Curriculum Alignment Between School and Tutoring

Purpose: Aligning tutoring curriculum with students’ school curriculum accelerates learning and improves skill retention in both settings. Effective alignment maximizes the impact of tutoring sessions by complementing classroom instruction and reinforcing key concepts.

Curriculum Alignment Checklist 
Build positive working relationships

Strong relationships with students, teachers, school administrators, and families support effective curriculum alignment. To ensure alignment:

  • Connect with schools to gather classroom information.
  • Ask families about the instructional materials students use at home.
  • Align tutoring content with district curriculum frameworks.
  • Provide a clear rationale for requesting instructional materials to encourage collaboration.
Request relevant instructional materials 

To align tutoring sessions with classroom instruction, request the following:

  • Scope and Sequence: Overview of what is covered throughout the school year.
  • Unit Plans: Breakdown of content covered in a single unit (typically 4–6 weeks).
  • Lesson Plans: How teachers will instruct on specific standards or learning goals.
  • Textbooks: Core curriculum materials used in the classroom.
Reverse- Engineer Tutoring Curriculum from Classroom Content

To align tutoring materials with classroom instruction:

  • Identify foundational skills and key standards students need to succeed.
  • Adjust the tutoring scope and sequence to match classroom pacing, prioritizing prerequisite skills and current grade-level standards.
  • Use supplemental materials aligned with the core high quality instructional materials to address common misconceptions and reinforce classroom academic language and models.
  • Seek feedback from teachers or program staff to ensure materials align with classroom expectations.
  • Ensure all tutoring content supports grade-level standards while addressing students’ individual learning needs.