Purpose: This guidance supports tutoring programs in creating safe, legally compliant, and equitable screening processes by outlining key components of effective tutor background checks and formal policies.
This resource is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal advice. Programs should consult legal counsel to ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local laws.
Purpose of Background Checks
Purpose: A tutoring organization needs a well-defined job description to attract and hire tutors who align with its mission and principles. A thoughtfully crafted job description establishes clear and equitable expectations for tutors while providing candidates with a clear understanding of the role's responsibilities and requirements before they apply. Use the checklist and examples below to develop a compelling job description tailored to your organization.
Purpose: Choosing an appropriate tutor involves assessing expertise, availability levels, and cost implications to meet specific district needs. This guidance enables providers to make decisions that support program objectives while staying within budget limits and scaling appropriately.
Types of Tutors Overview
Purpose: By addressing critical components such as tutor selection, collaboration methods, session frequency, and group size, districts can create a tailored program that maximizes impact and supports student success. Tutoring organizations can design effective, community-aligned programs by making key decisions that reflect each community’s unique priorities and context.
Purpose: A Logic Model is a roadmap that outlines how a tutoring program will create meaningful change. It connects inputs (resources), actions (strategies), outputs (immediate results), and impact (long-term goals) to ensure a structured, measurable, and practical approach.
Purpose: A Needs Assessment identifies the strengths, resources, and challenges within a community to ensure a tutoring program is designed to meet actual, not assumed, needs.
Rationale for a Needs Assessment
This Toolkit for Tutoring Programs is designed for organizations seeking to implement high-impact tutoring programs. While tutoring program leaders are the intended primary audience, state educational officials and school administrators will benefit from leveraging the many resources in the Toolkit.
The Toolkit draws from research and from the deep knowledge of districts, tutoring providers, and other experts across the country and is one of several interrelated research-backed tools the National Student Support Accelerator (NSSA) provides to make it easier for states, districts, schools, and nonprofits to develop and implement quality, high-impact tutoring programs.
Over the past several years, the field of high-impact tutoring has grown tremendously, with districts, states, and tutoring providers working together to expand access to evidence-based programs that drive student learning. Research consistently demonstrates that high-impact tutoring is one of the most effective interventions for accelerating academic achievement, and its successful implementation has become a cornerstone of student support nationwide.
It requires a significant amount of effort, consistency, and clarity to safeguard sensitive student information and maintain secure digital practices given the various staff, technology, and platforms utilized in tutoring a student. High-impact tutoring programs that establish strong data governance frameworks, train staff to follow them, and ensure the secure use of platforms earn families’ trust, protect students’ rights, and uphold legal compliance.
High-impact tutoring programs that prioritize student safety through strong hiring practices, vetted tutors, and explicit safety policies create learning environments where students feel secure and supported. A safe environment builds student trust, encourages engagement, and strengthens academic outcomes. Section 7.1 covers tutor and student safety protocols, background check processes, safety training systems, and practices for ongoing review and accountability.