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
 
  • 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 classroom instruction and any tiered supports that the students receive (e.g., the program uses the same vocabulary used in interventions and classroom instruction)