United States Department of Education Recommends High-Impact Tutoring

Tutoring Done Right

Effective district-managed tutoring programs are evidence-based and designed to equitably support the needs of all students. Implementing a comprehensive and personalized model for your district doesn’t have to be as challenging as it once was. The Department of Education has released a report on the impact of ARP funding for addressing lost instructional time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing high-dosage programs as a tool for accelerating learning and bridging gaps created over the last two school years.

Building an efficient model doesn’t have to include a network of manual processes or complex integrations, but one that is designed exactly to your needs, connected to the district curriculum, and rooted in the following practices.  

How You Staff Your Program

Leveraging your internal resources to support the unique requirements of your program enables you to flexibly scale and use teams composed of teachers, interventionists, paraprofessionals, and peers. Using district staff as tutors helps ensure students are matched with the right support. Furthermore, teachers can use session feedback to improve classroom instruction and prevent future learning loss.

How You Support Students

High-dosage tutoring tightly linked to the district's instructional strategy is the most powerful method for helping those who need academic support the most. High-frequency programs of at least thirty minutes per day with one hundred hours per academic year are proven to be effective. Learning is accelerated and the individualized needs of students are met when tutoring is connected to and is an extension of the core curriculum. 

How You Schedule Tutoring

Tutoring programs that are conducted as part of the school day get better results because they’re able to focus on the social-emotional learning of all students, regardless of academic standing. Teacher-led tutoring is more effective because our teachers are already aware of their students’ achievements and what they need to learn (or relearn). They can create specific lessons for small groups or individual sessions that provide extra high-quality instructional time with less distraction. Beyond the school day, out-of-school high-dosage tutoring programs promote great results and a small group or one-to-one experience for the student and ensure the likelihood of session attendance and focused work.

How You Commit To Quality

Districts that build their programs around providing high-quality academic support know that there is a firm commitment to reviewing student assessment data to find gaps in learning. Promoting a personalized pathway with tutoring meets the student where they are and as reporting builds in real-time, educators and the students are receiving timely feedback to inform further sessions. Keeping the strategy for your students focused on grade-level content underscores tutoring with achievement, and using data to make continuous improvements drives equitable support.

As we look beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and these first couple of years back to any semblance of normalcy, the expansion of high-impact tutoring and the availability of cost-effective technology-based intelligent systems can not only deliver valuable data to inform district decisions, it can also fundamentally change how we give every student the best possible chance to succeed.