A U.S. practice guide rates as strong the evidence for extra reading teaching in small groups for children who are behind. In its review, one-on-one teaching did not show significantly bigger effects than groups of two to five. A separate review of school programs concluded one-to-one phonics tutoring works best.
The intervention guide, rating this recommendation strong, says studies of extra reading teaching for children who are behind support it as a way to raise decoding.
In the source’s own words“These studies on supplemental instruction in reading support tier 2 intervention as a way to improve reading performance in decoding.”
In the guide's review, one-on-one teaching did not show significantly bigger effects than small groups of two to five.
In the source’s own words“Given that effect sizes were not significantly higher for the one-on-one approach, small group work could be considered more practical for implementation.”
The guide says this intensive teaching should happen three to five times a week for 20 to 40 minutes.
In the source’s own words“Intensive instruction should occur three to five times per week for 20 to 40 minutes.”
The guide says it does not matter whether a certified teacher or a trained assistant teaches the group, as long as teaching is systematic, very explicit and interactive.
In the source’s own words“It is not important whether a certified teacher or a paraprofessional provides the instruction. But instruction should be systematic, highly explicit, and highly interactive.”
The Education Endowment Foundation's summary puts the average gain from one to one tuition at about five extra months of progress.
In the source’s own words“Evidence indicates that one to one tuition can be effective, providing approximately five additional months’ progress on average.”
The same summary says short, regular sessions over a set period seem to work best.
In the source’s own words“Short, regular sessions (about 30 minutes, three to five times a week) over a set period of time (up to ten weeks) appear to result in optimum impact.”
The summary says studies that compare one to one with small groups give mixed results.
In the source’s own words“Studies comparing one to one with small group tuition show mixed results.”
A review of 96 studies of struggling readers in grades K-5 concluded that small-group phonics tutoring can work but not as well as one-to-one phonics tutoring.
In the source’s own words“Small-group, phonetic tutorials can be effective, but are not as effective as one-to-one phonetically-focused tutoring.”
We read each of these ourselves on October 9, 2026. Follow the links to read them too.
“Behind in reading” can mean ten different things, and each one needs different help. Check off what is true for your child. You will see the one thing to work on first, and what can wait.
