High-quality programs tend to stay on track when there is an ongoing effort to evaluate progress. Evaluation results help identify successes and challenges as well as guide improvements and midcourse adjustments. The experiences of the young students and the tutors should be examined, as well as the effectiveness of the FWS tutoring program as a whole.

Student Progress. While a number factors, such as in-class instruction, maturation, and parent assistance, may also contribute to improved student achievement, positive changes in a young student's mathematical performance may indicate that tutoring sessions have been helpful.

Some of the ways that tutoring programs have attempted to measure student progress include:

• Soliciting Teacher Feedback. Teachers generally have a good sense of day-to-day performance and may be more perceptive to small changes in a student's general understanding.



• Tracking Attitude Changes. Some encouraging signs include increased interest and participation in class, a switch from a "can't do" to a "can do" attitude, and enthusiasm for the next tutoring session.



• Letter Grade Improvements.



• Pre and Post Testing. Testing a student's skills and understanding just prior to the first tutoring session, and again at a later date, might provide some indication that the student has made progress. Subscores on standardized tests may also help diagnose particular content areas where improvement is needed.

Tutor Growth. With good training, ongoing support, and increased contact hours, FWS students can improve the quality of their tutoring. Assessing whether or not tutoring facility increases is a critical component of evaluation.

Some of the ways that programs have attempted to gauge tutor growth include:

• Soliciting Feedback from On-site Supervisor(s). Through regular interaction, supervisors can assess tutor strengths and weaknesses.



• Having Tutors Submit Weekly Reports. Tutors can evaluate their progress and report their successes and challenges on a consistent basis. Additionally, weekly reports can measure tutor attitude changes, such as an increased interest in teaching or community service.



• Having Tutors Keep Journals or Logs. By keeping an ongoing record of each tutoring session, tutors and supervisors can review the tutoring history and make any necessary adjustments.



• Tutor-to-Tutor Interaction. Facilitating communication amongst FWS students, (through a listserv, for example) not only enables tutors to learn from one another's experiences, but also provides program coordinators with valuable insights into the tutors' development.

Program Evaluation. When evaluating the overall success of an America Counts program, keep in mind the goals that were established during program development.

Some of the ways that programs have assessed their overall effectiveness include:

• Tutor Evaluations or Exit Surveys. Tutors can be a critical source of information. Tutors can describe ways that they believe the program can better support their efforts.



• Tutoring-Site Feedback. Teachers or on-site coordinators can also provide valuable information about possible program adjustments that can better support improved student achievement.



• Tutor Retention Rates. Having a large proportion of tutors return to the program each semester is one indication that the tutoring experience was rewarding and that the program adequately addressed their needs.

Salisbury State University, for example, evaluates its America Reads program by having tutors and their site supervisors complete comprehensive questionnaires at the end of each semester. Tutors are asked to evaluate the program as a whole and describe improvements they have made with their young students. Supervisors are asked to evaluate tutors on performance indicators, such as timeliness, ability to work with children, and any improvements gains of the young students.

The University of Arizona also requires their FWS tutors to complete questionnaires and has on-site supervisors evaluate tutor performance through direct observations as well as discussions with teachers and other on-site administrators.