In the wake of at least 80% of school districts and charter schools starting post-pandemic tutoring, independent analysis organization FutureEd has released a study addressing the challenge of making such tutoring high-quality, or as they call it, "high dosage."
The study identifies "high-dosage" tutoring as "programs with four or fewer students working with the same tutor for at least 30 minutes during the school day, three times a week for at least several months."
The study report, "Learning Curve: Lessons from the Tutoring Revolution in Public Education," examines three school systems that met the challenge successfully. It also discusses the role of AI in tutoring and how to fund successful tutoring programs.
The study was researched and written by FutureEd policy director Liz Cohen, in partnership with Stanford University's National Student Support Accelerator.
The three school systems were:
- Five schools in the Baton Rouge region that used Teach for America's Ignite virtual tutoring model: In spring 2023, one school saw a 56% increase in primary school literacy assessment proficiency;
- West Texas' Ector County Independent School District, which contracted with tutoring vendors: Half the students who scored below grade level in the prior year scored at grade level or higher after 20 hours of tutoring; and
- New York City's Great Oaks Charter School, which utilized AmeriCorps volunteers to work full time in the school as tutors, mentors, and teacher assistants: Students who started at or below the 25th percentile in math ended in the 43rd percentile on average that same year, and those at or above grade level in math (13%) ended at 22% from one year to the next.
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