Purpose: Use this checklist to ensure that the seven evidenced-based elements of high-impact tutoring are included in your criteria. The list serves as a starting point and will need to be adapted to fit the context and needs of your district or state.
Tutor
- Establishes a system to recruit and select tutors with skills to meet the needs of students in your district/state.
- Conducts rigorous background checks required by federal, state, and local laws for all tutors and manages tutors and employees.
- Ensures all tutors receive appropriate training and ongoing coaching and leverages high-quality instructional materials.
Instruction
- Renders high-impact tutoring services with a maximum ratio of 4 students to 1 tutor with groups based on students’ needs and tutors’ skills.(1)
- For older students, it is recommended to have session lengths of 30 to 60 minutes, while younger students may thrive with shorter sessions.
- In terms of session frequency, it is recommended to schedule three or more sessions per week for a minimum duration of ten weeks.
- Strategically pairs students with a consistent tutor and offers supporting systems to build robust, positive relationships between students and tutors.
- Ensures consistent lesson structure, instructional strategies, and standard procedures to maximize student learning.
Learning Integration
- Maintains communication and collaboration with teachers, school leaders, parents, and caregivers.
Data
- Uses data to inform program effectiveness and improvement, and formative assessment and progress measure data to inform instruction for future sessions.
Equity
- Prioritizes students who need tutoring the most and has a transparent approach to enrolling and retaining students.
Safety
- Maintains student safety with health, physical safety, and emergency management protocols in place.
- Complies with all district and state data infrastructure, privacy policies, and practices to protect student information.
Cohesion
- Meets the needs of the community it serves and supports leaders to implement their roles with fidelity.
1. Research suggests that a tutor-to-student ratio that is close to one-to-one is most effective. However, ratios of up to 4 students to 1 tutor are beneficial for students, even though smaller ratios tend to be more effective.