SMART®¶
Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 5 claims (5 for) · 1 study (1 causal),q3· 1 of 1 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study
Description¶
Start Making a Reader Today (SMART®) is a low-cost Oregon school-based programme that provides volunteer one-on-one reading tutoring and free books to K–2 students at risk of reading failure.
Components¶
- SMART® volunteer one-on-one reading tutoring program with book giveaways for at-risk K-2 readers: Start Making a Reader Today® is a low-cost volunteer tutoring program for students in grades K-2 at risk of reading failure, operating in Oregon schools where at least 40% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Volunteer tutors "read one-on-one with students twice a week for half an hour," typically with one volunteer working with two children. The program also gives each student two new books a month to encourage family reading, and overall program cost runs approximately $300 a year per child. (What Works Clearinghouse (2007))
- SMART® four-strategy volunteer tutoring pattern: reading to, reading with, re-reading, and questioning: The SMART® program structures minimal-training volunteer tutoring around four reading strategies: "reading to the child, reading with the child, re-reading with the child, and asking the child questions about what has been read." A volunteer handbook describes these strategies, and volunteers rely on their own judgment for any other needs. The pattern intentionally places minimal demands on volunteer tutors and classroom teachers, with training focusing as much on tutoring logistics as on reading instruction techniques. (What Works Clearinghouse (2007))
Claims¶
- SMART® effects on comprehension were not statistically significant on either subtest, though the domain-average effect size was substantively important [+W]
- The evidence base for SMART® is a single small-extent RCT, capping the intervention rating at potentially positive effects [+W]
- After one year of SMART® intervention, only the fluency outcome was statistically significant, while alphabetics and comprehension effects were not [+W]
- SMART® tutoring produced statistically significant positive effects on oral reading fluency on both first- and second-grade passages [+M]
- SMART® tutoring produced a statistically significant positive effect on first-graders' word identification after two years of intervention [+W]
Related Products and Programmes¶
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Key Sources¶
- What Works Clearinghouse, U.S. Department of Education. (2007). What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report: Start Making a Reader Today® (SMART®). https://www.getsmartoregon.org
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
product |
id |
smart |
title |
SMART® |
description |
Start Making a Reader Today (SMART®) is a low-cost Oregon school-based programme that provides volunteer one-on-one reading tutoring and free books to K–2 students at risk of reading failure. |
status |
review |
moved_from |
design/smart-four-reading-strategies-pattern, element/smart-volunteer-reading-tutoring-program |
product_kind |
programme |
generated |
by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — what-works-clearinghouse-2007 |
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