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Does tutoring by foster parents help foster children in primary school make gains in reading and math?

Does tutoring by foster parents help foster children in primary school make gains in reading and math? First-year results from the RESPs for Kids in Care randomized field trial.

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Does tutoring by foster parents help foster children in primary school make gains in reading and math?

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  1. Does tutoring by foster parents help foster children in primary school make gains in reading and math? First-year results from the RESPs for Kids in Care randomized field trial. Robert Flynn, Marie-Pierre Paquet,Robyn Marquis, & Tim AubrySchool of Psychology & Centre for Research on Educational and Community ServicesUniversity of Ottawa The RESP for Kids in Care Project is funded in part by the Government of Canada, Canada Education Savings Program, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

  2. Outline ● Purpose of randomized field trial (RFT) ● Research on low educational achievement of children in foster care ●Methodology: ► Participants ► Interventions ► Design ► Outcome measures ● Results in year 1: ► Pre-intervention assessment (October, 2008) ► Post-intervention assessment (June, 2009) ● Conclusion: ► Lessons learned ► Improving the foster-parent tutoring intervention

  3. Purpose of randomized field trial (RFT) • Educational achievement of many children in out-of-home care lags behind that of age peers in general population • Goal of RFT: Evaluate whether tutoring by foster parents can help foster children in primary school "catch up" in reading and math

  4. Funding • Project funded (2007-2010) in part by Canada Education Savings Program (CESP), HRSDC • One of 17 CESP-funded projects to make RESPs more accessible to disadvantaged young people

  5. Problem of low educational achievement of young people in care: US research • Excellent review of academic status of young people in care (Trout et al., 2008): • 3X more likely to be in special education • Up to 80% said by teachers to be at risk academically & performing below grade level • Most in low/low-average range on measures of academic achievement • Many require intensive academic assistance

  6. Problem of low educational achievement: UK research • Jackson (2007): • As in US, widespread educational under-performance • Little research being conducted on basic reasons for "huge and persistent gap in attainment between care leavers and others" • Much more attention needed on pivotal role of foster parents in improving educational performance • Failure of care system in UK to put sufficient emphasis on education also seen in other English-speaking countries, including Canada, US, Australia

  7. Problem of low educational achievement: Canadian research • Few Canadian studies, but results similar to US and UK • Flynn & Biro (1998): young people in foster care in Ontario had much higher rates of suspension and grade retention than age peers in general population • Flynn et al. (2004): In OnLAC sample of young people in care: • 10-15 years of age: 80% scored in same range as lowest third of general Canadian population on parental ratings of reading, spelling, math, and overall • 5-9 years of age: 78% scored in same range of lowest third of Canadian population, on same criteria

  8. Towards a (partial) solution? • Given size of problem, surprisingly few evaluated interventions exist: • Barth and Ferguson (2004) found only 12 intervention studies • Trout et al. (2008) uncovered only 9 others • Tutoring by foster parents may be a partial solution • Focus is on home rather than school, but both are needed

  9. Methodologyof RESPs for Kids in Care Project • Participants(N = 77 foster children): • Young people in care (grades 2-7, ages 6-13) and their foster parents or kinship caregivers (tutors) • Randomly assigned to control and intervention groups • Year 1 (2008-2009): • Control group (n = 35): RESP only • Intervention group (n = 42): RESP + tutoring by foster parent,(withMaloney’s direct-instruction educational model) • Year 2 (2009-2010): • Year 1 control group: RESP + foster-parent tutoring intervention • Year 1 intervention group: RESP + a second year of foster-parent tutoring (with Maloney model)

