Casey Sullivan Taylor is the Policy Director for Early Literacy for ExcelinEd.
Learning loss… Remediation… Acceleration… These have become high-utility words in education since the pandemic interrupted traditional schooling and forced many students to “learn from home” more than two years ago. Even though students and teachers have returned to their classrooms, glaring gaps in student learning exist. What is a possible solution? It’s known as high-dosage tutoring. This approach has the potential to help recover lost instructional time and support student learning because it is delivered one-on-one or in very small groups, and three to five times per week during the school day.
As educators know, high-quality Tier I instruction is the first line of attack in preventing reading difficulties. It ensures that every student receives evidence-based core instruction aligned to state standards, and it is differentiated to meet the needs of all students. However, to fully master skills and content, some students require additional instructional support. Following the loss of instructional time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more students than ever need supplemental instruction to master early literacy skills.
High-dosage tutoring has proven to be an effective intervention for supplementing and accelerating student achievement. A review of hundreds of studies on tutoring supports the effectiveness of high-dosage tutoring. However, the students who are “most likely to benefit are the least likely to have adequate access without direct school or district action.” State and local education leaders have an opportunity to address this with steps that expand access to evidence-based early literacy instruction and, especially, to improve student literacy outcomes by leveraging high-impact tutors.
North Carolina, Tennessee and the District of Columbia have responded to this research and their students’ needs by developing tutoring initiatives with structures of support. Consider their actions:
North Carolina Education Corps (NCEC) was established in September 2020 by the State Board of Education and the Governor’s Office to support high-impact literacy tutors. The organization now functions as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to partner with public school districts to “extend the reach of teachers and support students.” Tutors receive training in the science of reading and evidence-based instructional practices to assist K-3 students in building foundational skills for reading. Governor Roy Cooper recently directed additional federal funding to NC Education Corps to recruit, train and place literacy tutors in public schools throughout the state and to plan for possible expansion into math tutoring.
Tennessee state officials took a bold step by investing COVID-19 relief funds to establish TN ALL Corps. The approach uses matching grants to support tutoring in combination with summer programming that will serve nearly 150,000 students over three years, with 50,000 students served in the first year. The total investment between the state and LEA matching grants is projected to be more than $200 million.
Further, Tennessee has developed a model with supporting resources to recruit, train and equip tutors. Early literacy tutors now benefit from a literacy guidebook and explicitly defined instructional routines. In March, the Tennessee Department of Education announced an additional $50 million grant opportunity for community partners to collaborate with school districts to expand high-dosage tutoring to an additional 30,000 at-risk students in grades 1-8.
The District of Columbia has developed a high-dosage tutoring model detailed in this guidebook to support local education agencies. High-Impact Tutoring (HIT) grants were established with a “focus on at-risk students and other students who experienced disrupted instruction during the coronavirus pandemic.” The District’s investment of $40 million over a three-year period is intended to accelerate learning by scaling and supporting high-impact tutoring (HIT) across the city. A portion of the funding will be used for program evaluation services, including a multi-year program evaluation of the effectiveness of the HIT program.
As state and local agencies seek ways to fill gaps in student learning through remediation and acceleration, they can consider these steps to implement and achieve an effective tutoring initiative:
Schedule and protect time within the school day for tutoring. Continue services during summer programming and reading camps.
Equip tutors with training in evidence-based instructional practices aligned to the science of reading and state standards. Provide training on effective use of high-quality instructional materials.
Universal screeners and performance data should be used to identify students who will benefit from tutoring. Take an additional step and administer a diagnostic assessment to better inform instruction and ensure tutoring time is spent on targeted goals personalized for each student. Use formative assessments and frequent progress monitoring to monitor student growth and outcomes.
Learn from existing models for high-dosage tutoring that have data demonstrating their effectiveness. Develop and implement a plan to evaluate tutor performance, student impact and overall effectiveness of the tutoring program. Design a growth-oriented feedback model for tutors and students to identify goals and progress toward achievement.
Create a process to recognize growth and achievement milestones among students, families, tutors and faculty. Tell your state’s or district’s story by spotlighting positive practices and outcomes.
Proficient reading skills are essential to success in school and in life. Many children simply need more time for instruction, with higher levels of repetition and additional practice opportunities to achieve mastery. Implementing high-dosage tutoring can open the door to dramatic learning gains. To learn more about creating and funding a statewide tutoring corps, visit the Statewide Tutoring Corps section of the ExcelinEd Policy Toolkit Parent-Centered Playbook.
