When comparing and selecting tutoring programs, both the hours of extra support needed to improve student learning and the related costs should be considered, according to research from nonprofit Accelerate, as reported in K-12 Dive.
“The clearer we can make it for districts to see which interventions are the best use of their precious time and money, the more likely it is that they will choose programs that will really make a difference for kids,” says Nakia Towns, chief operating officer at Accelerate.
While some research shows high-dosage tutoring has helped students make learning gains, school leaders have said determining tutoring’s ROI has been difficult. Likewise, the logistics of fitting tutoring programs into the school day haven’t been easy.
This school year, more than 80% of public schools report some type of tutoring support, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ School Pulse Panel. For schools providing high-dosage tutoring, about 75% said it had been moderately, very or extremely effective, the NCES report found.
The most recent Accelerate report also found:
- Tutoring is the most effective academic intervention, ahead of reduced class sizes, summer school and extended school year.
- Tutoring efficiency varies across programs and subject areas.
- There is still more to learn about identifying tutoring providers that meaningfully improve student achievement for students at different grade levels, with different educational needs, and in different school environments. Additional research is needed to determine which tutoring program design features are associated with improved student achievement.
“Selecting a tutoring vendor is not the same thing as buying No. 2 pencils,” says Dan Goldhaber, director of the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research at the American Institutes for Research, in a statement. “There’s so much variation in these programs — how they work, what they offer — and it’s really important that policymakers move away from thinking about tutoring as a generic commodity.”
K-12 Dive
