling the subcomponent, (4) specifying the step of subcomponent, (5) hinting about the step, (6) giving the step answer or recording, (7) giving the step answer and recording, and (8) demonstrating.  A tutor can move up the steps depending on how much assistance a child needs.  In this intervention, children are presented with four difficult long division problems followed by a 20-minute tutoring session.

 

 

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

 

Study 1: Pratt, M. W., & Savoy-Levine, K. M. (1998). Contingent tutoring of long-division skills in fourth and fifth graders: Experimental tests of some hypotheses about scaffolding. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 19(2), 287-304.

 

Evaluated population: Thirty children from a moderate-sized urban area in Ontario, Canada.  Children were mostly white, middle-class 9- to 11-year olds.

 

Approach:  Children were randomly assigned to one of three tutoring groups: contingent tutoring, moderate support tutoring, or high support tutoring.   The contingent tutoring group received tutoring ranging through all nine levels as described above.  The moderate support tutoring group involved instruction only at levels three and four, as described above.  The high support tutoring group received instruction only at level seven.  Children were assessed at pre-test, post-test, one-week follow-up, and one-month follow-up on the correct completion of math problems and positive and negative affect.

 

Results: At post-test and at a one-week follow-up, the contingent tutoring and moderate support tutoring groups had significantly higher math scores than the high support group.  There was no significant difference in math scores when comparing the contingent and moderate tutoring groups at post-test and one week follow-up.  At one month follow-up, the contingent tutoring group had significantly higher math scores than the other two groups.

 

Children in the high support tutoring group reported significantly more negative affect when compared with the other two groups.  There was no significant difference between the three groups on positive affect.

 

 

Study 2: Pratt, M. W., & Savoy-Levine, K. M. (1998). Contingent tutoring of long-division skills in fourth and fifth graders: Experimental tests of some hypotheses about scaffolding. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 19(2), 287-304.

 

Evaluated population: Forty children from a moderate-sized urban area in Ontario, Canada.  Children's mean age was 10.6 years and around 75 percent were female (n = 29)

 

Approach:  Children were randomly assigned to one of five tutoring groups: contingent tutoring, moderate support tutoring, high support tutoring, sequential support tutoring, or a no-treatment control group.   The contingent, moderate, and high support tutoring are described in study 1.  Sequential support tutoring is similar to contingent tutoring; however, the sequential support tutoring only moves up the steps one-by-one after failure, with no regard for the child's previous (successful) performance.  Children were assessed on the correct completion of long division math problems, word problems, and positive and negative affect.

 

Results: At post-test, the contingent support group scored significantly higher than the other four groups on math scores and word problems.  At one week and one month follow-up, the contingent group scored significantly higher on math scores and word problems than the other four groups.  None of the other four groups were significantly different than the others.

 

 

 

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

 

References

 

Pratt, M. W., & Savoy-Levine, K. M. (1998). Contingent tutoring of long-division skills in fourth and fifth graders: Experimental tests of some hypotheses about scaffolding. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 19(2), 287-304.

 

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

 

Evaluated participant ages: 9-11

 

Program components: school-based

 

Measured outcomes: education and cognitive development

 

KEYWORDS: Children, Elementary school, Co-ed, White, Urban, Tutoring, Mathematics, School based

 

 

Program information last updated on 9/29/09.

 

 

 

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