Frequently Asked Questions

High-impact tutoring (HIT) is tutoring that takes place on a regular schedule, with students receiving thirty- to sixty-minute tutoring sessions at least three times per week. HIT is delivered by consistent tutors who meet with students individually or in small groups (up to 1:3).

High-impact tutoring has one of the most robust research bases of all academic interventions. The Annenberg Institute at Brown University writes that “research provides strong evidence that high-[impact] tutoring can produce large learning gains for a wide range of students, including those who have fallen behind academically.” According to the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, “nearly 200 research studies [find] that high-[impact] tutoring has a far greater effect on math and reading outcomes than even early childhood interventions.”

Littera provides a large corps of experienced and highly qualified virtual tutors, including certified teachers, teachers-in-training, and other subject matter experts. In addition, the Littera platform offers school districts the unique option to create and manage their own teams of tutors using teachers, paraprofessionals, and other community members.

Every Littera tutor is thoroughly vetted and undergoes a required criminal record background check. No tutor is allowed to start tutoring without having passed the background check. During the hiring process, we look for experienced educators who show differentiation in meeting the needs of different students and learning styles. And, perhaps most importantly, we look for like-minded individuals who are as passionate about helping students as we are. A passion for education, a goal of improving students’ academic outcomes, and an emphasis on providing a safe and welcoming atmosphere are all important to being a successful and engaging tutor.

All Littera tutors receive training on the use of the Littera platform, Littera’s policies and procedures, and the fundamentals of sound tutoring, as well as content-specific training relative to the subject they will be tutoring.

The Littera platform provides full visibility into the performance of all tutors. Attendance, no-shows, cancellations, the duration of online sessions, and student ratings of tutors are all captured by the platform and carefully monitored by Littera.

Littera tutors all provide services virtually through the safe and secure Littera Virtual Classroom included in the Littera platform. The Littera Virtual Classroom includes live audio and video for students and tutors to connect face-to-face, as well as a comprehensive virtual whiteboard and integrated curriculum. For a demonstration of how the Littera platform works, you can fill out a request form here.

Littera’s flexible virtual tutoring services enable students to receive support at various times, within and beyond the school day as needed.

The Littera team works with our partner schools and districts to determine a tutoring program design and schedule that meets their needs. Once the program schedule has been determined, the Littera team will schedule the entire population of students in need of tutoring for regular sessions that conform to the high-impact tutoring schedule.

Sessions are flexible to meet the needs of different school schedules and student groups. However, in keeping with best practices for high-impact tutoring, we recommend that sessions last between 30 and 60 minutes each.

The Littera platform enables flexible tutoring program design. However, in keeping with best practices for HIT, we recommend that tutoring programs last for at least the duration of one school semester or summer school session, and preferably for the duration of an entire school year. 

Littera offers high-quality tutoring curricula for elementary literacy and middle- and high-school mathematics. In addition, we also enable school districts to use their own core curriculum as the instructional materials for tutoring sessions.

Littera can support tutoring in both English and Spanish with our experienced bilingual tutors.

The Littera team can work with school or district stakeholders to determine student groups, or the Littera platform can group students automatically.

Littera tutors can work with students individually or in small groups (up to 1:3).

Students can easily log in to Littera using a single sign-on tool like Clever or ClassLink. They will need access to an internet-enabled device with audio- and video-sharing capabilities.

Students have the opportunity to respond to a feedback survey at the end of each tutoring session. Student surveys are grade-level appropriate, enabling even young students who are learning to read to provide quick feedback.

Littera’s flexible virtual tutoring services enable students to receive support at school, at home, or at any location that fits their needs.

The Littera platform provides both high-level and detailed insights into your students’ tutoring supports. You can see how many hours of tutoring have been delivered, the average tutor attendance, and the average student attendance, as well as the number of sessions completed by each student and the average rating of each tutor. You will also have access to the tutors’ notes on each session, beginning with an overview of how the session went and continuing on to a specific set of questions about each student’s progress and performance in the session.

The Littera platform provides program and session dashboards with specific information on each session. The platform also includes a district-wide reporting dashboard with key attendance and session completion metrics that can be filtered by school, by program, by session date, by tutor, and by student. 

Littera tutoring is available for all K-12 schools, districts, and other student-serving organizations (i.e., state education agencies, non-profit tutoring corps, children’s museums/libraries, and more).

We prepare quotes based on your needs. Request pricing here!