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              Mobilizing Volunteer Tutors to Improve Student Literacy: Implementation, Impacts, and Costs of the Reading Partners Program
      Back
                Reading Partners focuses on elementary school students in low-income communities who are at least six months behind in reading, recruiting and using community volunteers to provide individualized instruction to help them master the reading fundamentals they need to reach grade level. AmeriCorps members are leveraged to act as coordinators and volunteer recruiters for Reading Partners’ in-school sites. Evaluation of Reading Partners found that the program:**more effectively raised students’ reading proficiency** than other similar reading programs in the same schools that were studied;**had a positive and statistically significant impact** on students’ reading comprehension, reading fluency, and sight word efficiency;showed suggestive evidence that it was particularly **effective with students reading at the lowest levels**; andcost the host school/school district **on average $710 per student, compared with an average of $1690 per student** for other reading programs offered in the same school.In addition, the program was **implemented as designed (i.e., with fidelity)** across sites studied, and has a **high likelihood of producing similar results** if implemented with fidelity elsewhere.

      Full report
      

      Full Report
            FR_EMCF_ReadingPartners.pdf
                  RB_ReadingPartners.pdf
        Further information
    



      Program/Intervention
                        Reading Partners
  

      Implementing Organization
                        Reading Partners
  

      Intermediary(s)
                        Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
  

      AmeriCorps Program(s)
            AmeriCorps State and National
                  Social Innovation Fund
  

      Age(s) Studied
            0-5 (Early childhood)
                  6-12 (Childhood)
  

      Focus Population(s)/Community(s)
            Low Income
  

      Outcome Category
            K-12 success
  

      Study Type(s)
            Cost-Benefit or Cost Effectiveness Study
                  Impact
                  Implementation
  

      Study Design(s)
            Experimental (RCT)
  

      Level of Evidence
            Strong
  

      Researcher/Evaluator
                        MDRC
  

      Published Year
                        2015
  

      Report Citation
                        Jacob, R.T., Armstrong, C., Willard, J.A. (2015). Mobilizing Volunteer Tutors to Improve Student Literacy: Implementation, Impacts, and Costs of the Reading Partners Program. New York: MDRC. Back to main content Sign up to hear about our latest news, events, and opportunities.
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