Effectiveness of Small-Group Tutoring Interventions for Improving the Mathematical Problem-Solving Performance of Third-Grade Students with Mathematics Difficulties: A Randomized Experiment

The present research assessed the efficacy of two tutoring protocols for improving the mathematics outcomes of at-risk third-grade students. Results indicated that students in the schema-based instruction (SBI) group outperformed students in the control group on word problem solving performance after 30 hours of problem-solving experience, but the problem-solving performance was not maintained 8 weeks following the tutoring intervention. However, the SBI condition led to superior performance on a standardized mathematics achievement test compared with the control group. With respect to metacognitive strategy knowledge, the SBI condition outscored the control condition. Further, results suggested that SBI was equally effective for students from various at-risk subgroups. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of SBI tutoring conducted by trained tutors. (Contains 3 tables.)