The Role of the Reading Tutor in Improving Early Literacy

Early literacy is essential to a child’s academic success, and reading tutors play a pivotal role in fostering these foundational reading skills. 

By providing targeted support, reading tutors help young learners develop the competencies necessary for proficient reading.​

Many states in the US have recently passed legislation to support struggling readers through targeted initiatives. 

In Canada, a report on its highly decentralized collection of individual tutoring programs indicates that early literacy tutoring generally leads to positive learning outcomes.

With reading tutoring gaining prominence in recent years, now is the time to take a closer look at the role of reading tutors. 

This article covers the most prominent type of tutoring in early literacy and the unique role tutors play in delivering these sessions. It explores why tutors are an asset to schools and how partnerships between schools and tutors are structured. Finally, it examines the impact of tutoring on early literacy.

 

High-Dosage Tutoring Needed for Early Literacy

The National Center for Education Statistics reported that 78% of public schools offered some form of tutoring for students as of October 2024. 

Out of this number, 37% of public schools offered high-dosage tutoring, which is defined as sessions that align with evidence-based curriculum, are at least 30 mins, and happen three or more times a week. 

Most of this high-dosage tutoring is concentrated in elementary education, signifying its importance for early literacy.

High-dosage tutoring demands dedicated reading tutors. For it to be effective, the role cannot be absorbed by other early literacy team members. 

What unique expertise do reading tutors bring to early literacy development?

 

Distinction Between Reading Tutors and Other Early Literacy Positions

The biggest difference between reading tutors and other early literacy positions, lies in tutors’ scope and role within the school system.

Reading tutors may operate independently or within school settings, but usually still outside the instructional hours, either before/after school, or through pull-out sessions, or private sessions. 

Their role is usually supplementary rather than systematic. 

Perhaps, the “reading interventionist” is the role that is most similar to reading tutors. 

Interventionists are part of the school system and follow structured intervention programs, such as Response to Intervention and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, while tutors operate with more flexibility, often outside of school-provided interventions.

Another key difference between reading tutors and other early literacy positions such as reading/literacy coaches and reading specialists, is that tutors are usually focused more on direct instruction.

Reading tutors work one-on-one or in small groups to provide short-term targeted, skill-based intervention for struggling readers.

Reading coaches and specialists are also involved in direct instruction, but they are often in charge of other responsibilities as well, such as teacher support, curriculum development, or school-wide literacy strategies. 

While reading tutors are different from other literacy positions, how do they best help students?

 

The Reading Tutor Advantage. School Districts’ Secret Weapon.

Many tutoring models, especially high-dosage tutoring, involve daily or multi-weekly sessions, demanding more focused interactions in early literacy through explicit instruction and practice.

This means that as schools focus on learning recovery, tutoring sessions offer an efficient way to extend quality instructional time without straining existing resources or staffing capacity.

Unlike teachers, who must manage whole-class instruction, and reading coaches or specialists, who focus on direct instruction in school setting, instructional strategies and professional development, tutors can focus exclusively on filling skill gaps for specific students.

This means that for struggling readers at risk of falling further behind, a reading tutor can be their most effective solution for rapidly addressing skill gaps that are hindering progress and preventing them from mastering new concepts.

 

Collaboration Between Reading Tutors and Schools

Reading tutors often collaborate with schools to provide supplemental instruction that aligns with the school’s literacy programs. This partnership ensures consistency in instructional approaches and reinforces the strategies employed in the classroom. 

Effective collaboration may involve regular communication between tutors and classroom teachers, sharing assessment data, and coordinating intervention strategies to support student progress comprehensively.​

They can be volunteer private tutors enlisted by the school for support, tutors from service provider organizations contracted by the school or by individual parents, or individual tutors directly employed by the school. The following examples illustrate these cases.

 

Examples of Reading Tutor and School District Partnerships

Several initiatives demonstrate successful collaborations between reading tutors and school districts:​

Enlisting Help from Volunteer Private Tutors 

Chapter One’s Online Reading Volunteers Program: Chapter One is a global education nonprofit organization, dedicated to improving early literacy outcomes for children in under-resourced schools. Their Online Reading Volunteers Program trains corporate volunteers in early literacy instruction and connects them with local schools. 

Volunteers engage in virtual tutoring sessions with students, focusing on building fluency, comprehension, phonics, and spelling skills. ​

 

Enlisting Help From Tutoring Service Provider Organizations

Literacy First’s AmeriCorps Model: Based in Texas, Literacy First places AmeriCorps members as early literacy tutors in schools to provide daily, one-on-one tutoring sessions to kindergarten through second-grade students. 

AmeriCorps members undergo rigorous training in early literacy strategies and progress monitoring, working closely with teachers and school staff to align interventions with classroom instruction.

 

Directly Employing Private Tutors

Tennessee Dept. of Education’s Accelerating Literacy and Learning (ALL) Corps: Launched in response to pandemic-related learning loss, this initiative provided funding for districts to hire high-dosage, school-based tutors. These tutors worked directly with students in small-group settings during the school day, focusing on early literacy and math. 

