Top researchers have suggested that the single most crucial area of school catch-up is tutoring. Regular tutoring sessions are vital to helping combat learning loss and improving academic outcomes.
Research suggests personalized instruction for students is key to helping them catch up on the school they have missed. Furthermore, researchers found that providing personalized instruction is essential to increase student grades across subjects and substantially improve their academic skills.
Additionally, tutoring may also be key to helping the current unemployment crisis hitting many nations around the world. With many recent college graduates looking for jobs with little to no success in their school districts, tutoring could give them the "leg-up" in the first step of starting their adult life.
With that said, let's see why personalized learning in the form of high-dosage tutoring is – and why it is so effective.
What Is High-Dosage Tutoring?
High-dosage tutoring is defined as one-on-one tutoring or tutoring in very small groups. This method of tutoring also involves having up to three tutoring sessions a week, totalling about 50 hours of tutoring a term or 100 during the school year.
Research has found this type of tutoring program to be very effective and perfectly complement in-classroom learning.
The method also seems to be effective for a wide range of subjects – these findings point towards governments putting more funding into tutoring in the future.
Robert Slavin, a researcher at John Hopkins University, who has studied this subject in-depth, suggested that due to many schools closing their gates for up to 6 months, “it would be malpractice to do anything less than tutoring."
Why Is High-Dosage Tutoring So Effective?
High-dosage tutoring has proven to be highly effective in improving student outcomes. Several key factors contribute to its success:
- Personalized attention: In smaller groups or one-on-one sessions, tutors can focus on the specific needs of each student, addressing their unique learning gaps.
- Stronger connections: Tutors can form closer relationships with students, creating a supportive learning environment that fosters confidence and engagement.
- Confidence boost: Struggling students often feel disengaged in traditional classrooms. Personalized tutoring can help them gain confidence in their abilities and in seeking help when needed.
- Impressive academic gains: Research involving over 5,000 ninth and tenth graders showed that middle school students receiving intensive math tutoring gained up to 2.5 years of education in one academic year.
- Long-lasting effects: These students continued to demonstrate improvements in math scores, GPAs, and graduation rates for one to two years after the tutoring program ended.
- Broad impact: Tutoring impacts more than just math. Studies have shown that students also improve in non-math subjects, benefiting across the board from the personalized support.
Is Remote Personalized Tutoring Useful?
Remote personalized tutoring has become increasingly relevant due to school closures. While research on the differences between remote and face-to-face tutoring is still limited, some key observations have been made:
- Focus and engagement: Remote tutoring challenges student attention and engagement. Though interactive tools are available, they can’t fully replicate in-person interaction.
- Building relationships: Establishing strong student-tutor relationships online can be harder, making it crucial to adapt strategies.
- Retraining tutors: Some programs focus on retraining educators to effectively assess student progress in a virtual setting.
- High-dosage tutoring programs: Agencies and district leaders are turning to high-impact tutoring, often referred to as high-dosage tutoring, to support students who are falling behind.
- Low-cost solutions: Programs like Saga Education offer cost-effective options for public school students, hiring college graduates or retirees to deliver personalized learning at a lower cost.
- Federal funding: New resources, such as the Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, are being directed toward expanding high-dosage tutoring for at-risk students.
- Education leaders: The National Student Support Accelerator is working to ensure district and school leaders can implement effective interventions to support student progress and recovery.
How Much Does High-Dosage Tutoring Cost?
While there's extensive research that proves the benefits of high-dosage tutoring, showcasing that it's one of the most effective interventions in education to date, there's still the issue of cost. High-dosage tutoring comes with a higher price tag – especially when it comes to hiring and training tutors, usually around $60 a session.
Some school districts do receive funding for specific interventions – including high-dosage tutoring, among other things – although it's up to the school to decide how they will utilize these resources.
But as we previously hinted, there is another way to lower the costs of high-dosage tutoring – and that's hiring volunteers and paraprofessionals, especially for one-on-one tutoring.
What Other Factors Impact Tutoring?
Studies have found that the quality of tutoring is key to its success. From research, it can be suggested that a successful tutoring session needs to be sustained, repeated regularly – and tutors need to make sure they are coordinating closely with a school day or curriculum.
Repeated contact is also key. In that sense, having more sessions in a week – and during the entire school year – leads to a more successful outcome for students, especially if the primary objective is to compensate for the learning loss.
While students can thrive in an environment where they are taught by more than one tutor, every student needs to regularly see all of these educators. That will give students the ability to make close relationships with all of these tutors and, more importantly, gain a strong and consistent foundation for future learning.
Not only is this sort of evidence-based system necessary to make up for learning losses, but it is also critical for honing college students' prerequisite skills required for their future education at university.
How to Ensure High-Dosage Tutoring is a Success?
To ensure high-dosage tutoring is a success, focus on a few key elements:
- Consistency in sessions: Offer high-dosage tutoring services regularly, with multiple sessions per week, to build momentum and accelerate learning.
- Small group sizes: Keeping groups small allows tutors to give personalized attention, increasing student success.
- Certified tutors: Employ well-trained tutors who can adapt to individual needs and track progress effectively.
- Data-driven instruction: Use assessments to identify gaps and tailor tutoring services accordingly, ensuring targeted learning.
- Collaboration with teachers: Tutors should work closely with classroom teachers to align with curriculum goals and reinforce key concepts.
Wrapping Up
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