Sound Partners and Cross-age Peer Tutoring: Evaluating Outcomes for a Student with a Reading Disability

Abstract

This single-case experimental study examined the effectiveness of the Sound Partners reading intervention, delivered by a high school student tutor, for a seven-year-old female student with a specific learning disability (SLD) in reading. The intervention was implemented during a university-based summer reading program using an ABA (baseline–intervention–follow-up) design. Outcome measures included letter-sound fluency, decodable word fluency, and nonsense word fluency, assessed using FastBridge earlyReading and Sound Partners Mastery Tests. Over a 15-day intervention period, the participant received daily, 25-minute, one-on-one sessions focused on foundational reading skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding. Results indicated substantial improvements in all measured domains: letter-sound fluency increased from 34 (baseline) to 53 (intervention) to 66.7 (follow-up) correct responses per minute; decodable word fluency rose from 23.7 to 36.5 to 48.7; nonsense word fluency improved from 8.7 to 20.1 to 26.7 correct responses per minute. Improved Rate Difference (IRD) values demonstrated moderate to large intervention effects. Procedural fidelity was 99.5% and interscorer agreement reached 100%, confirming reliable implementation and assessment. The study highlights the potential for high school student tutors to deliver structured, evidence-based reading interventions with strong fidelity, resulting in significant gains for students with SLD. Limitations include the single-subject design and lack of long-term follow-up. Future research should replicate these findings with larger samples and investigate sustained outcomes. Sound Partners offers an accessible, effective intervention for schools seeking to improve early literacy among students with reading disabilities.