The Sonoma Valley Education Foundation and Sonoma Valley Unified School District are partnering to implement a high-impact math tutoring pilot program at Altimira Middle School during the 2026 spring semester.
Bay Area Tutoring Association will provide tutors who will work with small groups of students in two of the three middle school grade levels (still to be determined) from January through May.
High-impact tutoring, also known as high-dosage tutoring and high-intensity tutoring, is based on specific, evidence-based criteria. It is recognized in the education community as a type of instruction that does not belong to a single company, organization or institution.
Sarah Carroll, executive director of the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, said high-impact tutoring differs from other types of tutoring in three basic ways.
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High-impacting tutoring might also be implemented more widely in the district if students achieve substantial learning gains, as they have in schools across the country.
Research from the Stanford National Students Support accelerator shows that high-impact tutoring increased achievement by an average of three to 15 months of learning across grade levels. Also, the Annenberg Institute at Brown University found tutoring provides consistent and substantial gains on learning outcomes, particularly when the specific characteristics of high-impact tutoring and implemented.
“If our local results demonstrate success in the spring of 2026 and beyond, and if the program continues to gain momentum and community support, we’ll be eager to explore opportunities for expansion to additional grade levels and subjects,” Carroll said.
She said the combination of frequency and personalized support, guided by frequent assessment dates, is key to the success of high-impact tutoring.
“When implemented consistently over several weeks or months, this approach produces substantial learning gains, effectively closing skill gaps, improving engagement and boosting performance and student confidence,” Carroll said.
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