Additional information
| Dimensions | 8.5 × 11 in |
|---|---|
| Cover | Paperback |
| Dimensions (W) | 8 1/2" |
| Dimensions (H) | 11" |
| Page Count | 60 |
| Publisher | Edge Enterprises, Inc. |
| Year Printed | 2000 |
Strategic Tutoring: Tutor’s manual
Michael F. HockDonald D. Deshler
Jean B. Schumaker
Teachers, parents, and tutors of all kinds have long struggled with what to do when trying to help a student complete an assignment. The assignment needs to get done—and usually post haste—but the student needs to learn the skills necessary for completing such assignments in the future. Given the time constraints of the situation, however, you’re usually not left with many choices. You can throw up your hands and do nothing, or take charge of the project, telling and showing the student what to do.
With Strategic Tutoring, however, a third option is possible: guiding the student to do the assignment and, at the same time, teaching her a strategy, so she can do similar assignments on her own. The process, as laid out in this breakthrough manual, involves four simple steps. In addition to explaining the Strategic Tutoring process in concise, easy-to-understand language, the manual provides helpful checklists for conducting a Strategic Tutoring session, tips for becoming more effective with the process, an overview of what makes a good strategy, and an actual strategy that you can use to help students read and understand textbooks.
Description
Research on Strategic Tutoring
Study 1
Overview
This study investigated the effects of Strategic Tutoring on three junior-high students’ academic performance. All three were currently failing two or more academic courses, and they asked for help with their Algebra I course. The students received Strategic Tutoring after school two or three times per week. A multiple-baseline across-students design was used that included baseline, strategic-tutoring, and follow-up conditions. During baseline, the students received traditional tutoring for the same amount of time each week. During the Strategic Tutoring condition, the tutor used Strategic Tutoring methods to instruct the students in algebra for the same amount of time as they received tutoring during baseline. During the follow-up condition, students did not receive tutoring. Measures included student scores on quizzes and tests in their Algebra course and the semester grade in the course. The tests and quizzes were created by the publisher of the textbook for the course, and they were administered by the teacher during regularly scheduled algebra class periods. No accommodations or help were given the students during the tests and quizzes.
Results
During baseline, Students 1, 2, and 3 earned mean scores of 45%, 54%, and 59% on tests and 45%, 58%, and 61% on quizzes, respectively. All three students showed improvement in their test and quiz scores once Strategic Tutoring began. During Strategic Tutoring, their mean scores were 70%, 86%, and 87% on tests and 80%, 84%, and 91% on quizzes, respectively. After tutoring ended, their mean scores on quizzes were 78%, 57%, and 76%. (No tests were given during this condition.) Their semester grades were F, D-, and D during the first semester before Strategic Tutoring. Their second semester grades were C, C, and B- during Strategic Tutoring. Effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were 4.14, 1.44, and 3.78 for the three students, with a mean effect size of 3.12. These are very large effect sizes.
Conclusions
All three students’ scores on tests and quizzes increased and maintained after Strategic Tutoring began. All students’ quiz scores decreased somewhat after Strategic Tutoring was discontinued, with one student returning to baseline levels. Nevertheless, two of the three students were able to keep their mean quiz score within the “C” level, when they had been failing quizzes during baseline. All three students passed algebra with grades of C or above during the semester in which Strategic Tutoring was utilized.
Study 2
Overview
This study investigated the effects of Strategic Tutoring on students’ academic performance plus their knowledge of strategies. Six junior-high students participated in this second study. One student had been diagnosed as having a learning disability in math; the others were considered to be at-risk for failure. They were all earning Ds and Fs in one or two courses. Again, a multiple-baseline across-students design was used. Scores on tests and quizzes as well as semester grades were collected. In addition, student knowledge of cognitive strategies was determined by interviewing students and asking them to describe strategies that they use in their courses. The courses targeted for tutoring and data collection were Transition Math, Algebra I, and Biology.
Results
During baseline, the students earned a mean score of 50% on tests and quizzes; after Strategic Tutoring started, they earned a mean score of 80%. During the baseline semester, they earned a mean semester grade of F. During the Strategic Tutoring semester, five of the six students earned a mean grade of C. The sixth student earned an F because of absences, low homework grades, and missing or low test scores. The students were able to describe the strategies that they had learned and how they used the strategies. Four of the six students maintained their test and quiz performance level after Strategic Tutoring ended for four or five weeks. Effect sizes ranged from, -.89 to 10.72 (M = 3.12). Student performance on the Strategy Knowledge test increased from a mean score of 15% to 85%.
