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Integration of Safety, Equity and Cohesion

The overarching principles of high-impact tutoring are safety, equity, and cohesion. These themes have been woven in throughout all components of the toolkit.

Purpose

Use the tool below to reflect on the strengths and areas of opportunities of your program aligned to the Actions and Practices of High-Impact Tutoring. Actions and Practices are the routine implementation processes that programs can improve regardless of their Model Dimensions, like “tutor recruitment and selection” or “session facilitation” (i.e. what the program does). 

Implementation Checklist

• Define measures of success in alignment with your logic model, including non-academic measures of impact.
• Develop tools to collect data on the identified measures, including both quantitative and qualitative data.
• Set benchmarks to monitor progress towards outcomes.
• Put systems in place for collecting data that can be disaggregated by race, gender, IEP statues, home language, and other important factors to ensure equity of se

Purpose

One-on-one goal setting conferences between tutors and students empower each student to take ownership over their education. Tutor coaching can help students clarify their goals and codify their plans of action, making it easier to communicate students’ progress to their families and other stakeholders such as teachers. Tutors can use the agenda below collaboratively with students to analyze academic growth and mastery, reflect on overall progress towards goals, and create a new action plan to keep moving forward.

Why should tutors/tutoring programs continually update students’ families?

Continual updates make student progress (and the value of the tutoring program) visible and tangible for families.

Click here to view a sample introduction letter/program permission slip that can be adapted. 

Why does In-Service Training, Oversight and Support Matter?

Training, providing oversight and supporting your tutors are the most effective ways to ensure they are building and maintaining the skills and mindsets required to tutor successfully in your program.

Why is tutor training important?

Training your tutors is the most effective way to ensure they are building and maintaining the skills and mindsets required to successfully tutor in your program. There are two main methods of training: Pre-Service Training, which takes place before tutoring sessions begin, and In-Service Training, which is an integral part of a tutor’s ongoing support.

Why build an intentional recruitment plan?

The more applicants your program can recruit, the more selective you can be when choosing tutors. If your program cannot recruit enough qualified tutors, it must either serve fewer students or provide each student with less support. Poor recruitment can make it harder for your program to serve its mission, starting a downward spiral of lower impact, less funding, and fewer high-quality tutors.

Why create a tutor job description?

If your program plans to recruit tutors from outside the community, you will need a job description to post online or otherwise circulate. If your program plans to rely on teachers at partner schools, students’ families, or peer tutors, you should still create a job description internally for selection purposes. The checklist and the examples below will help you make sure your job description gets read, attracts applicants, and targets the specific kind of candidates you think would make ideal tutors in your program.

Implementation Checklist

• Delineate training content based on Model Dimensions and selection criteria for tutors
• Establish a clear structure for pre-service and in-service training, including frequency, format, facilitator, etc.
• Ensure inservice training is responsive to performance evaluations, stakeholder feedback, and student performance data
• Collect feedback from tutors on trainings and incorporate insights and lessons from feedback to improve training effectivene

Implementation Checklist

• Outline and implement all pre-entry legal requirements based on district, state, and institutional regulations
• Outline a clear support and management structure for tutors, including who will observe and evaluate tutors
• Clearly delineate and communicate all expectations, policies, and procedures to tutors prior to the start of tutoring
• Articulate a performance evaluation process to ensure tutors meet performance expectations

Implementation Checklist

• Delineate clear responsibilities for tutors based on your Value Proposition and Model Design
• Articulate the knowledge, skills, and mindsets necessary for tutors to be effective and successful in their role
• Distinguish between what you will select for and what you will train for and have a clear rationale for your choice
• Establish clear eligibility criteria based on your value proposition and model design
• Design an application process to evaluate eligibility criteria and en

Why should you send an introductory statement home to families?

When families know what to expect from a program (and what it expects of them), they are more likely to trust it. When families trust your program, they are more likely to encourage and support their students to meet its expectations and goals. To build trust, you must make a good first impression. Communicate your program’s purpose, design, and logistics in writing, so that both parties can refer back to expectations throughout the duration of the program.

Why should teachers and tutors share continual updates?

Teachers and tutors both work better when they work together. To keep the goals and agreements from the kickoff meeting alive throughout the year, consistent communication afterwards is needed. Continual updates help tutors adjust their instruction as new challenges emerge over time, and tutors can provide teachers with updates on students’ progress to help with positive reinforcement in school.

Why have a teacher-tutor kickoff meeting?

Teachers and tutors both work better when they work together. Tutors can drastically increase both the actual and perceived effectiveness of their tutoring sessions by building a dynamic relationship with their students’ teachers. To launch this partnership, an initial kickoff meeting helps set the stage for the rest of the year. This meeting should happen before the school year starts, so that teachers can make planning adjustments with the tutoring program in mind and tutors can start strong with students on the first day.

Why have a tutoring program-school kickoff meeting?

Particularly if your Setting is In-School, proactive coordination with school administrators is necessary to make tutoring sessions feel like a part of the school day rather than a separate entity. To facilitate this collaboration, your tutoring program must work with the entire school so that staff members inside the building — from school principals to maintenance staff — have aligned their goals, expectations, and logistics.

Implementation Checklist

• Identify stakeholder groups based on tutoring program design.

Why match tutors with students intentionally?

If your program’s Tutor Consistency is Consistent, then each student’s experience of tutoring sessions will be shaped by the individual personality and instructional style of their tutor. Thoughtful and intentional pairings significantly increase the odds that a student will feel engaged with their sessions and supported by their tutor. A good student-tutor match helps students build strong relationships with their tutors and find motivation to reach their learning goals.

What is a Growth Mindset?

A Growth Mindset is the understanding that your skills and intelligence can be developed and improved through practice. This is in contrast to a Fixed Mindset, which is the belief that your qualities are fixed, innate, and cannot be improved. These concepts were originally codified by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in her book Mindset.  

Why make learning culturally relevant?

When students can make connections between what they learn in tutoring and their culture, language, or life experiences, they can better access key ideas, develop higher-level understanding, and see the value of their learning in their daily lives.