Program Design Decisions: Model Dimensions and Related Considerations
As you design a tutoring program, you will have numerous decisions to make that influence and impact one another. On the left column of the table below are Model Dimensions of tutoring programs; on the right are corresponding Considerations that allow you to contemplate how interactions among model design decisions may impact your tutoring program. No choice can be made in isolation: while there are no “right” answers, not all options for a given dimension are easily compatible with all options for other dimensions. This table will help you weigh tradeoffs intentionally and thoughtfully in advance.
PROGRAM FOCUS | ||
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Model Dimensions | Considerations | |
Target
What is your rationale for why tutoring is needed? |
Needs-Driven: Tutoring is targeted to students who are struggling and perform below particular benchmark thresholds. Curriculum-Driven: Tutoring is provided at critical moments when students generally tend to fall behind. Universal: All students receive tutoring. |
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Content Area/ Grade Level
What subject and grade level are the target areas? |
Content Area: Most tutoring interventions have focused primarily on producing learning gains in literacy and math, but many voluntary programs offer tutoring in all content areas. Grade Level: Grade 1 & below; Grades 2-5 (Elementary School); or Grades 6-12 (Middle & High School). |
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TUTORS | ||
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Model Dimensions | Considerations | |
Tutor Type
Who will conduct the tutoring? |
Teachers: Certified classroom teachers provide tutoring. Evidence suggests that teachers are consistently the most effective type of tutor, but also the most costly. Paraprofessionals: School staff members, master’s or doctoral students, service program fellows (e.g., AmeriCorps fellow), or community organization staff provide tutoring. Tutoring interventions led by paraprofessionals can be as effective as those led by teachers when tutors receive adequate training. Volunteers: Unpaid volunteers provide tutoring. Programs using these tutors display positive average effect sizes on student learning outcomes, but consistently smaller effects than programs relying on teachers or paraprofessionals. College Students: Students who volunteer or are paid through work study and/or recieve class credit provide tutoring. Programs using these tutors display positive average effect sizes on student learning outcomes, but consistently smaller effects than programs relying on teachers or paraprofessionals. Private Tutors: Individuals who operate (or are employed by) for-profit or non-profit tutoring organizations provide tutoring. There is little rigorous research on the impact of programs using these tutors. Families: Almost all family-focused tutoring programs involve parents acting as tutors. These programs typically provide parents with training and materials to tutor their child in their own home. Parent tutoring interventions appear to be about as effective as volunteer-based efforts. Peers and Cross-Age Tutoring: Students tutor other students at their own grade level (peer tutoring) or those in grades below them (cross-age tutoring). Peer and cross-age tutoring programs have displayed an effect size similar to volunteer-based efforts. These student-centric programs may also provide other benefits, such as developing students' social-emotional skills. |
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INSTRUCTION | ||
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Model Dimensions | Considerations | |
Delivery Mode
How will tutoring be conducted? |
In-Person: Students receive tutoring from a tutor in the same physical location. The most rigorous evidence of impact comes from in-person tutoring programs; whether virtual and blended tutoring interventions can be as effective as those conducted purely in-person remains an open question. Virtual: Students receive tutoring on their computers or other digital devices from a tutor over the internet. Virtual tutoring has the opportunity to provide more equitable access given the wide range of geographical regions that a virtual program can serve. While research is limited, a recent small-scale evaluation of an online math tutoring program found promising results for this approach. Blended: Students receive tutoring through some combination of in-person and virtual methods. Research on blended tutoring programs also remains scant; however, a recent evaluation of a tutoring program using a blended approach (i.e., alternating between face-to-face tutoring and students engaging in computer-assisted learning) found that a blended model was equally effective at increasing student learning while reducing the higher financial cost of purely in-person tutoring. |
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Dosage
How often will tutoring take place? |
1-2 times per week: While tutoring is still effective at this dosage, tutoring tends to be more effective the more frequently it takes place. 3-5 times per week: Tutoring tends to be most effective when conducted 3-5 times per week. Choice: For programs where take-up is voluntary, families and/or students typically choose the dosage. |
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Student- Tutor Ratio
How many students will each tutor work with at a time? |
One-on-One: The effect size for tutoring is the largest when tutors work with one student at a time. Small Groups (2:1 - 4:1): However, once tutors are working with more than one student, the impact differences between programs with 2:1 and 4:1 ratios were statistically small. |
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Tutor Consistency
Will a given student consistently work with the same tutor across sessions? |
Consistent: A student will return to the same tutor repeatedly from session to session. Inconsistent: It is not guaranteed that a student’s tutor will remain the same from session to session. |
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LEARNING INTEGRATION | ||
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Model Dimensions | Considerations | |
Setting
Where will tutoring take place? |
In-School: Tutoring happens during separate class time (without actually replacing class). Because attendance is less of an issue, in-school programs tend to have greater impact. Out-of-School: Tutoring happens after school, on weekends, or during school breaks. While still delivering a positive effect, out-of school tutoring tends to have a small effect size. |
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Take-Up
How will the program be taken up by students? |
Required: Students can be required by their school to receive tutoring. In this case, students tend to have tutoring sessions embedded in their school-day schedule. Voluntary: Students or parents choose to enroll or opt-out of enrolling their students. In this case, students typically receive tutoring during lunch periods or after the official school day is over. |
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