District/State Administrator

2025 Eddies Awards: Best Implementation - DC High-Impact Tutoring Leads to Fastest Academic Recovery in the Nation

EmpowerK12 provided the research to prove evidence of success including data on specific schools as case studies to help others learn and garner additional support. Importantly, their data and analysis was used in the Stanford study on attendance. The D.C. Policy Center highlighted early stages of implementation with a system-level landscape of high-impact tutoring and a publication sharing early community learning and experiences. When PAVE realized that many parents weren’t aware of HIT offerings, they helped providers and schools think critically about how to communicate with families to ensure they understand what’s available, how to access it, and have the tools and knowledge to help their children extend learning beyond the classroom and tutoring sessions.

Azura Literacy

Azura Literacy is a free, virtual, high-impact tutoring program for elementary students in which a caring, vetted, trained adult meets with a child through Zoom one-on-one twice a week to tutor them in reading. Students are given pre- and post-assessments to determine needs and measure growth, and tutors use digital children’s libraries and interactive activities to guide students in engaging, individualized reading practice. This helps them improve their reading skills, confidence, and motivation and make gains toward reading proficiently.

Work ED

The Work ED program is an adaptable cybersecurity education suite for K-12 schools and communities. It utilizes the Work ED App, a gamified microlearning platform, to deliver current courses on topics like injection attacks and cross-site scripting.

The program has three components:

Cyber Masterminds: Provides students with hands-on, scenario-based training that aligns with industry standards and offers microcredentials.

Parents, LAUSD settle suit; 100,000 students get 45 tutoring hours for three years

While various stakeholders are celebrating the settlement’s outcome, there is still work to be done to ensure students receive adequate academic support. 

When done properly, high-impact tutoring is one of the most researched and effective learning interventions, according to Kathy Bendheim, the strategic advising director for the Stanford Graduate School of Education’s National Student Support Accelerator. And there is research indicating that it can help boost attendance. 

“It will go a really long way to helping those students who fell behind during Covid,” Bendheim said. “But even before Covid, not all students were on grade level, far from it. And so, we believe that this type of tutoring should be incorporated into schools for the long run … for the students who need it.”

Study Smart Tutors, Inc.

Study Smart Tutors Program Design Badge

Study Smart Tutors implements a High-Impact Tutoring (HIT) program designed to accelerate student learning and enhance academic outcomes through supplemental instruction of specific standards-based skills and concepts across all grade levels. The program offers personalized, intensive tutoring in small groups or one-on-one settings.

Ann's Christian Learning Center

ACLC Tutoring provides virtual tutorial services in math and other subject areas to students in grades K-12. The program uses research-based, data-driven instructional tools, primarily the IXL online platform, to deliver individualized and small group instruction. Services include Science of Reading methodology for literacy, systematic phonics instruction, and Orton-Gillingham-based approaches. The program emphasizes consistent tutor assignment, comprehensive assessment, and strong relationships with all stakeholders in a student's educational ecosystem.

SLD Read

1:1 intervention supports are provided to students at least twice a week with one hour sessions each time. Services can be provided in person or online. Materials are rooted in structured literacy and the Orton-Gillingham approach. 

Project AID Scholars

We offer summer camps that combine learning with one-on-one and small-group tutoring for all students in need, serving grades K–12 as well as SPED. In addition, we support high school and college education projects, such as book writing or SAT web design, by providing financial assistance and team support. Alongside these initiatives, we continue to run our own educational programs within the cities where we are located.

Your Teacher Tutors

Your Teacher Tutors (YTT) provides high-impact, virtual and in-person tutoring services designed to accelerate student achievement through personalized, standards-aligned instruction. Our program matches students with certified educators who deliver 1:1 and small group tutoring in reading, math, and test preparation.

You've Paid for Tutoring. Here's How to Make Sure It Works.

Upon deeper review, however, these findings leave room for optimism. First, researchers found that lower-cost virtual tutoring models — approximately $1,200/student — were just as impactful as in-person models at $2,000/student, suggesting that tutoring can be less expensive without sacrificing impact.

Second, these findings highlight what's possible when students receivetutoring that comes closer to the definition of "high-impact." For example, the effect of tutoring was largest — about 3.5 months of learning — in a New Mexico district where students received more than 2,000 minutes of tutoring per year. Across all districts in the study, this amount most closely aligned with the recommendations for implementing a high-impact model.

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