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Journal of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship Volume 2 | Issue 3 Article 1 2015 After-School Tutoring Increases Academic Performance Bobby Allen Atlanta Public Schools, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.fvsu.edu/fvsu-jtls Part of the Curriculum and Inst...

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A er-School Tutoring Increases Academic Performance Bobby Allen

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Journal of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship Volume 2 | Issue 3

Article 1

2015

Ater-School Tutoring Increases Academic Performance Bobby Allen Atlanta Public Schools, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: htp://digitalcommons.fvsu.edu/fvsu-jtls Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, and the Other Education Commons Recommended Citation Allen, Bobby (2015) "Ater-School Tutoring Increases Academic Performance," Journal of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship: Vol. 2: Iss. 3, Article 1. Available at: htp://digitalcommons.fvsu.edu/fvsu-jtls/vol2/iss3/1

his Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@FVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@FVSU. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected].

Ater-School Tutoring Increases Academic Performance Abstract

Abstract his mixed-methods study of 157 disadvantaged students and 6 teachers in a Southeastern United States elementary school investigated the efectiveness of a once-weekly ater-school tutoring program in improving students’ academic performance. he reading, English language arts, and mathematics course grades of students before and ater participation in the program were compared, using t tests and Analysis of Variance. hese were also compared with the corresponding grades for non-program participants. In addition, the study included in-depth interviews with 6 teachers involved in the program to provide additional qualitative information on the beneits and drawbacks in practice of the tutoring program. Results showed signiicant beneits in all subjects from at least moderate (11-20 hours) participation, and increased beneits in mathematics from high (more than 20 hours) participation, especially for boys. Teachers viewed the program positively and believed it should be expanded. Recommendations include continuation and possible expansion of the program as well as further studies to identify additional factors that could be modiied to increase student achievement. Keywords

African-American Students, At-risk Students, Ater-School Tutoring, Educational Under-Achievement

his article is available in Journal of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship: htp://digitalcommons.fvsu.edu/fvsu-jtls/vol2/iss3/1

Allen: Increasing Academic Performance

BACKGROUND/INTRODUCTION Educational under-achievement among children from disadvantaged groups is a major issue facing elementary schools in the United States. This is particularly the case for schools in areas where the majority of school-age children are from disadvantaged backgrounds or are members of ethnic groups that traditionally have low levels of educational attainment (Caldwell & Ginther, 1996). This creates challenges for elementary schools in terms of ensuring that pupils attain the standards of education needed to prepare them for high school and for entering the labor market. Additionally, the schools themselves are increasingly coming under pressure to meet assessment standards set by federal and state governments. Students of African-American origin reportedly score lower in assessment tests than those from other ethnic groups. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (Anonymous, 2007) reported, in relation to the SAT College Admission Test, that the scores of African-Americans are not only considerably lower than those of white students, but are lower than members of all other ethnic groups in the United States. One factor that explains this is the difference in family income between ethnic groups, since a strong correlation has been established between income levels and educational achievement (e.g. Coleman, 1966; Willms, 2004). Another factor is that schools in many predominantly African-American neighborhoods often lack funding and adequate staffing levels (Anonymous, 2007). A study by Fryer and Levitt (2004), based on data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, indicated that differences in the quality of schools is a major factor influencing the increasing gap in scores between AfricanAmerican and Caucasian students during their early years of primary education. Similarly, Cook and Evans (2000) attributed nearly 75% of the convergence in test scores that has occurred, between white and African-American students, since the 1970’s to changes in the quality of schools over this time. However, school characteristics cannot account for all of the difference between the educational achievements levels of African-American and Caucasian students. Other studies have cited the contributing influence of factors, such as differences between African-American and Caucasian families in terms of interaction within the family when children are very young (Anonymous, 2004), and a lack of motivation on the part of African-American students linked to their perceived lack of opportunity in a society dominated by white people (Ogbu, 2003). Additionally, African-Americans are over represented among families of lower socio-economic status, a factor that has been consistently identified in research as a strong predictor of academic achievement (Coleman, 1966). This

