Prospective Teachers as Tutors: Measuring the Impact of a Service-Learning Program on Upper Elementary Students

The authors developed a service-learning tutoring program for undergraduate prospective teachers designed to provide support for them in what was for many their first experience as elementary school teachers. The author's evaluation indicated that the undergraduate tutors in their program were transformed in significant ways and developed new perspectives and attitudes in such areas as: identity and personal development; teaching and learning; and service and responsibility the community. The purpose of this article is to describe the service-learning program that the authors developed for prospective teachers, access the impact of the tutoring program on the tutees (elementary school children), and to discuss the implication of the results within the context of the growing body of research literature on tutoring programs. (Authors)