The private and in-schooling tutoring market in the United States has grown substantially since the COVID-19 pandemic.
It helps that the U.S. Education Department has been offering US$220 million of funding since 2022 to help schools build tutoring programs to assist with pandemic-related learning losses.
Meanwhile, certain school districts have invested in opt-in programs, in which students log into a tutoring service through their school system’s online platform.
These four articles from The Conversation’s archives explore the effectiveness of tutoring programs in the U.S. and the advantages it has created for students from affluent families.
The value of in-class tutoring
Susanna Loeb, executive director of the National Student Support Accelerator, explained that the growth in spending on private tutoring is largely driven by wealthy families. This has contributed to wider educational gaps between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Loeb wrote that high-impact in-class tutoring is the most accessible and effective option. She added that it works best when it’s embedded in schools during the day, where a consistent tutoring session takes place for at least 30 minutes at a time and at a minimum of three days a week.
“The most effective way for parents to get free tutoring for their children is through their school,” Loeb wrote. “Students who attend tutoring as part of their regular school education either during or immediately before or after school are shown to have higher attendance rates, which leads to better outcomes, such as stronger math and reading achievement.”
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