Fact Sheet - Student2Student

Creating better outcomes for disadvantaged Australians

Research identifies a clear relationship between the development of good cognitive skills such as literacy and numeracy at an early age and higher levels of educational achievement, greater employability, higher earnings and greater social participation.

Children from low socio economic backgrounds are more likely to be reading below the minimum standard for reading than their higher socio economic peers^*

Remedial programs are necessary if achievement gaps are to be narrowed during the primary school years. The Smith Family, through its Learning for Life programs, aims to ensure that all children, particularly those aged between 6 to 12 years of age, meet minimum literacy and numeracy standards by supporting their development in school years.

What is student2student?

Research shows that one of the ways to support primary and early secondary level students who have reading difficulties is for the help to come from others near their own age.

The Smith Family's student2student program works by matching students who need to improve their reading with peer mentors, who are specially trained to help develop literacy skills in others. This peer support is key to the program's success.

A proven success

Students participating in the initial pilot study control group trials of student2student demonstrated positive improvement in their reading performance with half (55%) improving their reading rate; 71% improved accuracy; 63% improving comprehension and 50% improving in all three areas.

This initial success and the ongoing annual success of the program has seen The Smith Family continue to expand student2student now providing literacy support to approximately 1,000 students and training and supervision for 1,000 mentors nationally.

How does student2student work?

The student2student program involves three groups of participants:

• Students in Years 3 to 8 who have been assessed as being up to two years behind in their reading development and want additional support to improve their reading.
• Mentors with good literacy skills who are at least two years older than the student with whom they are paired and who are trained by The Smith Family to develop literacy skills in others.
• Mentor supervisors who provide support for up to 10 mentors, helping them with problems and ensuring that mentors are following the correct process for mentoring students.

The mentor telephones the student two to three times a week for at least 20 minutes.

The student reads to the mentor who uses the skills learnt in their training to assist the student with their reading.

The mentor keeps a simple record of each phone contact and reports progress to a mentor supervisor fortnightly.

In some remote locations where access to phone lines is limited, the mentoring takes place face to face.

Participant feedback

Number of students on student2student literacy program in 2009: 994 young student readers matched with 994 reading "buddies"

92% participating students expressing satisfaction with their participation

85% of students agreed that participation in the program helped them feel more confident with their school work

90% of parents of participants agreed that the program helped their child feel better about themselves

96% parents of participants who would recommend the program to other families

Get involved

If you would like to find out more about the program, please contact the National Volunteer Coordination Unit on 1300 397 730 or email your enquiry to volunteer@thesmithfamily.com.au

^{* MCEECDYA (2009) Report on the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy Achievement in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy}