This back-to-school season, district leaders face the enormous task of helping students recover from COVID-related learning loss and ensuring every child gets a fair shot at a quality education. Everyone knows by now in-school tutoring works—it can help students double or even triple what they learn in a single year.
In-house, district-run tutoring programs can align with district goals, giving schools greater control over curriculum alignment and tutor recruitment and training. But the potential for districts to build and scale their own in-house tutoring programs is often overlooked.
Preliminary data from a national randomized controlled trial with 2,200 students by the University of Chicago Education Lab suggests that districts can successfully develop their own tutoring initiatives, with support—particularly in math. However, the efficacy—how much impact there will be—depends on quality and dosage.
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A recent working paper on Nashville Public Schools’ in-house tutoring showed small improvements, potentially due to low dosage—students only received 18 hours of tutoring over 12 weeks. This dosage is below programs that have resulted in greater learning gains.
More research on tutoring at the district scale will help to understand how program design affects learning outcomes. While this kind of variability might seem disappointing, because Nashville runs an in-house program, it can continue operating beyond ESSER and improve the results.
A smart long-term solution
We believe that effective tutoring should be a core service in every school, just like great teaching and school leadership. Tutoring is essential for small-group instruction and the personalized learning needs of all students.
District-led tutoring initiatives offer numerous benefits that align with and support key areas of investment in K-12 education:
- These programs can accelerate learning through personalization and tailoring instruction to meet students where they are in terms of skill and grade level.
- They provide consistent mentorship by connecting students with caring adults who can build strong, supportive relationships in the context of academic work.
- Research from the National Student Support Accelerator and Saga Education suggests that the intentional integration of tutors into existing attendance initiatives can yield positive results.
- Tutors can serve as a reliable channel of communication for families, acting as a bridge between school resources and home, and fostering better parent-school engagement. Additionally, these programs provide crucial support for teachers, helping them address the diverse needs of their students by supplementing classroom instruction with targeted interventions.
- In terms of curriculum and instructional philosophy, district-led programs foster close alignment between tutoring and core instruction.
- District-led tutoring programs create pathways for cultivating new talent in education, offering opportunities to develop future educators through tutor-to-teacher pipelines.
District-run models will require changes in operations, scheduling, and how funding is allocated to programs. But where districts have risen to the occasion, their students have reaped the benefits of improved academic outcomes and attendance.
When districts develop their own tutoring programs, they can build internal capacity, invest in the professional growth of their staff and align the program closely with the district’s mission and values. This ownership allows districts to make more responsive decisions and embed the program deeply into their schools’ cultures and daily routines.
Ultimately, a school district’s investment in a tutoring program is a commitment to long-term educational equity and success. By taking ownership of these programs, districts can create a foundation that supports the growth and potential of all students while remaining adaptable to the unique needs of their communities.