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association has generally been explained in terms of the greater resources available to students from families with higher income, educational, and occupational levels. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, as amended, is intended to help address the problem of under-achievement among disadvantaged groups in the United States, and to raise American educational standards generally, by requiring all states to introduce mandatory, standards-based assessment testing of school students (Cybulski, Hoy, & Sweetland, 2005). Cybulski et al. noted that the results of these tests also allow state and federal governments to monitor the achievement of both students and schools, thereby putting pressure on schools to ensure that satisfactory educational levels are achieved. Specifically, the NCLB Act requires annual testing of achievement in basic skills, such as reading and mathematics (Education Commission of the United States, 2004). In Georgia, for example, students in grades one through eight are required to take the CriterionReferenced Competency Tests (CRCT), in which they are examined on specific skills from the core curriculum that are considered important for academic progress. Students are assessed in terms of three levels: whether a student has not met, has met, or has exceeded the defined standards, and school scores are based on the percentages of children meeting these levels (Georgia Department of Education, 2008b). There is some evidence from the literature that after-school tutoring programs can help to improve the test scores and overall educational achievement levels of disadvantaged elementary school children, including those of AfricanAmerican ethnic origin. For example, Gardner, Cartledge, Seidl, Woolsey, Schley and Utley (2001) reported on the positive impact of an after-school program on the academic performance of African-American, male, urban elementary school students, supporting the findings of other research that the academic achievement of children from ethnic minority groups can be increased through the involvement of these children in after-school programs (Fashola, 2003). Although there is research-based evidence that after-school programs can help students from disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their academic achievement levels, provision of such programs can exacerbate the pressures on the resources of schools, which often are already overstretched. There is a need, therefore, to ensure that such programs are well-designed to meet their objectives most effectively, while minimizing the burden of additional workload on teachers and the resource burden on schools. At the same time, if the school’s own teachers are required to deliver after-school tutoring, especially if no additional remuneration is made, there is also a need to persuade the teachers themselves of the benefits of doing so, particularly as educational research has established a link between teacher motivation and the educational attainment levels of students (Goddard, 2002a, 2002b).

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Purpose of Study The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of a modified after-school tutoring program in improving the grades of a group of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who scored low on the previous year’s high stakes tests. The case study elementary school, located in a southern school district, had 500 students, 98% of whom were of low socio-economic status and qualified for free or reduced-cost lunches. The student body was almost entirely (99%) African-American. There appeared to be an overwhelming lack of motivation among the students to perform academically, and many of the students struggled for academic success. An existing after-school tutoring program was modified with the objective of increasing educational attainment levels in reading, English language arts and mathematics, as well as, improving the high-stakes exam scores. The program operated once weekly for 1.5 hours for a total of 27 weeks. The total possible hours one could have participated in the program is forty and one half. The standards-based lessons were carefully crafted to address the weak areas found in the previous year’s CRCT data. The high-stakes exams consisted of the CRCT for all students, the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) for 5th graders and the Grade Five Writing Assessment. The study measured the effectiveness of the modified program, by comparing the academic grades of students before and after participation in the program, and also by comparing these with the corresponding grades for non-program participants. Methodology The study was based on a mixed methods research design that evaluated the effectiveness of an after-school tutoring program on academic grades among African-American students in an elementary school in a southern school district. The study used a quasi-experimental methodology in which the gains or losses between academic grades before the program intervention and academic grades of the program participants were compared to that of a comparison group using statistical tests to identify significant differences. The first stage of the study involved the redesign of an existing afterschool tutoring program with the objective of increasing the program’s effectiveness. All certified staff members are required to participate in the modified program and follow the domain calendar. The modified after-school program focused on those students who scored lowest on the previous year's CRCT test, for students in grades 3-5, for the following domains: Reading, English Language Arts and Mathematics. The program was open to all students, but specifically targeted certain students in grades 3-5 who achieved the lowest scores in the previous year’s CRCT tests. The after-school program was held once a week for 1.5 hours, after school hours, throughout the school year from August

