Promoting Comprehension Skills among At-Risk First Graders: The Role of Motivation in One-to-One Tutoring Environment

The current study investigated the role of motivation in promoting reading comprehension skills among at-risk first graders. For this purpose, 20 at-risk first graders were recruited to participate in an interactive one-to-one tutoring reading comprehension intervention program. Following the children and tutors motivation level, four sub-groups were created: highly motivated children/ highly motivated tutors (HM-T/HM-L), highly motivated children/low motivated tutors (HM-L/ HM-T), low motivated children/highly motivated tutors (LM-L/HM-T) and low motivated children/ low motivated tutors (LM-L/LM-T). The children’s progress in comprehension measures was documented. Across different time periods greater improvement was obtained among highly motivated children who were tutored by highly motivated tutor. The implications of the current findings were discussed.