Cross-age tutoring is a method of tutoring in which older students help younger students learn. A recent meta-analysis of various types of cross-age tutoring interventions saw a positive impact for both those who received tutoring and the tutors themselves. In fact, the tutors actually saw slightly more improvement in their reading skills.
The study, Examining the Academic Effects of Cross-age Tutoring: A Meta-analysis, was published in Educational Psychology Review in March. This study puts forth further evidence that cross-age tutoring is a cost-effective method to provide meaningful improvements for students, say two of its coauthors, Elizabeth Swanson and Andrew Chang.
Cross-Age Tutoring Research
Cross-age tutoring has long been supported by research, but it had been nearly a decade since a meta-analysis had been conducted on the intervention's overall impact. And previous research did not always look at the impact of the intervention on the tutors themselves.
For this study, researchers looked at 32 studies with more than 4,500 participants combined. This allowed them to examine the impact of cross-age tutoring in a wide range of contexts.
“We looked at factors like tutor type, like older student versus adult volunteers or number of tutoring sessions, or a tutor who has learning difficulties versus a typically developing tutor, and subject area, like reading versus math. Surprisingly, none of these factors significantly changes the result,” says Chang, a Ph.D. candidate at Vanderbilt University. “Cross-age tutoring was helpful across different situations, whether there were many or few sessions, or whether tutors were older students or adult volunteers, whether tutors were struggling learners or typically developing learners, or whether the subject was reading or math.”
Swanson, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin with a primary appointment with The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, notes there are several big implications of these findings. “Kids are doing just as well tutoring as adults,” she says. “That's kind of a big deal.”
She adds the benefit seen for the tutors is also significant. “Think about the third through fifth grader who may be struggling a little bit with reading, but they can deliver a first-grade reading intervention. I mean, the fact that they also benefit, to put it colloquially, is a great bang for your buck.”
Further Cross-Age Tutoring Research
In addition to this meta-analysis, researchers headed by Swanson are working on a large randomized control study of cross-age tutoring interventions conducted after school at more than 60 YMCAs and involving hundreds of students.
For this study, students are split into three groups: A group receiving tutoring from adults; a group receiving cross-age tutoring; and a third group receiving no intervention.
So far, this study’s findings are similar to what is expected from the meta-analysis, with a similarly positive impact seen from adult- and student-led tutors.
“Our early analysis indicates that these two treatment groups are performing equally well,” Swanson says.
Both students and adults use the same instructional materials, and Swanson’s team records sessions.
“We listen to these recordings, and we score them; we say, ‘How close are you to the intervention as it was designed?’” Swanson says. “These kids are reaching equal levels to adults in delivery and alignment to the intervention, so they can deliver the intervention just as well as an adult, sometimes better.”
Cross-Age Tutoring Takeaways For Educators
Educators shouldn’t view cross-age tutoring as a silver bullet, but it is a cost-effective intervention, say Swanson and Chang.
“It should not be the only intervention that young children receive in reading, but it could be added with not much time and no extra cost,” Swanson says.
She adds it’s an intervention that does not need to be limited to schools. “Think about after-school care providers and their role in reading and math intervention and improving academic outcomes,” she says. Her work with YMCA after-school programs suggests these types of programs can help support academics.
Chang adds that there’s a lot to be enthusiastic about in the findings of the new meta-analysis.
“This is good news for schools," he says. "It shows that cross-age tutoring can work in various settings with different kinds of students and subjects, and it gives teachers and school leaders the flexibility to adopt a program to their own context without worrying too much about specific conditions.”