Unlike external tutoring organizations, TN ALL Corps tutors were district-hired employees, fully integrated into school operations, and supporting struggling readers within their existing school environment.

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB)’s Tutoring Hires: State or provincial education departments aside, some school districts have hired individual tutors as integral members of their instructional teams. For example, the OCDSB in Ontario has posted positions for tutors to work during the school day, providing targeted support to small groups of students. 

 

These tutors are responsible for assisting in classrooms, offering individualized instruction, and collaborating with school staff to enhance student learning outcomes.

These partnerships between schools, education departments, organizations and tutors highlight the effectiveness of integrating reading tutors into broader educational strategies to improve literacy outcomes.​

How much of a difference do tutors make in early reading? The last section of this article explores just that. 

 

The Impact of Reading Tutors on Early Literacy

The involvement of reading tutors in early literacy development has shown promising results.

For instance, a study of a large, urban school district on the East Coast, found that kindergarten and first-grade students who received targeted tutoring outperformed their peers on end-of-year literacy assessments.​

Studies suggest that even brief, daily tutoring sessions can lead to notable gains in early reading skills, making tutoring a feasible intervention within the school day. ​

These findings emphasize the value of reading tutors in providing targeted support that addresses individual student needs and promotes literacy development.​

Progress monitoring tools can further support educators and tutors by offering comprehensive resources for assessing and developing foundational reading skills, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to become a proficient reader.

It does this in two ways that are especially relevant to the reading tutor.

1. As tutors spend significant time with their students, they are well-positioned to record observational assessments and capture insights that may be missed in formal evaluations. However, without quick digitization, these assessments can be difficult to track and manage. 

Sprig Reading streamlines this process with its Circle Charts, covering the full range of foundational reading skills and offering built-in note-taking for each assessment. This enables tutors to precisely track progress, document a student’s depth of knowledge with accuracy, and share these findings with educators across an integrated digital platform.

      2. As tutors focus on closing skill gaps that other resources haven’t addressed, they often need to target specific subskills that hinder a student’s progress. Within a broad foundational skill domain, tutors must determine which sub skills a student has mastered, which need more practice, and which require reteaching. 

Sprig Reading provides instant visibility into these insights by maintaining detailed assessment records for every subskill, ensuring precise, data-driven instruction.

We hope this article provided valuable insight into the tutor’s role in early literacy. Want to learn more about other key members of an early literacy team?  Sprig has written previously on teachers, principals, reading specialists, literacy coaches, and has highlighted many other roles in articles on building the right early literacy team.

Tiered instruction frameworks have become a cornerstone in addressing diverse student needs in early literacy. 

Two widely used models, Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and Response to Intervention (RtI), provide structured approaches to delivering interventions and improving literacy outcomes. 

In a 2023 survey featured on Education Week, 60% of participating districts and schools said that they had well established MTSS systems or were in the beginning phases of implementing. 

Another 36% said that they were currently in the midst of rolling out such a system, indicating the framework’s soaring popularity in recent years. 

Literacy was the biggest focus of the framework, beating out other types of interventions, such as math, behavior, attendance and social-emotional learning. 

RtI is very popular itself, with another survey indicating that approximately 70% of school districts with elementary schools implement them, primarily for literacy.

With tiered instruction widely embraced in early literacy, this blog breaks down its key aspects. 

It clarifies the difference between tiered and differentiated instruction, explores the relationship between MTSS and RtI, and unpacks the three-tiered pyramid structure of these models. 

Finally, it covers the evidence-based for these frameworks, before going into actionable strategies at each tier.

Understanding Tiered Instruction and Differentiated Instruction

Tiered instruction adjusts the instructional approach based on group size.

Tiered instruction includes whole-class instruction for all students, small-group support for those at risk, and individualized instruction for students with ongoing challenges. Each tier serves a distinct purpose and looks very different in practice.

Differentiated instruction on the other hand, consists of varying the instruction by either content, process, assessment or learning environment. 

It’s a topic covered extensively by Sprig Learning because of its large scope, and because of the many ways instruction can be differentiated to meet diverse student needs.

Differentiated instruction is not restricted to any particular tier in tiered instruction. Instruction can be differentiated at any tier.

Tiered instruction can be thought of as only one example of differentiated instruction, where differentiation occurs by varying the group size in which students are taught.

Deciphering the Relationship Between MTSS and RtI Frameworks.

Both the MTSS and RtI frameworks share a three-tiered structure and a commitment to continuous progress monitoring and data-informed practices.

MTSS is a comprehensive framework that integrates academic, behavioral, and social-emotional supports to ensure all students succeed. 

It emphasizes proactive and preventive measures, data-driven decision-making, and collaboration among educators.

RtI, often considered a subset of MTSS, focuses primarily on academic interventions. 

It identifies struggling students early and provides increasingly intensive support to meet their needs.

So at first glance, MTSS and RtI are very similar with MTSS encompassing RtI and extending beyond it, making MTSS the more comprehensive framework. 

However, choosing a specific approach matters for schools, which is why we examine the tiers that are associated with the two frameworks.

