This April 16, 2024 GLR Learning Tuesdays Big Bets Working discussion was a follow-on to our session from January 16, 2024, where we explored the evidence and examples that demonstrate how and how much high-impact tutoring is advancing students along the learning continuum. In this week’s session, we built on these ideas by investigating what it really takes to implement a successful tutoring program by unpacking specific elements, such as establishing programs in partnership with or within a school system; recruiting, training and retaining tutors;  and, importantly, building relationships at all levels and especially with students.  

Moderator Kevin Huffman of Accelerate first framed the conversation by discussing what scale actually looks like, how we know that not enough students are currently receiving tutoring and what achieving scale would mean. Huffman engaged Eric Duncan, J.D., of Education Trust and Patrick Steck of Deans for Impact in a consideration of this definition of scale. They shared their perspectives on what they have seen across the country in terms of quality implementation and how districts and states have identified students most in need, matched them with tutors and tracked their participation and progress — all key strategies to achieving scale. Duncan pushed further on how important collecting data and tracking progress are to achieving scale and impact: 

When trying to scale tutoring up to the state level, it is important to provide national resources and infrastructure for folks to really engage in targeted intensive tutoring using data and information about their student populations….Saying, ‘How can we make sure that we have a systemic approach to providing tutors and the key components for the additional instruction needed?’ That’s necessary to reach as many of those students as we possibly can.  

Huffman then engaged with national, state and local experts leading broad tutoring initiatives to discuss the strategies and tactics they are using to implement and scale high-impact tutoring across all districts in one state — with very different demographics — across multiple states and across districts in one city. Tess Yates of the Tennessee State Department of Education and TNAllCorps, Adeola Whitney of Reading Partners, Maryellen Leneghan of Saga Education and David Weinstein of Joyful Readers in Philadelphia discussed how they recruit and support tutors, carefully train them and match them with students based on student learning needs, and use data to track student progress. All discussed the critical importance of building relationships as the foundation for successful tutoring. Weinstein captured what it looks like in his Joyful Readers program: 

And I think for us, what’s enabling some of the success is those relationships. I haven’t been to a tutoring session yet where I haven’t seen a kid be super excited to get started with a tutor. In the hallways, there are kids in every grade, K to 3, who are stopping and hugging the tutor, and, you know, kind of want to be with them, and that happens from that exposure, that proximity that they’re with them every day. And that same thing relates to our teachers, who have the opportunity to get to know our tutors, to partner with them deeply.