Creating Coherence: Does Instructional Alignment Affect the Impact of Tutoring?

This study examines the impact of using instructionally aligned literacy tutoring with students in kindergarten through third grade under a Response to Intervention framework. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact on literacy assessment scores for 296 students in four schools in a large suburban school district in the southeastern United States. Students in the treatment group received tutoring where strategies and materials were aligned with core instruction, while those in the control group received tutoring that used supplemental strategies and materials that were distinct from core instruction. We find that students in the treatment group score an average of 0.12 standard deviations higher than the students in the control group. Exploratory analyses reveal that instructional alignment appears to have a greater impact on boys and lower-performing students. Additional exploratory analyses suggest the treatment effect is stronger when delivered in groups of four and by tutors who do not hold a master’s degree.