Effects of Cross-Age Tutoring Implementation and Dosage on Reading Outcomes for Tutors and Tutees

This multicohort randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of Sound Partners, a structured early reading intervention, when delivered by cross-age tutors or adult tutors within YMCA afterschool programs. Across 69 schools (N = 770 students in grades K–5), schools were randomized to cross-age tutoring, adult tutoring, or business-as-usual. Intent-to-treat analyses revealed modest, educationally meaningful effects for adult-delivered tutoring on sight word efficiency, with smaller, nonsignificant effects for cross-age tutoring. Complier Average Causal Effect models demonstrated that receiving a full instructional dose (50+ lessons) yielded substantial gains for tutors in passage comprehension and for tutees in word reading and fluency, regardless of tutor type. No significant differences emerged between adult and cross-age tutoring conditions, suggesting that structured lessons may reduce variability in tutor effectiveness. Findings highlight cross-age tutoring as a feasible, cost-effective model that can strengthen early literacy outcomes in community-based afterschool settings.