Recruiting high-quality tutors is one of the most common challenges to starting a tutoring program. Here are three strategies we have seen work:

Be flexible with the who

Research shows that a wide range of people can become high-impact tutors. While certified teachers have proven to be particularly effective tutors, paraprofessionals, college students, and others can also be very effective tutors. Some common solutions include recruiting retired teachers or partnering with a local college or university through their educator prep programs or community engagement programs. Your local AARP Chapter may already have their effective Experience Corps tutoring program operating locally to provide early literacy tutoring. Your local high school may have community service requirements for high school students that could be filled by tutoring elementary students (as long as the tutors receive strong training and ongoing coaching). Partnering with a high-quality tutoring provider also can jumpstart a tutoring program and remove the recruitment burden from your district (see potential providers here.)

Diversify sourcing methods

Consider a home-grown district run program for a portion of your district’s tutoring needs and partner with one or more tutoring providers for other tutoring needs. Many larger districts - including Dallas Independent School District, Denver Public Schools, and Guilford County School District - are finding success with this hybrid approach (see more on Denver’s tutoring programs below).

If you are recruiting for a home-grown program, recruit first from the communities you serve. Consider leveraging your current employees’ professional networks, cultivating relationships with local colleges and universities, attending career fairs, advertising on social media, distributing marketing materials at local businesses and posting on online job boards. A diverse recruitment strategy can attract qualified applicants for the tutor role, giving you the freedom to be more selective, expand your pool of tutors, and serve more students.

Build a long-term partnership

View tutor recruitment as an opportunity to improve overall pathways into educator roles in your district, more generally. Your approach to recruiting teachers can cultivate additional teachers, substitute teachers, and paraeducators for your district, as well. Partnering with a local college or university or with a non-profit to find tutors can be a win for the tutors, your district, your partner and of course the students. Guilford County partners with NC A&T’s math and engineering department to provide tutors for their K-12 students. Illinois uses the educator programs in their higher education network to provide tutors for districts most in need. North Carolina Education Corps, created through a partnership between the State Board of Education and Office of the Governor, recruits and trains early literacy tutors for North Carolina districts in need.

If tutor recruitment is holding your district back from providing tutoring to your students, we hope these examples help you create a successful recruiting strategy that works for your district.