Despite district and school leaders’ significant efforts to address accumulated learning loss from the pandemic, student achievement has yet to recover. In a report from January, researchers from The Education Recovery Scorecard Project found that nationally, by June 2023, only one-third of the loss in mathematics and one-quarter of the loss in reading achievement had been restored to pre-pandemic levels. As districts continue to grapple with lagging achievement, learning gaps, and chronic absences, many have turned to adaptive software and supplemental programming to mitigate these trends.
The reality, however, is that too many students are missing critical foundational skills requiring interventions, or more personalized and intensive support, such as high-impact tutoring. While districts have resources to support some students in this way, many districts report significant barriers to providing high-impact tutoring at-scale.
High Impact Tutoring: Personalized Support to Meet Each Student’s Needs
Decades of research have shown that high-impact tutoring is the most effective support to transform outcomes for struggling students. High-impact tutoring offers students access to a trained adult who has content knowledge, pedagogical training, and provides one-on-one or small group sessions. Over time, the tutor develops a relationship with the student, builds their confidence, and adapts the learning dynamic to the student’s needs in real-time. The best tutoring pairs consistent intervention with point-in-time assessments that monitor progress and inform instruction to catalyze growth.
School and district leaders are often under the impression that there are limited financial resources to bring such individualized support to students. Fortunately, there is an array of funding resources at the district and school level to create and sustain high-impact tutoring programs for the students who need the support the most.
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