Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

9-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Educational Psychology

Advisor

Bruce Homer

Committee Members

Katharine Pace Miles

Joan Lucariello

Colette Daiute

David Rindskopf

Subject Categories

Educational Psychology

Keywords

High-Impact, High-Dosage, Tutoring, Early Literacy, Reading, Intervention

Abstract

This secondary data analysis examined the role of tutor-student demographic match in the achievement and relational outcomes of reading intervention provided by the CUNY Reading Corps (CRC), a university-based high-impact tutoring program. The CRC, established in 2020 by Dr. Katharine Pace Miles, is an ongoing initiative that pairs university students with New York City public school students for reading tutoring (Miles & Fletcher, 2023). The present study examined data from a subgroup of students (n = 228) and tutors (n = 75) to determine whether students who were placed with a tutor of the same demographic background achieved greater reading growth, attended more sessions, and developed stronger bonds with their tutors as compared with students placed in demographically incongruent dyads. An analysis using Hierarchical Linear Modeling found no statistically significant differences in reading outcomes between students placed in demographically congruent and demographically incongruent pairs. Prior studies of the CRC have found no statistically significant differences in outcomes between remote and in-person conditions (Hashim et al., 2025) and when tutors participated either to meet a course requirement or as paid interns (Raines, 2024). Taken together, these findings suggest that a university-based early literacy tutoring program with a highly structured curriculum, robust tutor training, and programmatic oversight can serve as a sustainable reading intervention for a diverse group of striving readers regardless of demographic match, modality, or tutor recruitment condition.

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