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With reading and math scores plummeting during the pandemic, educators and parents are now turning their attention to how kids can catch up. In the following Q&A, Susanna Loeb, an education economist at Brown University, shines a light on the best ways to use tutoring to help students get back on track.

Sonnemann said Australia should look to the US in expanding research in tutoring, pointing to Brown University using targeted studies with government districts to examine the roll-out of small-group tuition programs and how well they help students catch up.

She said given the size of NSW’s COVID-19 tutoring initiative, it was vital parents and schools know how well it was working and governments should consider rolling out long-term, systematic catch-up tuition.

High-Impact tutoring – one-to-one or small group instruction in which a human tutor supports students in an academic subject area – has emerged as the primary strategy for addressing Covid19-induced learning interruptions. As tutoring expands nationally, what can we learn from existing research to inform effective planning and implementation?

The Education Week Spotlight on Tutoring is a collection of articles hand-picked by our editors for their insights on the advantages of tutoring as an academic recovery tool, how districts can expand access to tutoring, long-term investments in tutoring, initiatives that provide support to tutoring programs, tutoring strategies that combat learning loss, and more.

Pearl's data, research and analysis partners include the Annenberg Institute at Brown University  with a mission to equalize and improve educational opportunities through actionable knowledge, human development and broad engagement and its National Student Support Accelerator (NSSA). Both organizations consulted with ISU and ITI in the planning and development, and establishing success metrics for the statewide tutoring program.

Research shows that high-impact tutoring can produce learning gains for a variety of students, but which tutoring designs are most effective from a cost and academic perspective? Three school districts across the country will begin data-driven experiments to answer that question and more as part of a research project led by Littera Education. The project, which is funded by a Gates Foundation grant, will use the Littera Tutoring Management System (TMS) in conjunction with assessment and curriculum from Renaissance.

Evidence suggests that, over time, tutoring in small groups is beneficial, regardless of whether children are in a rural, suburban, or urban environment. In fact, research published in 2021 by Brown University's Annenberg Institute for School Reform showed that consistent tutoring sessions can accelerate learning by two to 10 months.

Access’ Self-Directed Learners' Tutoring Program is a 40-session, metacognitive learning development program that develops learning competence among each student in 40 sessions. Our goal is to help students develop fluency in literacy-based applications and in foundational self-directed study skills that aid learning. Another intent is to strengthen students' skills in self-directed learning strategies as well as to facilitate their ability to construct meaning from informational text.

Teach For America, the organization I lead, launched a tutoring initiative in fall 2020 following research that shows that high-dose, high-quality tutoring is one of the most effective ways to combat learning loss. One study that looked at the impact of having a well-trained tutor meet three times a week with a group of up to four students found it came close to providing the equivalent of nearly five months of learning. A 2021 meta-analysis from researchers at Brown University concluded tutoring has a more significant effect on student achievement than smaller class sizes, vacation or summer classes and longer school days or years.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, tutoring has increasingly become a popular tool for learning recovery. By the end of the 2021-22 school year, 23 states (including the District of Columbia) initiated or passed legislation mandating or encouraging tutoring initiatives, and federal pandemic relief funds were made available for school districts to spend directly on tutoring programs. This is all for good reason: over 100 randomized controlled trials show that high-impact tutoring is one of the most effective ways to accelerate student learning.

“Our team at the National Student Support Accelerator is thrilled to contribute to this national effort to provide students with the learning experiences that they need to engage in school and to thrive. This effort to expand high-impact tutoring really is the best opportunity we have to meaningfully improve outcomes for students across the nation,” added Susanna Loeb, Director of the National Student Support Accelerator.

Increases substitute teacher recruitment efforts, expands Ohio’s EdChoice program which provides families with vouchers to pay for private school tuition and requires tutoring programs in public and chartered non-public schools. Tutors will be required to be a retired teacher, substitute teacher, or an individual that meets the eligibility standards set by the superintendent. The Ohio Department of Education will be responsible for administrative, implementation, training costs, and technical assistance to the Educational Service Centers in coordinating tutors to programs/ schools.

