THE EFFECTS OF ETHNIC SIMILARITY ON TUTOR-TUTEE INTERACTIONS

The effects of ethnically matching tutors and mothers participating in Project PRIMER (PRoducing Infant/Mother Ethnic Readers), a community- based literacy program were investigated. It was hypothesized that mot hers ethnically matched to tutors would show increased satisfaction wi th tile program, greater increases in literacy-promoting behaviors, an d decreased attrition. It was also hypothesized that their children wo uld show greater progress in conceptual knowledge and language product ion. Tutors were trained to teach Head Start parents techniques to inc rease language development in their children. During each instructiona l visit, tutors introduced literacy tips to mothers, modeled reading, taught an abstract concept, and sang a song with the mother and child. Tutors also took tile mother and child on four library visits. Mother s' satisfaction with the tutor was assessed, and their progress was me asured by scales assessing reading, teaching, and library behaviors at both pre-and post-assessments. Children's gains were assessed via sta ndardized tests of conceptual knowledge and language production. The r esults indicated that there was no advantage of matching tutors and tu tees on ethnic similarity. The implications of these findings for the use of indigenous paraprofessionals is discussed. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.