14 September 2011
Primary schoolchildren can be great tutors
Media Call: Tuesday 13 September, 0930-1030am at Burntisland Primary
School, Fife: film, photo and interview opportunities with a teacher and
children (primary year 3-4) taking part in paired reading
Schoolchildren can boost their reading and mathematics levels when they
tutor fellow pupils or are tutored by older pupils, according to new
research.
Results from a project run in 129 primary schools in Scotland, the
largest ever trial of peer tutoring, show that children as young as
seven to eight years old can benefit from a tutoring session as short as
twenty minutes per week.
The findings and the ease of implementation of the scheme indicate that
peer tutoring could be an effective way to supplement the work of
teachers and classroom assistants, and could be rolled out as a
nationwide programme.
Peer tutoring is a specific form of peer learning. It involves one
student tutoring another where pairs are typically of differing academic
standing and sometimes differing ages (cross-age tutoring). Cross-age
tutoring was found to be particularly effective in age groups with two
years' difference.
The results of the two year trial, led by Durham University, working in
partnership with the University of Dundee and Fife Council are published
in the journal, School Effectiveness and School Improvement.
Professor Peter Tymms, School of Education, Durham University, said:
"Expensive policy initiatives have often had little effect on learning.
The tutoring scheme requires some organisation and a little bit of
training but it's an inexpensive scheme to implement in that it involves
no fancy equipment.
"The trial shows that a tutoring scheme could be implemented across
educational areas nationwide. Older pupils boosted their knowledge and
skills by becoming tutors and the younger tutees benefitted greatly from
one-to-one learning with older children."
During the Fife trial, various lengths of sessions were tried from
intensive (three twenty-minute sessions per week) to light (twenty
minutes a week) over the course of 15 weeks. Children aged seven to 12
years old were assessed before the project started with PIPS
(Performance Indicators in Primary Schools) and again at the end of the
two year project; these assessments included measures of pupils' reading
and mathematics attainment, science attainment, vocabulary, non-verbal
ability and attitudes. The results of PIPS show that cross-age peer
tutoring had a consistent positive impact on attainment in reading and
mathematics.
In the reading tasks, the pupils selected suitable books and then read
with each other (this is called Paired Reading). The tutor gives
corrections where required. In mathematics, a method known as Duolog
Maths was used which involved eight stages of discussion, including
Questioning, Summarising and Generalising. Each individual has a defined
role with protocols for interaction within the sessions.
Nora Conlin, Education Officer from Fife Education Service, said: "We
wanted to engage schools in reform to improve students' attainment and
attitudes across a whole education area using a sustainable model. Pupil
tutoring is an extremely effective way of boosting learning in schools."
Tutoring is a kind of teaching that carefully takes into account that
tutors are not professionals, and structures the interaction so that
both tutor and tutee benefit.
Before and during the tutoring trial, teachers received training to help
deliver the sessions and commitment to implementation of the programme
was given by all of the partners.
Cross-age tutoring is more difficult to organise than same-age tutoring
as it involves bringing children together from different classes but it
was the most effective method with benefits to all: the tutee gets the
one-to-one input of a child with higher skills, while the tutor
reinforces previous learning and develops new skills. In practice, this
form of tutoring can be implemented with children from classes next door
to each other, or just along the corridor, the researchers say.
Gillian Hepburn, a teacher at Burntisland Primary School, said: "We have
decided to keep using paired reading because it develops children's
motivation to read and encourages a positive attitude towards reading.
Both of these factors were found to help children develop their reading
ability.
"The children enjoyed participating and commented on how paired reading
had helped them to understand the story or book better. They understood
more words and read words more accurately. They benefited from having
the support of another child in addition to the teacher. The children
also said that they enjoyed reading more and read more at home than
before."
Professor Keith Topping, School of Education, University of Dundee,
said: "We received excellent feedback from teachers about the project.
92 per cent of teachers reported that the project worked well. Children
enjoyed taking on the mantle of being a tutor and responded positively
to the responsibility.
"Tutoring can be implemented across many schools with little fuss and
disruption. It can be easily embedded into teachers' practice, bringing
benefits at every level to authorities, schools, teachers and pupils."
Ken Greer, Executive Director of Education and Children's Services in
Fife said: "I am delighted that this excellent piece of research on
improving pedagogy by peer learning is being published. We often hear of
strategies for improving learning based on conjecture. This is
definitely not the case here."
The project was funded by the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.
MEDIA INFORMATION:
MEDIA CALL:
Tuesday 13 September, 0930 at Burntisland Primary School, Ferguson Place, Burntisland , Fife KY3 9ES: film, photo and interview opportunities are available with a teacher and children (primary 3-4) taking part in paired reading/peer tutoring. Media are invited to attend this event but places must be booked through Durham University Media Relations Office on +44 (0)191 334 6075 or email media.relations@durham.ac.uk
INTERVIEWS:
Professor Peter Tymms, Head of the School of Education, Leazes Rd.,
Durham, DH1 1TA, UK. School of Education, Durham University, Durham, UK
Profile: www.dur.ac.uk/education/staff/?mode=staff&id=640 Email:
peter.tymms@cem.dur.ac.uk. Telephone: 0191 334 6077
For interviews, please contact through Durham University Media
Relations: Tel: +44 (0)191 334 6075 Email: c.r.stiansen@durham.ac.uk
or media.relations@durham.ac.uk.
Fife Council: Nora Conlin, Education Officer: E; Nora.Conlin@fife.gov.uk T: 07985 739217. Media and communications team: Tel: 01592 583312 E: fifecouncil.news@fife.gov.uk.
University of Dundee: For interviews, please contact: Roddy Isles, Head, Press Office, Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN Tel:
01382 384910 E: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk . Professor Keith Topping: E: k.j.topping@dundee.ac.uk Web: www.dundee.ac.uk/eswce/people/kjtopping.htm. Keith J. Topping is a Professor of Educational and Social Research, School of Education, University of Dundee, and Director of the Centre for Peer Learning, Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK.
Christine Merrell, Director of Research and Development at the Centre
for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM), Durham University, DH1 3UZ. E:
christine.merrell@cem.dur.ac.uk. Tel: 0191 334 4226. Profile:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/education/staff/?mode=staff&id=2582
Allen Thurston is Reader in Education at the School of Education, Durham
University, Durham, UK. Staff profile:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/education/staff/?id=9440
Email: allen.thurston@durham.ac.uk
John B. Andor is an Assistant Registrar at the Examination Development
and Production Division (EDPD), Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC),
Headquarters, The Garrrison, St Michael, BB 14038, Barbados, West
Indies. Email: jandor@cxc.org.
David Miller is Senior Lecturer in Education at the School of Education,
University of Dundee, Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK. Email:
d.j.miller@dundee.ac.uk.
IMAGES
Images of children taking part in paired reading, and of Professor Peter
Tymms and Dr Christine Merrell are available. For copies please contact:
Durham University Media Relations Office: Email:
media.relations@durham.ac.uk Tel:
+44 (0)191 334 6075
Caption for school images: Burntisland Primary School P3/4 children
doing Peer reading Credit/copyright: Burntisland Primary.
Copies of the research paper are available: "Improving attainment across
a whole district: school reform through peer tutoring in a randomized
controlled trial" by: Peter Tymms a*, Christine Merrell a, Allen
Thurston b, John Andor a, Keith Topping c
and David Miller c: a Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham
University, Durham, UK; b Institute for Effective Education, University
of York, York, UK; c School of Education, Dundee University, Dundee, UK.
Journal: School Effectiveness and School Improvement, Vol. 22, No. 3,
September 2011, 265-289.
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07800 581902 |