Conclusions
Strategic Tutoring improved five out of six students’ academic performance in courses. As their test and quiz scores increased, their semester grade also increased. Further, the students’ knowledge of specific strategies that they could use for their coursework also increased.
Reference
Hock, M.F., Pulvers, K.A., Deshler, D.D., & Schumaker, J.B. (2001). The effects of an after-school tutoring program on the academic performance of at-risk and students with learning disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 22(3), 172-186.
About the Author
Michael F. Hock, Ph.D.
Affliations
- Associate Director and Associate Research Scientist
- University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning
- Certified Professional Development Specialist
- University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning
My Background and Interests
My first experiences with learning as a student taught me that students who learned at a different rate or who had interests other than those presented in formal classroom situations faced the possibility of being left behind academically. At the same time, I understood that many of these students were very capable and motivated to learn but perhaps under different circumstances where different techniques were being used. I grew to admire those few teachers who recognized the potential of all students to be successful and in the way in which they crafted their instruction so as not to leave anyone behind. At the time, I had no plans for becoming a teacher, but thoughts of those teachers who had been instrumental in helping students attain academic success never left me. Later in life, I was able to match an interest in history with a growing interest in teaching, and I discovered that education was my calling. I have never regretted the decision to enter the classroom as a teacher and to eventually become an educational researcher.
After graduating from Mankato State University, I became a teacher in Dubuque, Iowa. I was a high school history and government teacher and later a teacher of students with learning disabilities and behavioral disabilities. As I was looking for instructional materials and methods to help my students become better learners, I went to a series of workshops on learning strategy instruction. After I had taught some of the learning strategies, I realized that I had finally found an instructional model and materials that worked with students who struggled with learning. I began doing action research with learning strategy instruction in my classroom and shared my results with others. I also became a certified professional development specialist associated with the Center for Research on Learning where the learning strategies were initially developed. I had my first experience with conducting formal research when I was asked by Don Deshler, Jean Schumaker and Jan Bulgren to field test the Paired Associates Strategy in my classroom.
After that field test study was a success, Don and Jean recruited me to the University of Kansas to direct the academic support program for student athletes. They supported my desire to pursue a Ph.D. in special education, and, later, I started to work full time as a researcher with the Center for Research on Learning. My current research interests relate to teacher-driven professional-development models, the school-reform process, and intensive literacy interventions for students who struggle with reading. I am particularly interested in developing programs for teaching reading skills and strategies to underprepared adolescents for supporting their development as independent learners.
The Story Behind Strategic Tutoring
While I was directing the academic support program for student athletes at the University of Kansas, I noticed that the tutors we hired had very few skills with regard to teaching the students. Although they were experts in their subject-areas, they really did not know how to teach the students to be independent learners. In fact, as I was gathering observation data on them, I noticed that they often did a large portion of the students’ work themselves. I decided to develop a method for tutoring students whereby they could not only complete their assignments and study for tests, but that they would also learn how to be independent learners who could complete their assignments and study for tests on their own in the future. I worked with Don and Jean to develop and refine this method and also conduct my dissertation research. The model we eventually developed was called Strategic Tutoring. It was based upon the knowledge that had been acquired through research at the Center for Research on Learning on learning strategies. Thus, we were able to take proven methods for strategic instruction and develop a new instructional technology that was responsive to the immediate academic needs of the students and yet still prepared them to be independent learners.
My Thoughts about Strategic Tutoring
We found that Strategic Tutoring is a very effective way of teaching students how to become independent learners. Not only do students complete more assignments and earn better grades on tests when they participate in Strategic Tutoring sessions, they also learn how to independently succeed after Strategic Tutoring has been discontinued. Since our original research was completed, Strategic Tutoring has been successfully used in a variety of settings. It has been used in elementary through high school settings in before- and after-school settings as well as college and university settings. It has also been used with youths in the Casey Family Foster Care Programs in Seattle, Rapid City, Tucson, and Oklahoma City. There is one caveat associated with Strategic Tutoring, though: Strategic Tutoring is most successful when it is used one-on-one or with very small groups of students.
Tutors and Student Feedback on Strategic Tutoring
Tutors and students rate Strategic Tutoring highly. Although students might initially express frustration that they “just want to get their assignment done,” they learn to appreciate the fact that they are becoming better and better at completing their work independently. They gain confidence in themselves as learners, and they feel good about the success they achieve. Tutors also report that they are pleased with the success that their assigned students are having.
My Contact Information
Center for Research on Learning
517 J. R. Pearson Hall
2211 W. Campus Rd.
Lawrence, KS 66045
785-864-0567
mhock@ku.edu