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to May with the omission of a few weeks for a total of twenty-seven active weeks. The decision was made to use only the CRCT scores in the design of the program and the academic grades in the assessment of the program’s effectiveness in increasing academic achievement levels, since there are several threats involving CRCT scores. When analyzing academic grades, the identification of a statistically significant difference between the gains of participants of the after-school program and the comparison group, controlling for other relevant factors, was to be regarded as evidence of the likely effectiveness of the tutoring program in increasing academic achievement levels among participants in the program. The results of this comparison, therefore, formed the main outcome of the study. Additionally, the study included a small number of in-depth interviews with teachers involved in the program, in order to provide additional qualitative information on the benefits and drawbacks in practice of the tutoring program. These data can be used to inform the ongoing design and monitoring of the program. Limitations The research included a comparative, mixed methods design, rather than a controlled experiment, with a convenience sample of participants selected to take part in the tutoring program rather than assigned randomly. Using the purposive selection process to investigate the impact of the program on those students deemed to be in greatest need of the program, created a possibility that the results may reflect a selection bias. The ratification of results by other participant characteristics, for which the study design did not control, is a possibility. It is also possible that the Hawthorne effect may have influenced the results, in that program participants may increase in academic achievement levels due to the awareness of the selection process for special attention under this program, rather than the content of the program. One limitation related to the generalizability of results based upon the nature of the sample. There existed an over-representation of African-American students and those from lower socio-economic groups at the school, which was the site of the study. The above limitation does not allow the researcher to regard the school as typical of elementary schools in the United States, and the results will hinder the generalizability to other elementary school students, even those of African-American origin. Delimitations The study was delimited to a single elementary school in a southern school district. The study was also delimited to the reading, English language arts, and mathematic academic grades. While students in all grades participated in the

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program, only students in the current grades of 3 and 4 were studied. The students in the above stated grades, according to the school’s principal, were considered crucial to the school’s ability to obtain Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). These limitations and delimitations could possibly represent a weakness in the design of the program or the research study. However, the development of the study specifically addressed the particular needs of the host school and its students. At the same time, the researcher’s intention was to make a general contribution to the field of knowledge regarding the use of after-school tutoring programs to increase academic achievement among at-risk students. Significance of the Study The main contribution of the study is to help ensure that the school’s afterhours tutoring program effectively meets its goals of increasing overall academic performance and raising high-stakes test scores, particularly among those students who have scored poorly in these tests in the past. Ultimately, the desire is that the results of the study, and their application to the ongoing improvement of the tutoring program, will help the school to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress, an official measure of the proficiency of its students in the core academic subjects of Reading/English Language Arts and Mathematics in statewide assessment tests. The state issues annual AYP Reports to demonstrate the progress being made by schools and by districts toward the achievement of agreed levels of proficiency as established by the NCLB Act (Georgia Department of Education, 2008a). After-School Tutoring Programs Background Within the U.S. in recent decades after-school programs of various types have become increasingly popular. In the 1980s and early 1990s, such programs were established primarily with the aim of reducing high-risk behaviors among children and adolescents who had no other after-school supervision. Over time, however, a greater emphasis was placed on achieving positive outcomes for participants, including improved educational performance (Hollister, 2003). A major federal government initiative gave a major boost to after-school learning programs in 1998, when $40 million dollars was made available for the establishment of school-based 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Funding for this initiative was increased considerably in subsequent years, and reached $850 million in 2001 (Hollister, 2003). State governments have also increased their funding of after-school programs in recent years (Hollister, 2003). The value of after-school tutoring was also acknowledged in the NCLB Act, which allocated about $2 billion to school districts to introduce free tutoring and other academic assistance under its supplemental educational services (SES) provision (Ellison & Kritsonis, 2006; U.S. Department of Education, 2007b). An

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evaluation of SES pilot programs in nine urban districts found that students receiving SES “experienced significant gains in achievement” (U.S. Department of Education, 2007b), and the programs were subsequently extended. There is a considerable amount of general evidence from the literature that participation in after-school programs can have a positive impact on educational performance, especially among socio-economically disadvantaged populations or those with other educational difficulties. For improving educational attainment among disadvantaged groups, including those African-American students who face socio-economic and educational disadvantages, the role of after-school tutoring programs is two-fold. First, after-school tutoring programs can compensate for the lack of financial and intellectual resources on which students from disadvantaged family backgrounds are able to draw to help improve their academic achievement levels and, more generally, to improve engagement in the educational process. At the same time, such programs can help to promote enhanced collective efficacy and academic optimism in schools by providing a concrete way for the faculty to help boost their disadvantaged students’ achievement levels, improve overall morale, and help provide a more positive environment for both teaching and learning. Although there has been quite a lot of previous research on the impact of after-school programs on academic achievement, there has been relatively little detailed investigation into the specific types of tutoring program, or the design features of such programs that have the greatest positive effects on achievement levels. There is no evidence that any previous studies have examined the indirect impact of after-school tutoring programs on the education achievement levels of students through improving collective efficacy and academic optimism in schools. Impacts of After-School Tutoring Programs The literature includes many case studies and other research showing that after-school tutoring programs can help to improve the test scores and overall educational achievement levels of disadvantaged school children, including those of African-American ethnic origin, a...