SEARCH/TEACH TUTORING
OVERVIEW
The SEARCH/TEACH Tutoring approach has a dual approach which tries to identify students who are at risk of failure as soon as possible and then provides intensive tutoring in skills related to reading, writing, and spelling. A randomized evaluation of SEARCH/TEACH Tutoring found that did not have any impact on any of the measured outcomes: word comprehension, phonetic analysis, reading/decoding, written spelling, and reading achievement.
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM
Target population: Elementary school-aged children
SEARCH/TEACH Tutoring is an intervention for children entering elementary school who are at-risk for later academic failure. The SEARCH component of the program is a screening battery which identifies children at-risk for reading failure. During the TEACH Tutoring sessions, children meet one-on-one with a tutor for half-hour sessions for 25 weeks. At these sessions, children work with the tutor on visual, motor, auditory, body image, and intermodal tasks. The program has been used in 85 different schools and with children of many different backgrounds.
EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM
Mantzicopoulos, P., Morrison, D., Stone, E., & Setrakian, W. (1992). Use of SEARCH/TEACH tutoring approach with middle-class students at risk for reading failure. The Elementary School Journal, 92(5), 573-586.
Evaluated population: 225 children ages
5-7 from four school districts in California
Approach: At the outset of the study, each kindergarten student was evaluated for 3 consecutive years using the SEARCH instrument for identifying delayed acquisition of spatial and temporal orientation. Children who scored below the 33rd percentile on five SEARCH subtests were classified as "at-risk" and those who did not meet this criterion were classified as "not-at-risk". Researchers selected an equivalent number of at-risk and not-at-risk students from each classroom. At-risk students were matched on SEARCH scores and randomly assigned to one of three groups: the TEACH intervention, a phonetic intervention, or a control group. Children in both TEACH and the phonetic intervention groups attended half hour, one-on-one tutoring sessions with credentialed tutors twice a week for 25 weeks. During TEACH sessions, students worked on visual, motor, auditory, body image, and intermodal tasks. During phonetic sessions, students worked for 30 minutes on reading and spelling drills. Children in the control group attended their regular classes but did not receive any additional instruction.
Results: 57 students dropped out of the study resulting in 75 percent completion. When researchers analyzed for non-random attrition, they found no differences between any groups. At the first and second grade follow-up periods, children in the phonetic group intervention had higher scores on a word attack test than children in the control group. The TEACH intervention had no impact on word attack. The TEACH intervention did not have any impact on word comprehension, phonetic analysis, reading/decoding, written spelling, and reading achievement.
SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION
References
Mantzicopoulos, P., Morrison, D., Stone, E., & Setrakian, W. (1992). Use of SEARCH/ TEACH tutoring approach with middle-class students at risk for reading failure. The Elementary School Journal, 92(5), 573-586.
Program categorized in this guide according to the following:
Evaluated participant ages: 5-7 years / Program age ranges in the Guide: middle childhood
Program components: mentoring/tutoring; school-based
Measured outcomes: education and cognitive development
KEYWORDS: Middle Childhood (6-11), Children (3-11), High-Risk, Elementary School, White or Caucasian, Black or African American, Asian, Hispanic or Latino, School-based, Tutoring, Mentoring, Education, Academic Achievement
Program information last updated 8/4/08
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© Child Trends 2003 |
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