ESSER Spending Flexibility, New Research Findings, and More
National Student Support Accelerator
Equalizing access to high-quality tutoring in our schools via research, tools, and news. Within Stanford University GSE.
High-Impact Tutoring News
Welcome to 2024! We hope everyone had a peaceful and joyful start to the new year. As we step into 2024, we are filled with optimism and excitement for the possibilities for intensive, relationship-based, individualized instruction – high-impact tutoring.
ESSER funding is coming to a close. As districts and states are faced with difficult decisions, we need to continue to accelerate access to high-impact tutoring for students in need. Research continues to confirm that high-impact tutoring is the most effective tested learning intervention, and it also points to how to make high-impact tutoring less expensive and easier to implement.
In the upcoming months, we have an array of exciting new tools and research findings to share with you. From leveraging college students as tutors to exploring ways to actively engage families in tutoring efforts, we are dedicated to keeping you informed and equipped with the latest resources and updates to grow, improve, and sustain the impact of your tutoring initiatives.
Thank you for your continued dedication to educational excellence for your students. Here's to a high-impact 2024!
– Susanna and the NSSA team
Latest Research and Resources
Consistent Gains in Early Reading with High-Impact Tutoring
We are pleased to present our latest research study , “Year Two Results Assessing the Effects of a Scalable Approach to High-Impact Tutoring for Young Readers.”
The study finds strong positive effects of a scalable early literacy tutoring program delivered in schools in “short bursts”. These results from the second year of implementation build on earlier positive findings for the first year of tutoring.
The longitudinal study provides compelling evidence of the program's continued effectiveness in improving student literacy skills. Students assigned to the programs demonstrated 35 percent of a standard deviation increase in oral reading fluency and a 16 percent reduction in students being classified as at-risk on the district literacy exam compared to students who were assigned to the comparison group. These statistically significant results for first-grade reading outcomes affirm the program's potential to improve literacy skills in a sustained and scalable manner.
Learning Curve: Lessons from the Tutoring Revolution in Public Education
This report , researched and written by FutureEd at Georgetown Policy Director Liz Cohen under a FutureEd partnership with the National Student Support Accelerator , profiles three distinct approaches to implementing high-impact tutoring, each tailored to their local communities in different parts of the country.
These profiles show that districts can achieve strong results at scale using different high-impact tutoring models with different types of tutors and provide high-quality tutoring with funding from sources other than the federal government’s pandemic-recovery support. It also examines the potential of the federal work-study program to propel thousands of college students into public school classrooms as low-cost tutors, while exposing them to education as a career choice.
ESSER Liquidation Guidance Calls Out High-Quality Tutoring as an Example
New U.S. Department of Education liquidation extension guidance states that, if the extension request is approved, properly obligated ESSER funds may be spent through March 28, 2026. The guidance specifically calls out high-quality tutoring as an example of an expense that would likely be approved. The guidance is paired with an updated Frequently Asked Questions document to support grantees in completing the request template.
Leveraging the Federal Work-Study Program for P-12 Tutoring
This new brief from Saga Education provides profiles of a variety of emerging initiatives including Spelman College , 美国乔治·华盛顿大学 , and Step Up Tutoring in California, as well as implementation considerations for leveraging federal work-study dollars to support high-impact tutoring.
Latest News
Articles on High-Impact Tutoring
PROOF POINTS: Four lessons from post-pandemic tutoring research , Jill Barshay , The Hechinger Report
Research points to intensive daily tutoring as one of the most effective ways to help academically struggling children catch up. Timing, video and technology make a difference.
Study: ‘Short Burst’ Tutoring in Literacy Shows Promise for Young Readers , Linda Jacobson , The 74 Media
Small, regular interactions with a reading tutor—about 5 to 7 minutes—are making a big impact on young students’ reading skills, new Stanford University research shows. The model—less costly than other programs—combines one-on-one instruction with computer-based activities.
White House calls for focus on tutoring, summer school, absenteeism as pandemic aid winds down , Kalyn Belsha , Chalkbeat
Top White House officials are urging schools to double down on tutoring as the spending deadline for pandemic aid nears. To help, federal officials say states can now seek permission for schools to spend the last and largest pot of COVID relief money on these kinds of efforts over the next two school years.
Tutoring providers serving mostly students of color and low-income students said effective high-dosage tutoring programs need the space, technology, and staffing to support supplemental instruction. As states and school districts look for ways to scale-up and sustain high-impact tutoring programs to help students close pandemic-induced learning gaps, insights from tutoring providers can bring awareness to implementation hurdles and strategies for overcoming challenges.
