6.2 Aligning with Curriculum

Maintaining instructional alignment between tutoring sessions and classroom learning can prove difficult without intentional planning. High-impact tutoring programs that align closely with the school’s curriculum create a cohesive learning experience that is particularly supportive of students striving to meet grade-level expectations in Tier 1 instruction. Strong curricular alignment ensures tutoring directly supports classroom instruction and increases its impact. Section 6.2 addresses aligning tutoring with classroom curriculum, designing responsive instruction, and structuring high-quality tutoring sessions.

Before You Begin
Classroom Curriculum
Key RecommendationsCorresponding Resources
  • Request relevant instructional materials, including:
    Scope and Sequence (at a minimum)
    Unit Plans
    Lesson Plans
    Textbooks
Webinar: Aligning Tutoring Curriculum to School Curriculum
  • Use rigorous supplemental materials that address misconceptions.

Checklist: Choosing Blended Learning Software 

Website: EdTech Index

Plan Instruction and Align Materials
Key RecommendationsCorresponding Resources
  • Partner with schools to ensure tutoring aligns with classroom routines, scope, sequence, and standards (both current and upcoming). Use the curriculum alignment checklist as a guide.
Checklist: Curriculum Alignment Between School and Tutoring
  • Align tutoring sessions with the curricula and instructional strategies to reinforce core concepts and accelerate learning during monthly reviews with curriculum team and educator engagement.

Template: Curriculum Alignment for Tutoring Materials (Word Document Available)

Toolkit: Fostering Collaboration with Educators

  • Identify foundational and prerequisite skills needed for student success.
  • Integrate academic language, models, and conceptual understanding from the classroom.
Website: The UDL Guidelines

Planning for the Long Term
  • Establish an instructional team that meets biweekly or monthly to evaluate curriculum alignment with classroom instruction.
  • Use student data consistently to adjust instructional materials, ensuring they support skill and content mastery.
Tutoring Quality Standards and Self-Assessment Indicators

Take the free, 15-minute, and research-based Tutoring Organization Self-Assessment. This subsection addresses these tutoring quality standards and Self-Assessment indicators.

Learning Integration
Curricular Alignment		If classroom instruction is based on rigorous and high-quality materials, the tutoring program aligns to classroom curricula.
4c.1 | Access to and understanding of the school’s curriculum materials, including scope and sequence and unit timelines
4c.2 | A plan to ensure tutoring program complements and is responsive to the classroom instruction that students receive (e.g., the program uses the same vocabulary used in classroom instruction)