Tutoring Case Studies

ABSTRACT

The following case study involves a second grader who has trouble with reading so he has to attend a Title I tutoring session each morning for 30 minutes with four other students from various classes. Joe' teacher set the following goals for Joe during the nine-week period
• Increase the number of Joe’s written responses to reading,
• Increase Joe’s confidence in his writing, and
• Increase Joe’s ability to read his writing aloud (Evertson & Poole, 2003), but is concerned his tutoring sessions may alter his motivation and concentration to continue working on those particular goals.
In Case Study Level B Case 2 from "Fostering Student Accountability for Classroom Work" (Evertson & Poole, 2003), there are five key components that

To build any students confidence in their ability to achieve something academically, many would say giving him praise or rewards (feedback) will help Joe more effectively here, but I feel like offering differentiated instruction and adaptable lessons and assessments for Joe is more effective to reaching his goals. When it comes to creating a supportive setting for Joe, research shows he can "learn best with cohesive and caring learning environments" (Brophy, 2000, page 9). Research also believes that if Joe's teacher coordinates his assignments with instructional objectives, state directions precisely, and focus on what he does accomplish, the amount of completed assignments is maximized" (Wong ,& Wong,

In order for Joe to increase his ability to read out loud, his teacher needs to give Joe the opportunities to hear other students read aloud and paired with other students who are more comfortable than him with reading aloud. This can be applied through teachers providing supportive settings. A way to do this is for his teacher to "structure assignments in a way to support the connection of students with the content and the positive, productive learning tone established in their classroom" (Evertson & Poole, 2003). Evertson and Poole also suggests that his teacher try to evaluate his progress and adjust the setting if needed to help aid in his successful learning (2003). I believe this is best achieved by altering the method of when the friendship lessons is taught. I would give Joe his optimal chance of successfully completing his goals by starting with covering the lessons on friendship writing for 30 minutes and the last 20 minutes being applied to reading lessons. This will allow his teacher to best create a supportive setting because of his chance to interact with peers during the brainstorming portion and provide him with the opportunity to read his assignment aloud on Friday in front of the