Includes a plan to set aside $75 million which would fund the Close the Gap program. The Close the Gap program provides $1500 to Missouri families to fund educational expenses. The $1500 grant funds can be used to gain access to tutoring, extended school day educational programs, and tuition for learning centers. The bill was revived after its former bill, 3014, was struck down due to the lack of detail on how the program would be implemented. The bill has been approved by Missouri’s governor and delivered to the Secretary of State.

Provides $60M in state and federal funding to expand access to summer learning programs and recreational activities. Out of the $60M, $2M will be used to fund early literacy tutoring grants for summer 2022 and for the 2022-2023 school year.

The other approach pairs students with one tutor for multiple virtual sessions each week. It’s similar to the kind of “high-dosage” help that’s been shown to deliver strong results in person. 

The small handful of studies that have looked at virtual tutoring during the pandemic saw promising results from this variety. But offerings vary, so it’s tough to say how many students are getting that kind, said Matthew Kraft, an associate professor of education at Brown University who’s studying tutoring initiatives.

Educational Justice brings together middle school students (in grades 5 through 8) with high school students each week in a secure online/in-person setting where they navigate a fun and engaging weekly curriculum to develop the critical skills students need to thrive in school and life. As middle school students grow social and emotional skills and gain inspiration from positive role models, high school students get hands-on opportunities to develop and practice leadership and professional skills.

Language for Literacy is a program designed to deliver evidence-based literacy and language intervention through the lens of speech-language pathology and the science of reading. Tutoring is differentiated and tailored to specific student needs and assessment results. Tutoring and curriculum development is implemented by a certified Orton-Gillingham tutor, licensed RAVE-O provider, and American Speech-Language and Hearing Association member.

Last week, the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading held a national conversation about high-dosage tutoring, an evidence-based intervention for learning loss. On the panel — along with leaders from national organizations like ExcelinEd and The Education Trust — was John-Paul Smith, the executive director of the NC Education Corps, talking about state strategies to advance equitable learning recovery.

Awarded $14M in grants to Ohio colleges and universities planning to create or expand mathematics and literacy tutoring programs for Ohio’s K-12 students in one-on-one or small-group settings.The grant is funded by The Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Department of Higher Education and was created in response to the learning disruptions that resulted from the pandemic.

Provides $150M in grant funds available to eligible districts for high-impact tutoring and other learning acceleration strategies. Districts must submit a plan to determine eligibility. Funds will be distributed to eligible districts based on the total number of students in that district who are below proficient in math or reading.

Commits up to $15M in federal emergency funding to pay for tutoring for children who are struggling in math and reading. The initiative is funded in response to the learning loss that resulted from the pandemic and pre-existing disparities, particularly in the area of literacy. The state is still developing eligibility criteria but intends to use state test scores as an indicator of needs. Information regarding applications for tutoring organizations, a plan to disburse funds, and identify students for the program are still under development.

Requires all students in a school assigned a letter grade of D or F to have access to tutoring. Tutoring can be provided by the school directly or the parent can choose from approved providers. Requirements include not more than 104 hours per student, group size of no more than five and provided by certified teachers or paraprofessionals.

Three local universities were awarded federally supported grants totaling more than $1.5 million to start or expand “high-dosage” tutoring programs for local K-12 students in one-on-one or small group settings, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

The department said “high-dosage” tutoring is defined by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University as more than three days per week or at a rate of at least 50 hours over 36 weeks.

We have been in business for over 35 years providing schools, state agencies, and parents with education support. We provide 1:1 and small group virtual tutoring before, during, and after school hours. A student simply signs up on our inquiry form and we assign them a tutor who is highly qualified to teach in that subject area. All of our tutors are educators who can meet the child where they are at and help them recover from covid learning loss using HQIM. We use zoom, so it's easy for students to engage with tutors online. Parents set up a schedule that is convenient for them.