An evaluation of an orientation plus tutoring school-based prevention program.

Abstract

Some youngsters who transfer into a new school are high-risk candidates for school and later-life difficulties. During a school transfer, children are faced with the task of gaining peer and teacher acceptance, learning about the school's rules and regulations, and meeting new academic standards. Those transfer children who fail in these tasks often are from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, evidence academic lags, and are confronted with multiple life stressors that detract them from focusing on the task of mastering the demands of the new setting. In this study, 10 schools were randomly assigned to an experimental condition and 10 schools to a control condition. The intervention involved providing a high-risk group of transfer children a comprehensive intervention consisting of an orientation program and tutoring. Program children evidenced significantly better achievement scores than control children by the end of the school year.