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04/26/2024. General
During the 2022-23 school year, Try Once, Inc. (“Once”) partnered with a large, urban school district on the East Coast to provide high-impact early literacy tutoring to 105 kindergarten and first grade students in 13 schools. The district identified students as eligible for tutoring services if they scored below grade-level benchmarks in their early literacy skills. The Stanford research team randomly assigned eligible students into a tutoring program group (n=105) and a comparison group (n=199). Students in the program group were supposed to receive tutoring for 15 minutes every day during the school day between November 2022 and June 2023, one-on-one from a non-teaching staff member at their school. This report describes the research study design, the characteristics of students who participated in the study, tutoring participation rates, and the effect of receiving tutoring on end-of-year early literacy skills, both overall and within various subgroups.
04/10/2024. Article
Educators are eager to launch high-impact tutoring, however, they also reported that improvements were needed to ensure tutors focused on the interventions most needed by students.
Most K12 leaders would agree that high-dosage tutoring is now a key part of instruction. Most would also note difficulties with finding adequate space and funding, hiring high-quality tutors and encouraging students to attend.
Those hurdles and, more importantly, the solutions are explained by Stanford University’s National Student Support Accelerator in a new study of a large urban district and a charter system. The strategies identified should help administrators scale successful tutoring programs to help more students stay on track, the report’s authors contend.
02/20/2024. Event
Cignition, Inc. is proud to partner with educational leaders across the country to offer insight into effective high-impact tutoring implementation. In this edLeader Panel, attendees will hear from decision makers at the district and state levels on why they believe high-impact tutoring is so invaluable for academic intervention. They’ll also:
Learn how to integrate tutoring sessions into existing school schedules
Understand strategies for selecting students to participate in tutoring
Hear how differentiated instruction is the key to results that teachers and parents hope for
Review funding sources for high-impact tutoring
02/20/2024. Article
Cignition, a K-12 virtual tutoring provider, today announced its sponsorship of an upcoming edLeader panel focused on how to effectively integrate high-impact tutoring into the MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) framework. The discussion will highlight best practices and practical tips for K-12 district leaders seeking to enhance student engagement, increase learning outcomes and strengthen the overall effectiveness of tutoring initiatives.
12/13/2023. Article
Thankfully, states and districts aren’t sitting on their hands in the face of learning loss. Supported by billions of dollars of federal funds, many have invested heavily in tutoring programs that promise to help struggling children overcome the challenges imposed by past school closures and virtual instruction. The question is whether those efforts work for enough students to justify their cost — and according to data generated by the National Student Support Accelerator, a Stanford initiative devoted to studying the effects of tutoring, there is reason for hope.
12/05/2023. General
This research report presents the results from the second year of a randomized controlled trial of an early elementary reading tutoring program that has been designed to be affordable at scale. During the 2021-22 school year, over eight hundred kindergarten students in a large Southeastern school district were randomly assigned to receive supplementary tutoring with the Chapter One program. The program continued during the 2022-23 school year, while the children attended first grade. The program embeds part-time tutors into the classroom to provide short bursts of instruction to individual students each week over the course of the school year. The consistent presence of the tutors allows them to build strong relationships with students and meet students’ individual needs at the moment they might most benefit from personalized instruction. The program focuses more time on students with the lowest literacy skills.
11/07/2023. General
This brief provides an overview of available funding for high-impact tutoring programs beyond Covid-19 relief funding (ESSER).
Many streams of funding, on their own or braided together, can pay for high-impact tutoring in U.S. schools.
10/27/2023. General
As schools, districts, and states work to address the student needs following the pandemic, many turned to high-impact tutoring, a research-based approach to providing individualized instruction to students. In fact, thirty-seven percent of public schools reported providing “high-dosage” tutoring on a federal school pulse panel survey in December 2022. In addition, many states have implemented or are exploring policies to increase access to high-impact tutoring. This brief explores the tutoring policy landscape at the state level as of November 2023.
09/27/2023. Article
According to the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm, high-dose tutoring is the most effective—though often the most expensive.
The National Student Support Accelerator, a Stanford University center that studies effective tutoring, finds that effective high-dose tutoring programs require:
Tutoring integrated into the school day to increase tutor-teacher coordination and avoid transportation or time problems for students.
Targeting students based on academic need rather than requiring parents to opt into services.
Budgeting services for at least three to five days a week for extended periods of time.
Differentiated tutoring based on particular student needs and skills.
Data-gathering and progress-monitoring, particularly when schools work with outside tutoring providers.
09/22/2023. General
Districts across the nation use Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to target appropriate supports for each student. High-impact tutoring is the most effective research-backed academic support – consistently demonstrating from six months to over two years of learning gains for students across grade levels and content areas in a single year of tutoring.
Districts that have chosen to integrate high-impact tutoring with MTSS are finding that embedding this highly effective support into the fabric of their schools improves student outcomes, reduces implementation challenges, improves instructional coherence, and streamlines operations.
09/27/2021. Article
We are excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for our Equitable Education Recovery Initiative. This initiative will provide each of 24 organizations a $200K unrestricted Catalyze Investment grant along with New Profit cohort-based capacity-building support and participation in a peer learning community—all over the course of three years. We are looking for community-based organizations providing ELA/math tutoring, whole child supports, and/or postsecondary advising to K-12 students in one or more of the following geographies: Denver Metro, Memphis/Nashville, and/or any part of California’s Central Valley from Fresno to Sacramento, plus Oakland.
02/17/2021. Tool
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.
02/17/2021. Tool
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.
02/17/2021. Tool
Click here to view a sample introduction letter/program permission slip that can be adapted.
02/16/2021. Tool
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.
02/16/2021. Tool
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.
02/16/2021. Tool
This tool is not legal advice
Consult an attorney to ensure program compliance with all federal, state, and local laws.
02/16/2021. Tool
This tool is not legal advice
Consult an attorney to ensure program compliance with all federal, state, and local laws.
02/16/2021. Tool
Your candidate pool should reflect the backgrounds of the students being served. Also, when developing selection criteria, consider how advanced you need tutors to be when it comes to understanding systemic oppression and being anti-racist. Some programs look for an openness to learning and an acknowledgement of intrinsic bias as this sets the foundation for future training.
02/16/2021. Tool
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.
02/16/2021. Tool
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.
02/16/2021. Tool
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
02/16/2021. Tool
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
02/16/2021. Tool
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
02/16/2021. Tool
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.