 

What are the Different Tiers in MTSS and RtI?

In MTSS, schools typically implement three tiers for academic support, with parallel tiers available for behavior:

Tier 1

Research-based core instruction provided to all students, emphasizing prevention and early intervention.

Tier 2

Targeted interventions for students at risk, featuring rapid response strategies and frequent progress monitoring.

Tier 3

Intensive interventions designed for individual students, incorporating diagnostic assessments and high-intensity support.

 

Examples of RtI three tier pyramids are very similar to the MTSS pyramids with its three tiers. 

 The difference lies in the scope of each of the tiers. 

 In RtI, it’s the students who receive support, in MTSS, everyone including teachers and support staff receive support. 

 Also, in RtI, the focus is on students, whereas in MTSS, the focus is on the school system, and even outside the system, which includes the home of the student and the community. 

 Regarding what should be used, Dr. Adena Miller, who has managed both MTSS and RtI models at the state and district level, has the following advice, published on McREL, a non-profit, non-partisan education research and development organization.

 “If your educators see RtI as a means for getting students into special education, then a shift to MTSS is probably significant. However, if your implementation looks a lot like the definition of MTSS (integrated, preventative, problem-solving approach), then the shift is likely mere semantics.”

Evidence Supporting MTSS and RtI Frameworks

 

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Regardless of a school’s preferred tiered instruction framework, research says that both the MTSS and RtI models are effective, if they are used in the right way. 

MTSS has had positive effects on academic outcomes. RtI has helped students achieve grade-level benchmarks. 

Meta-analysis studies published in reputed journals confirm that small-group or individual interventions that include a foundational reading skills component, when provided to students with reading difficulties in Grades K-3, are likely to positively impact these students’ reading comprehension ability.

Also, given that MTSS and RtI are both tiered systems, research emphasizes the effectiveness of such systems in improving literacy outcomes.

The Institute of Education Sciences in their practice guide lists the following recommendations for multi-tier intervention in the primary grades that has strong or moderate evidence for improving literacy outcomes:

1)Screen all students in the beginning of the year and again in the middle of the year. Regularly monitor the progress of students who are at risk of not reading at grade level.

2) Provide intensive, systematic instruction on three foundational reading skills in small groups to students who score below the benchmark score on universal reading, three to five times a week for 20 to 40 minutes. 

Thus, there is strong evidence supporting the use of both MTSS and RtI in early literacy, along with clear research-backed guidelines on their effective implementation.  

Speaking of which, the next section explores best practices for each tier in depth.

 

Strategies for Enhancing Each Tier in MTSS and RtI

Tier 1: Strengthen Core Instruction

Core instruction is the foundation of tiered support. To enhance Tier 1:

• Implement evidence-based literacy programs.

Renowned early literacy scientist, Dr.Louisa Moats says in her paper on existing approaches helping goals of tiered instruction, “successful implementation of RtI depends on educators’ understanding of scientific research in reading psychology, linguistics, educational measurement, and instruction.”

• Use universal screeners to identify students at-risk early. Monitor progress of these students along with the whole class to identify others needing support.

• Incorporate differentiated instructional strategies to address diverse learning needs.

Tier 2: Enhance Small Group Instruction

For students requiring targeted support:

• Use diagnostic assessments to identify reading skill gaps. 

• Use progress monitoring assessments to pinpoint specific skill areas that students need more practice or instruction in. 

• Group students by similar needs to maximize instructional impact.

 

Tier 3: Intensify Interventions and Monitoring

Tier 3 requires the most intensive support and frequent monitoring:

• Conduct individualized assessments to tailor interventions.

• Increase intervention frequency and duration of interventions as necessary by constantly monitoring progress.

 

Successfully Applying Tiered Instruction At Your School

Hopefully, this article was useful in better understanding MTSS and RtI. Both provide evidence-based frameworks that empower schools to meet the diverse needs of their students. 

By following the advice in the previous sections, it’s possible to strengthen instruction and intervention in all three tiers.

Tools like Sprig Reading streamlines the assessment process at each tier, and makes progress monitoring quick and intuitive for teachers.

Monitoring progress at tier 3 may seem obvious, given the urgency of each of those cases. But what about tiers 1 and 2? Is core instruction sufficient, or is differentiated instruction required? 

If differentiated instruction is needed, assessment data is essential for making informed decisions. What type of assessment data?

In tier 2, point-in-time or snapshot assessment data from screeners or even diagnostic assessments will likely not be enough to make timely decisions. For example, the student is not showing any improvements, they may need individualized support more urgently. 

But for this, more frequent and immediate information is needed, which can only come from progress monitoring.

Similarly at tier 1, while strong evidence-based core instruction can be delivered to all students, there is a high likelihood that some students will need more help than others in certain foundational skills. They may even need to be grouped together to receive small-group instruction.

Unaddressed needs in tier 1 can push students into tier 2 over time. But without progress monitoring in tier 1, how will educators know when intervention is needed?

Whether proactively preventing students from slipping through the tiers or ensuring they receive timely support at the right tier, progress monitoring is essential in any tiered instruction framework.