While tutoring programs can be a key component of schools鈥� academic recovery efforts, the scale of students鈥� needs demand strategies that are carefully designed to meet the challenge, panelists said at an Education Week virtual event.
鈥淭hings were unequal before the pandemic, but they鈥檝e become much more unequal post-pandemic,鈥� said Thomas Kane,鈥痑n economist and the faculty director of the Harvard University Center for Education Policy Research. 鈥淚t鈥檚 up to us to try to close those gaps over the next few years.鈥�
Kane spoke at Education Week鈥檚 March 8 edition of a Seat at the Table, a live web video series, alongside host Peter DeWitt, University of California Los Angeles education professor Tyrone Howard, and Cristal Moore, a Los Angeles elementary school principal who has experience putting academic recovery efforts into place.
While tutoring is a frequently mentioned recovery strategy, logistical and design hurdles are making some schools鈥� efforts ineffective, speakers said.
Here are three key issues they identified.
Tutoring programs don鈥檛 always attract students with the most need
Results for the spring 2022 edition of the National Assessment of Educational Progress鈥攖he first administration of the test for 4th and 8th grade students since the pandemic began鈥�showed the largest drop in math performance among those students since the testing program began in 1990.
And declines are even sharper for students in poverty and Black and Latino students, Howard said.
But students who could benefit the most from tutoring programs don鈥檛 always participate鈥攐ften because of the same life and family factors that led to inequality before the pandemic, he said, listing factors like transportation, language barriers, and family schedules as concerns.
Moore, the principal, said her school鈥檚 program, which is designed to target recovery needs for English learners, is called 鈥渃lubs,鈥� rather than 鈥渢utoring,鈥� to help focus on students鈥� potential, rather than weaknesses. Thatstrategy, combined with tutors who have strong relationships with students, can boost participation and make tutoring more effective, she said.
鈥淎re you seeing students as a deficit? Or do you know who they are?鈥� Moore said. 鈥淒o you see the worth in them, the possibility of who they are?鈥�
Parents aren鈥檛 aware of their children鈥檚 academic needs
Another big concern: Parents aren鈥檛 always aware of the urgency of their children鈥檚 academic needs, Kane said. And that may mean some don鈥檛 recognize the value of opting them into voluntary after-school programs.
Most parents鈥�92 percent according to 鈥攂elieve their children are at grade level and doing just fine in the classroom, Education Week reported in November.
Some schools have addressed this 鈥減erception gap鈥� by holding parent meetings and regularly sharing data to help families understand students鈥� level of need.
More broadly, some schools have expanded school days or rearranged classes to build tutoring into the bell schedule so parents don鈥檛 have to opt their children in, Kane said. But some researchers have said extended school days or integrated tutoring are underused strategies.
Built-in tutoring 鈥渨as hard to do last year because people were adding these tutoring programs after schedules had already been set, but it should be possible for next school year, for districts to create time during the regular school day,鈥� Kane said.
The 鈥榙osage鈥� of tutoring is too low to make a dent
Pre-pandemic research found that tutoring programs are most effective when students are paired one-on-one with a trained tutor for frequent, well coordinated sessions that align with academic needs, Howard said.
69传媒 should receive three to five tutoring sessions a week that are 30 to 60 minutes each, Kane said. But many schools鈥� programs offer much less tutoring time. And students who are chronically absent or otherwise not engaged with school may miss out on some sessions.
69传媒 dealing with staffing shortages, teacher burnout, and scheduling challenges may also struggle to meet the threshold of a 鈥渉igh-dosage鈥� program, speakers said.
Moore, the Los Angeles principal, said her school has addressed those concerns by matching highly qualified teachers with trained paraprofessionals who help reduce the number of students per adult.
鈥淭utoring is a multi-layer problem,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 teacher can have five students struggling with the same [academic] concept, but every student needs something different.鈥�
