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2003–2004 Evaluation of ACEE
Summary
AmeriCorps for Community Engagement and Education provides research-based early literacy intervention for kindergarten and first-grade students in four low-income schools in the Austin Independent School District. In 2003–04, two ACEE literacy specialists trained and supervised 25 tutors who addressed the students' individual reading needs by working with them one-on-one twice a week. Tutors also worked with family and community members, as well as community-based organizations, to support each school's educational objectives.
ACEE commissioned Dana Center researchers to evaluate the early literacy tutoring aspect of the program for the 2003–04 school year. The evaluation had two purposes:
- to find out what components of the ACEE tutoring program were perceived by tutors as the most important, based on tutor interviews, and
- to determine the academic effectiveness of the ACEE tutoring, based on student assessment results.
The tutors emphasized that they were able to help their students effectively because of a combination of several factors. In interviews, tutors stressed that they were embedded in a comprehensive support system, as
- tutors were trained and supervised by experienced literacy specialists,
- they were equipped with a flexible lesson plan and high-quality materials, and
- they exchanged information with classroom teachers.
As a result, the tutors had high expectations for their students, addressed their reading needs through tailored lessons, and were able to become trusted mentors to their students.
Based on 2003–04 data from a districtwide early literacy test, more tutored children reached grade level in reading at the end of the school year than did students from the matched control group with similar starting scores. On a more detailed reading assessment administered by ACEE, the tutored students significantly improved their reading skills, and more students read at grade level at the year's end than at the beginning of the school year. These positive results lend additional support to the existing research demonstrating that well-trained and supported volunteer tutors can be highly effective in helping struggling readers succeed.