An independent study shows that a virtual tutoring program inside the city’s elementary schools is helping first graders learn how to read.
“What we’re seeing are better and higher levels of success. And what they’re learning with Ignite Reading are foundational reading skills,” said Christine Shea, the public schools’ director of assessment and accountability, about the first graders, as well as some kindergarteners and second graders who are using the program.
“This is setting them up to learn to be good readers and understand what they’re reading,” she said.
The “this” Shea is referring to is a one-on-one online tutoring program called Ignite Reading, which was designed to help students build the foundational reading skills they need to become confident, fluent, and independent readers, according to its website.
Shea explained that in 2023, the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reached out to the district to let it know there was funding available for a pilot program to increase the reading skills of first graders.
She said that after checking on four other programs, the district settled on Ignite Reading for several reasons.
“We liked that they trained and provided staff, and it was also during the school day,” Shea said.
Having one-on-one tutoring available during the school day was important to the district.
“With some of the tutoring programs at the time, you had to find people who wanted to do it, and it was after school. So, we wanted to have it during the day so all kids could be included; sometimes you do something after school, and not everybody’s available,” she said.
The program is unique because it is held daily for 15 minutes throughout the year by the same tutor in real time, with students interacting with the tutor.
She was asked to describe what the class looks like during the tutoring session.
The district provides touchscreen Chromebooks to every student, including first graders, at their desks, and students put on headphones and listen to and interact with the tutor.
Shea compared it to a Zoom or Google Meet call in which the tutor shares their screen and is writing things, and kids can write back: “It’s like a whiteboard.”
“So, kids might underline a word, and so can the tutor, or they can write an answer if they need to. They’re also talking to each other the whole time,” she said.
She said that teachers were unsure at first how it would go because most first graders hadn’t had much experience using computers, so they stood behind the children to watch.
“But the way that Ignite set it up is the first couple of days and in the first week made it about building a relationship,” Shea said.
“So, the kids, they get to know each other, they play some word games, and the whole time they do build in sort of fun ways to learn, and then they get to know each other,” she said, adding that some of the students have forged something of a relationship with the tutor.
She was watching a session on a student’s shoulder when that student told the tutor he had just lost a tooth. She overheard another student tell the tutor they had just gotten a dog.
“They talk about little things like that just to get to know each other. And kids feel comfortable sharing just basic information,” Shea said.
However, each session is recorded in case a question is ever raised about what a student may have shared.
“And there are always adults in the room that are watching,” she said.
Those recordings are also used when a student isn’t making the expected progress.
“They can check videos to see if it’s the right thing for the student, or is the tutor not doing something,” she said.
Shea said the program was also successful in helping English-language learners and students with disabilities.
English-language learners’ reading skills don’t typically increase because they’re learning English.
“But they have made the same progress as all our other students, and we found the same for our students with disabilities. You know, many of them have a reading disability, but they’re still progressing at the same pace,” she said.
Tutoring is only one aspect of the students’ learning process.
“[Ignite Reading] has reading specialists on their staff, and we have our special ed and reading specialists keeping an eye on how our students are doing,” Shea said.
The big test to measure the results of the program will come when the first cohort of students who participated in the pilot program takes the MCAS.
“This year, those students in the third grade who used Ignite Reading are taking MCAS, so we’re going to have to look at our results, and hopefully we see improvements because we want these results to last,” Shea said.
She said that while learning to read creates the foundation needed to progress as a student, reading comprehension sets the student up for success.
“That’s the other part of reading, right? You need to then be reading with your teachers, and they need to make sure the student is understanding, so the comprehension is there. And that’s what happens in the classrooms,” she said.
The Johns Hopkins study found that the virtual tutoring program used in Massachusetts schools significantly boosted early reading skills, helping first-graders gain the equivalent of more than five extra months of learning.
The report on Ignite Reading showed that students who participated not only made substantial literacy gains but also outperformed similar peers who did not receive tutoring. The biggest impact came when students reached grade-level reading by the end of first grade: about 85% stayed on track into second grade, while those who fell short rarely caught up, underscoring the importance of early intervention.