Facilitators and Barriers to Implementing High-Impact Tutoring at Scale

• In Event: Emerging Evidence on Implementing High-Impact Tutoring at Scale

Abstract

Objectives
COVID-19 has led to an unprecedented disruption in education within the United States. In response, education leaders and policymakers are turning to interventions that have proven successful in accelerating student learning. Research consistently suggests that tutoring yields positive impacts on student achievement across various subjects and grade levels (Dietrichson, et al., 2017; Fryer, 2017; Nickow et al., 2020). However, effectively scaling tutoring initiatives to meet the needs of all students has not been well studied, and previous efforts were found to have little to no effect on student outcomes due in part to low enrollment, attendance rates, and variable instructional quality across tutoring proviers (Hienrich et al., 2014).

This work is guided by following research questions: (1) What process did districts go through to choose tutoring? Who and what have been the key decision makers when selecting tutoring programs and designing roll-out? (2) What are the characteristics of tutoring programs that districts are providing and how do they align with what research suggests is most effective? And (3) What have been the key facilitators and barriers to successfully implementing tutoring?

Methods & Data
We have partnered with school districts and tutoring providers to implement tutoring programs, to learn from these efforts, and to develop tools and resources to aid the provision of high-impact tutoring more broadly. In this national study, we purposely a range of districts that are geographically and demographically diverse and serve a high number of students who are in need of academic acceleration. More specifically, this paper draws on 110 interviews with administrators, teachers, tutors, and other program staff from 9 districts and 2 charter management organizations, 3 tutoring providers, and 5 quarterback organizations conducted in winter and spring of 2022 to provide a current snapshot of district-led tutoring efforts.

Analysis & Preliminary Results
We report findings from iterative coding and analysis of interview data, including insights on program selection, design and roll-out, tutor supply and retainment, administrative and school-level resources to support implementation of tutoring efforts, perceptions of success, and key takeaways for building sustainable tutoring models moving forward. Additionally, we provide an updated snapshot of the realization of key program elements (i.e., dosage, group size, quality curricula) of high-impact tutoring in practice among districts implementing tutoring to scale, as tutoring initiatives continue to be a work-in-progress requiring continuous experimentation, problem-solving, and adaptation. Preliminary analyses suggest that while virtual programs can help mitigate issues such as tutor supply and onboarding during the planning phase of a tutoring initiative, coordinating student schedules and having clear communication across district- and program-level staff will be largely important for sustaining the implementation of tutoring over time.

Significance
Our findings have implications for the sustainability of implementing tutoring.
Now as education leaders invest in expansive tutoring efforts – with nearly 25% of districts explicitly prioritizing tutoring in their spending plans under the American Rescue Act (FutureEd, 2022) – understanding the facilitators and barriers to providing quality tutoring services at scale is imperative for increasing the likelihood of student success.

Author

• Leiah J. Groom-Thomas, Stanford University
  Presenting Author