Program Description
Sound Partners is a one-on-one reading tutoring program for students in Grades K–3. The program provides supplemental reading instruction in kindergarten and first grade and intervention for struggling readers in Grades 2–3. Using structured lessons designed for tutors and paraprofessionals, students receive 30 minutes of instruction four to five days per week. Instruction focuses on phonemic awareness, letter-sound relationships, decoding, word recognition, and oral reading practice using decodable texts.
Program Outcomes
The impact of Sound Partners was evaluated in three randomized studies involving 402 kindergarten and first-grade students struggling with early reading skills. Conducted in urban elementary schools serving large numbers of economically disadvantaged students, the studies evaluated 18 to 20 weeks of one-on-one tutoring. Students receiving Sound Partners scored significantly higher on standardized measures of word reading across all three studies. Significant positive effects were also found on word reading efficiency and reading comprehension. Language-minority students also benefited from the program, particularly in word reading. Follow-up research found that improvements in reading skills were sustained one to two years after tutoring ended. Across the three studies, the estimated average effect size was +0.45 on standardized reading measures. Together, these results qualify Sound Partners for a Strong rating.
Staffing Requirements
A local trainer (reading specialist, teacher, or special education teacher) will train the local tutors (educational assistants and paraeducators).
In most research studies and in most local adoptions, paraeducators are trained to implement Sound Partner lessons.
Professional Development/Training
The Voyager Sopris Learning website provides a training manual and training videos. The videos consist of a training session led by a lead research trainer and clips of the trainer using main lessons with a student.
Technology
Internet access for training materials