Instructional Coach

Of all academic interventions, so-called “high-dosage” tutoring has shown the most evidence of helping students gain academic ground quickly.

Susanna Loeb, the founder and executive director of the National Student Support Accelerator, studies how schools can use and scale up intensive tutoring, which involves one-on-one situations or very small groups meeting at least 30 minutes, three or more times a week.

Loeb, who is also a professor and the director of the education policy initiative at the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, spoke with Education Week about what goes into effective tutoring.

High-quality tutoring is one of the most effective educational interventions we have – but we need both humans and technology for it to work. In a standing-room-only session, GSE Professor Susanna Loeb, a faculty lead at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, spoke alongside school district superintendents on the value of high-impact tutoring. The most important factors in effective tutoring, she said, are (1) the tutor has data on specific areas where the student needs support, (2) the tutor has high-quality materials and training, and (3) there is a positive, trusting relationship between the tutor and student. New technologies, including AI, can make the first and second elements much easier – but they will never be able to replace human adults in the relational piece, which is crucial to student engagement and motivation.

Pearl, the leading research-based tutor management platform, announced today insights from its inaugural Community 

A two-year grant of $1,000,000 to the National Student Support Accelerator (NSSA), a program devoted to translating research on how tutoring can benefit students into action. This grant will strengthen the high-impact tutoring ecosystem by supporting NSSA in disseminating research on what makes tutoring programs effective to state and local education agencies, ensuring that evidence-based tutoring reaches the students who need it most.

With “proper supports, such as good materials and coaching, they can be excellent tutors,” said Stanford professor Susanna Loeb, who founded the National Student Support Accelerator to expand access to high-quality tutoring.

The content and design of this Resource Library draws on insights from interviews with tutoring program directors, teachers, math directors, STEM directors and other math leaders, as well as from a literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles on math teaching, tutoring, and equitable teaching practices. 

The goal of this guide is to provide resources to help tutoring programs provide effective math tutoring for students in need.

Are you a college or university leader looking to improve opportunities for your students?

Or maybe you are a district leader looking to partner with a college or university to provide tutoring for your students?

The National Student Support Accelerator’s High Impact Tutoring: Higher Education Institution Playbook supports higher education institutions in partnering with school districts to offer high-impact tutoring services.

Rebuilding students’ self-esteem requires ongoing support from the same tutor, said Susanna Loeb, an education researcher at Stanford University. Those relationships, she said, allow students to take risks and work until they understand the material.

In the year since Cardona’s address, she said she’s seen real improvement in some district’s ability “to actually pull off harder, more intensive support for students.”

That’s partly due to her previous work at Brown University on the National Student Support Accelerator. The center summarizes important research about high-dosage tutoring — likely the inspiration, Loeb said, for Cardona’s prescription for “30 minutes per day, three days a week, with a well-trained tutor.”

Join this webinar to better understand what drives effective tutoring and the recent research about On-Demand Tutoring from Carly Robinson, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Annenberg Institute at Brown University. 

Dr. Robinson will be joined by LaMarlon J. Wilson, Executive Director of Instruction, Professional Development & Technology of the Mississippi Achievement School District, and Susanne Cramer, Executive Director of School Improvement of Omaha Public Schools to share the practical implications for successful implementation of tutoring in their districts.

Virtual high-impact after school tutoring via one-on-one or small class size(s). Provision of STEM/STEAM after school enrichment programs.

Startup Reading rebalances the resources a teacher employs to deliver reading lessons to the individual student with the appropriate level of personal engagement.

Our approach uses digital reading lessons developed and tested in the classroom and in tutoring sessions to deliver individual reading lessons to the student.

The Hampton Tutors model of academic coaching blends holistic student support in 3 areas:

• Academic tutoring through standards-based lessons
• Executive function coaching and student self-efficacy
• Mental health and wellness support through relationship-based mentoring

We offer 1:1 academic coaching either in person, virtually, or blended.

Gateway begins with a diagnostic assessment to determine exactly where students' skill levels are. Then we have a goal-setting session to develop the high-impact tutoring program that is designed to bring the skill levels up to where they need to be and to continue them from there.