High-dosage tutoring programs have expanded significantly. A new study by the National Student Support Accelerator at Stanford University suggests virtual tutoring could be a less-costly option, if it remains as intensive and rigorous as in-person tutoring.
领英推荐
Who’s the linchpin in making school-based tutoring work? New research suggests it is principals. The research indicates that tutoring providers have to first build relationships with principals. When principals prioritize tutoring, it can simplify other logistical problems too, like finding a suitable time and space for it.
Beyond Lessons: Tutors Can Help Teachers Build Relationships with Students , Dan Tracy, The 74 Media
Around the country, districts and states are turning to high-impact tutoring, whether as part of the school day or afterschool, to reverse severe declines in reading and math scores since the pandemic. But there are also insights into how students are learning, feeling, and doing — the qualitative piece — that tutors can gain insight to, and that can help teachers understand their students better.
An effective tutoring program requires more than just small group sizes and frequent sessions. “A lot of districts really want to provide additional support for their students. One thing we’ve seen is that starting big and not being able to do [tutoring implementation] smoothly sometimes backfires,” said Nancy Waymack, director of research partnerships and policy for the National Student Support Accelerator.
State and Local Updates
Oakland Unified Literacy Tutoring Program Shows Promising Early Results, Despite Challenges , John Fensterwald , KQED
Initial findings from a study of a closely watched Oakland Unified School District program that recruits parents and neighbors as tutors show intriguing potential for other lower-income school districts struggling to teach kids to read. Susanna Loeb, a Stanford education researcher and authority on tutoring, is also bullish about the approach. “I’m excited,” Loeb added, about “what this systemic approach can offer for communities across the country.”
Illinois devoted $25 million in federal COVID funding to a tutoring program. How has it worked so far? , Peter Medlin, Northern Public Radio
High-impact tutoring appears to be helping students statewide. According to state data, 75% of students who took part in the Illinois Tutoring Initiative during the last school year achieved expected or more-than-expected reading growth. For students tutored in math, it was 80%. And that’s whether they were tutored in the fall, spring, or both.
Arkansas House, Senate education committees approve emergency rule for tutoring programs , Neal Earley , Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Two new tutoring programs established under Arakansas’s recently passed LEARNS Act could soon take effect. Two grants fall under the LEARNS Act -- literacy tutoring for kindergarten to third-grade students, and high-impact tutoring for under-performing students at all grade levels.
How Tennessee's "high-dosage tutoring" is turning the tide on declining school test scores , Meg Oliver , CBS News
School test scores have dropped considerably since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to counteract the negative impacts of the pandemic, hundreds of students at Cane Ridge Elementary in Nashville meet for what's called "high-dosage tutoring." Two years after the intensive tutoring began, statewide test scores among third to eighth graders have increased by more than eight points in English and nearly 10 points in math, according to the Education Department.
'High-dosage' tutoring is getting students back up to speed, schools say. But its future is uncertain , Emily Walkenhorst , WRAL
Intensive tutoring — a key weapon in the battle against pandemic-era learning delays — appears to be paying off in some North Carolina schools, early data shows. North Carolina leaders are measuring the impact of intensive tutoring on helping students catch up after falling behind during the learn-from-home days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tutoring will soon be made available to nearly 250 additional districts thanks to $52 million in funding from the New Jersey Department of Education . Following delays in the announcement of grant recipients, districts and tutoring vendors are now moving to get their tutoring off the ground — with some districts anticipating that programs won’t start until the new year.
Events
Save The Date!
FutureEd Webinar on their new report, Lessons from the Tutoring Revolution in Public Education
Watch our channels and FutureEd’s channels, or their Events webpage here , for information on a webinar that will include education practitioners and researchers experienced in high-impact tutoring implementation.
Past Events
Big Bets Working: Keeping the Commitment to Tutoring Alive and Strong
The Campaign for Grade Level Reading hosted a webinar on January 16th that explored tutoring’s effectiveness and sustainability, and included NSSA Co-Founder Susanna Loeb as a panelist. You can view a recording of the webinar here .
How to Engage with NSSA
Complete the High-Impact Tutoring Success Story Form to share a student or tutoring program success story from your school, district, or program for us to highlight through our website or other NSSA communications. Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions or ideas.
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