Results

Reading Achievement:

• On average, students jump an entire grade level in reading skills after only 30 hours of Reading Partners tutoring.

• Students advance, on average, two and a half times faster than before they had intervention from Reading Partners.

  • In 2007/2008, based on pre- and post-assessments, on average, students entered the program progressing at a rate of approximately a half a year for every year in school and finished the program progressing at a rate equivalent to one and half years for every year in school.

  • What's important about this rate of improvement is that it means students are gaining ground and breaking the vicious cycle of falling farther and farther behind. For the first time, students are improving at a rate that puts them on the road to proficiency.

Increased Student Participation & Self-Confidence:

• Teachers report that students who improve their reading skills in Reading Partners also gain the confidence to participate in class.

• Formerly refusing to read aloud when called on or shrugging their shoulders when asked a question, students now eagerly raise their hands in class to volunteer an answer or read a passage in a story.

Teacher & Principal Satisfaction:

• 100% of teachers are satisfied with Reading Partners.

Volunteer Satisfaction:

• 95% of volunteers are satisfied with their experience with Reading Partners.

Program Recognition for Outstanding Achievement:

• Reading Partners outperforms leading for-profit tutoring peers.

• In a study conducted by the students of the Stanford Graduate School of Business comparing Reading Partners and its for-profit peers, including Sylvan Learning, Reading Partners out-performed two of these peers and performed the same as another. On average, Reading Partners needs nine fewer hours of tutoring than its for-profit peers to achieve the same rate of gain.

• Reading Partners has been recognized for distinguished contribution to the community in education with the Kent Award for exemplary curriculum development from the San Mateo County School Board Association (2006).

Reading Partners' Methods for Measuring Results:

• Reading Partners measures students' reading skills using the Rigby PM Ultra assessment tool.

• Students are tested at the start of the school year and at the end.

• Teachers and volunteers are surveyed at the end of the school year.