School districts across the country have implemented tutoring programs at a breakneck pace with the help of federal relief funds, intended to help struggling students get back on track academically after the disruption caused by school closures. due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s one thing to know what makes a successful mentoring program and quite another to run one.
So says the Center for Education Market Dynamics, a nonprofit organization that provides information to school district leaders on products and services and recently published a collection of case studies on mentoring programs.
The organization chose a diverse set of nine districts to study. They range from the huge New York City Public Schools, with more than 1 million students, to the tiny Lenoir City Schools and its 2,500 students in Tennessee.
Districts also varied in the mode of tutoring used (in-person versus online), whether the tutors came from within or outside the district, and when the tutoring took place.
The report authors say that the leaders of successful mentoring programs were decisive, flexible and developed their programs along the way.
“Growing and strengthening these programs was not just about adding more tutoring hours,” the report states, “but also recognizing the need for new processes and tools as programs grow.”
Districts have already spent more than $700 million in federal aid on tutoring, according to the report. As schools look to make tutoring initiatives sustainable before ESSER funds run out, here’s what the report gleaned from how their school districts achieved success in their tutoring programs.
A dedicated team is needed
To the greatest extent possible, school district leaders recommended designating a team of staff, or at least a dedicated coordinator, to track the implementation and performance of the tutoring program.
Baltimore City Public Schools says its team is going to grow, either with new roles or multiple of the same roles, as programs expand to more students or schools.
“This job has many layers that require careful design and strategic planning,” says Matt Barrow, district tutoring coordinator, in the report, “effective resource management and consistent and frequent support delivered directly to schools that require more than a person to manage effectively.”
Andrew Fletcher, director of partnerships for New York City Public Schools, says it’s not a one-person job: Districts will need people with enough bandwidth to solve problems practically.
“It takes a good amount of staff to handle all the details, not to mention tutors who are well trained, whose training continues, and people who observe, train and make sure there is fidelity so that we get the results.” tells the authors of the report.
Orange County Public Schools had to think quickly when officials ran into a big problem: Overwhelming numbers of students signed up to tutor their peers. Some students returned after graduation to be hired as “college-age” tutors.
go slow at first
It may seem counterintuitive to roll out tutoring programs slowly, but several district leaders say that’s part of what helped them find a plan that works for their schools.
Ector County, Texas chose a campus-by-campus rollout that began with the schools with the greatest need, each coming with its own logistics and technology support team.
Shannon Tufts, a literacy coach for the Lenoir City Schools district, says she had a three-month plan laid out for her district’s tutoring program in early fall 2021.
“Then two weeks later we discovered that the routine was not working,” he says in the report.
Tufts’ renewed plans for fall 2022 were to begin with a month-long tutoring program, followed by check-ins with tutors and teachers to inform the next four weeks.
Tutoring doesn’t work without students
Denver Public Schools found that tutoring worked best for its students when it was integrated into the school day, a decision made at the beginning of the school year. Clayton County Public Schools in Georgia, which provided on-demand virtual tutoring, increased student engagement by increasing the time spent tutoring in school and by having teachers identify students who needed it most.
Chicago Public Schools leadership found that the biggest barrier to effective tutoring was, perhaps unsurprisingly, absenteeism among students. Districts that are moving forward with tutoring programs, their leaders say, need to focus on improving overall school attendance at the same time.
