Same-Age Tutoring, Mastery Learning and the Mixed Ability Teaching of Reading

Abstract

The present study was conducted to answer two questions. Firstly, whether or not the use of a mastery-based reading programme led to accelerated progress by an experimental group in contrast to the progress made by a comparison group. Secondly, whether the use of same-age tutoring prejudiced either high or low attainers (as assessed pre-trial). Preand post-test reading test raw scores for experimental and comparison groups were analysed using an independent t-test. The experimental group outperformed the comparison group by a significant margin (p < .005). By contrast an analysis of the scores of the bottom and top half of the experimental group using both the independent t-test and the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test found no significant differences between the two subgroups in the experimental group. The paper describes the instructional methods used to teach the experimental group, with particular reference to same-age tutoring, and discusses the results in the light of the debate between the proponents of an individualized approach to teaching as opposed to a class-based approach to instruction.