Providing ongoing tutor training and support
Abstract
Ongoing tutor training and support is a standard expectation for volunteer tutor programs in national and community service. This effective practice focuses on the areas of planning, training content, and training activities for tutor programs. Excerpted from the Tutoring Toolkit for AmeriCorps Program Applicants (LEARNS, 2003) and the Summer 2001 issue of The Tutor.
Issue
Providing appropriate training and support to tutors involved in national and community service programs.
Action
According to the Tutoring Toolkit for AmeriCorps Program Applicants, a successful training program:
- Asesses what tutors know, what they need to know, and considers how to close this gap
- Involves tutors in the development and execution of the training plan as much as possible because this leads to increased volunteer satisfaction and retention
- Reflects the skills and knowledge tutors need to meet the specific goals of the program
Programs should consider the key areas of planning, training content, and training activities in designing tutor training and support.
PLANNING
Conduct a needs assessment to determine what training topics will be most useful to tutors, as well as the areas in which they feel they need the most support. A needs assessment can also provide information on what kinds of training volunteer tutors have received in the past and their perceived challenges, strengths, and weaknesses. Project Star and the Resource Center have sample assessments available on their websites.
Training topics are commonly associated with the following four areas:
- Program Operation — training related to a project, its goals, and connection with national service
- School or Site Culture — training to help tutors and mentors interact with, and contribute to, the educational goals of a school or out-of-school time site
- Learning Support — training in educational content areas, such as literacy, computers, and math
- Learner Relationships — training that helps volunteers build a positive relationship with learners, incorporating both research and strategies
Finding trainers: Tutor trainers come from a variety of sources, ideally from the expertise found in the local community. A program should develop its own training capacity as much as possible, but also seek expert help when necessary. When looking for trainers conduct a broad search, focusing on the following four resource pools:
- Staff from partner schools and school districts (e.g., reading specialists, Title I staff, teachers, social workers, etc.)
- Your own and other national service program coordinators
- Staff from your sponsoring organization
- Professionals from community organizations (youth-serving, juvenile justice, health and human services, etc.)
School district staff members are critical to training tutors to enter the school culture and to support curriculum and student achievement goals. If a project is located within a larger sponsoring organization (a college or university, a national volunteer, or community-based organization), staff at these sites have important expertise to share. In addition, organizations and professionals who serve the program's learner populations can support training efforts. Ultimately, approaches to training are shaped by a program's goals, students served, and the characteristics and backgrounds of the tutors.
Evaluation is part of the process of continuous program improvement. Incorporating program, trainer, and participant self-evaluation into training provides valuable feedback that can help programs identify what is working, what isn't, and where to go next. Therefore, evaluation design is an important step in the planning process.
Within programs, evaluation of tutor training can take place immediately after training, in weekly meetings, during follow-up phone conversations, and in a variety of other forms, including:
- Written evaluations
- Reflection activities
- Informal questions, feedback, and discussion
- Pre- and post-session "tests" of participant skills or knowledge
- Self-assessment checklists
Evaluation of tutor training should function on multiple levels, and a distinction should be made between satisfaction and impact. Good evaluation not only reports on how participants rate the quality of the training, but also whether or not they are learning and using the material presented.
Evaluating the impact of training can sometimes prove more difficult. However, this information can be gathered through follow-up surveys, action plans, or ongoing reflection activities such as journals or discussion meetings.
TRAINING CONTENT
Training content should address the National Reading Panel Recommendations and reflect the goals of a program, needs of the tutees, and actual activities in which tutors will engage. The 2003 AmeriCorps Grant Guidelines require literacy and tutoring program applicants to show how the five components of reading are addressed in tutor training. This should be an integral part of aligning training content with tutoring curricula and program goals.
To find out more about the components of reading and explore the implications of National Reading Panel findings for tutoring programs, see the National Reading Panel Frequently Asked Questions.
TRAINING ACTIVITIES
One-to-one and small group tutoring activities should be introduced and practiced in training sessions, as should activities that address the National Reading Panel components. Some resources that provide examples of these types of activities include:
Tutoring Our Youngest Readers: Focusing on the five major reading strategies
Room for One More? Strategies for small-group tutoring
Other training issues and resources
Context
Ongoing tutor training and support is a standard expectation for volunteer tutor programs in national and community service. Tutor training should take place both before and during service to ensure that tutors can help facilitate student learning.
Outcome
Well-trained tutors are more effective, and when people feel they are truly making a difference and can see visible progress, they are much more likely to stay, to be dependable, and to bring others to tutor as well.
Evidence
The Abt Associates study of 68 AmeriCorps tutoring programs across the country identified tutor training as one of the four effective practices that correlated with higher student learning gains. In fact, when tutors received pre-service and ongoing training, students showed significantly higher gains in reading skills (Moss, Swartz, Obeidahhah, and Green, 2001).
In a meta-analysis of 29 separate studies, researchers from the University of Texas and the University of Miami found that tutors who receive intensive training are more effective in improving reading skills than those who do not receive training (Elbaum, Vaughn, Hughes, and Moody, 2000).
Posted On
April 15, 2003
For More Information
Portland,
OR
97204
Resources
Another valuable overview of volunteer training can be found in the Fall 2001 issue of the Resource Connection. It includes information on designing training, conducting needs assessment, finding effective trainers both inside and outside a program, and evaluating training.
Source Documents
Tutoring Toolkit for AmeriCorps Program ApplicantsSummer 2001 issue of The Tutor
Related Practices
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