  10. Maloney’s Direct-InstructionEducational Model Michael Maloney, Quinte Learning Centre Belleville

  11. Methodologyof RESPs for Kids in Care Project (continued): 2008 2008 - - 2009 2009 2009 2009 - - 2010 2010 school school year year school school year year (30 (30 weeks weeks ) ) (30 (30 weeks weeks ) ) Control group: RESP ( RESP ( with with orientation) orientation) RESP ( with orientation) Registered Registered Education Education tutoring + + foster foster parent parent tutoring RESP ( with Savings Savings Plan Plan in in reading reading and math and math orientation) ( Levels 1 & 2 of Teach Your (RESP) Children To Read Well & math software) RESP ( RESP ( with with orientation) orientation) RESP ( RESP ( with with orientation) orientation) Intervention group: + + foster foster parent parent tutoring tutoring + + foster foster parent parent tutoring tutoring Foster parent tutoring in in reading reading and math and math in in reading reading and math and math ( Levels 1 & 2 of Teach Your ( Levels 3 & 4 of Teach Your Children To Read Well & math Children To Read Well ) (with Maloney model) software) Pre Pre - - test test Follow Follow - - up test up test Post Post - - test test

  12. Methodologyof RESPs for Kids in Care Project (continued) • Main outcome measures: • Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT4): Word reading, reading comprehension, spelling, & math • Conners’ short form (CADS-P): Attention and hyperactivity • Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL): Internalizing and externalizing behaviours

  13. Pre-intervention equivalence of intervention & control groups • Only 1/35 pre-intervention comparisons between control and intervention groups was statistically significant • This was within chance levels • Thus, randomization "worked", in creating equivalent pre-intervention groups

  14. Pre-intervention results (Sept.- Oct., 2008) on Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT4) MEAN STANDARD SCORE WRAT4

  15. Year 1 post-intervention results(June, 2009): • September-October, 2008: we assessed & randomly assigned: • 42 children to tutoring intervention • 35 children to wait-list control • June, 2009: we re-assessed and compared results of: • 30 children who had actually received the tutoring intervention, and • 34 children who remained in control group • No differential attrition: 0/35 differences in June, 2009, between the groups on the pre-intervention measures were statistically significant

  16. Word Reading results at end of year 1.(Effect size at post-test: Cohen’s d = .19, p = .19 (1-tailed), ns.Post-test scores were adjusted for pre-test scores and age.)

  17. Sentence Comprehension results at end of year 1.(Effect size at post-test: Cohen’s d = .39, p = .035 (1-tailed).Post-test scores were adjusted for pre-test scores and age.)

  18. Spelling results at end of year 1.(Effect size at post-test: Cohen’s d = -.04, p = .882 (2-tailed), ns.Post-test scores were adjusted for pre-test scores and age.)

  19. Math Calculation results at end of year 1.(Effect size at post-test: Cohen’s d = .46, p = .009 (1-tailed).Post-test scores were adjusted for pre-test scores and age.)

  20. Conclusion:Lessons learned during Year 1 • Tutoring by their foster parents enabled foster children to make statistically significant and practically important gains in two areas: • Reading: Sentence Comprehension • Math: Math Calculation • In light of different criteria for magnitude of effect sizes: • Cohen (1992): d of .20 = small, .50 = medium, .8 = large • Math Calculation: d of .46 is close to medium • Sentence Comprehension: d = .39 is closest to medium • Ferguson (2009): d of .41 = practically significant • Math Calculation: d of .46 = practically significant • Sentence Comprehension: d of .39 = practically significant

  21. Conclusion (continued):Improving the foster-parent tutoring intervention • Improving implementation of model: e.g., • Increase intensity of training of foster parents • Increase low year-1 rate of participation by foster parents in monthly coaching teleseminars • Increase foster parents’ use of child reward system • Evaluate group tutoring as alternative mode of delivering Michael Maloney’s educational model: • Tutor groups of 4-5 children in care • Train CAS staff or others (e.g., university students) as tutors • Train tutors intensively (e.g., during summer)

  22. For further information, please contact: Lisa Peeke, Coordinator, RESPs for Kids in Care Project: lpeek078@uottawa.ca (613)562-5800 ext. 8860

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