When students need extra learning support, it can be hard to coordinate resources and implement impactful intervention programs at a district level. Whether your district doesn’t have the financial resources or enough qualified instructors to provide tutoring services directly, an online tutoring partner can be a great solution to helping your district provide supplemental high-quality tutoring to students at scale.
There is considerable funding available to districts at both the federal level (like ESSER) and usually the state level to provide students with personalized tutoring to accelerate learning. Particularly after the pandemic, students in underserved communities have been disproportionately impacted by learning loss. Implementing a high frequency, 1:1 tutoring program in line with the local curriculum and personalized to each student’s needs based on their individual test results is an effective pathway to recover learning loss and close learning gaps, while also improving learning outcomes overall.
In a recent SmartBrief article, Dr. Scott Muri, superintendent of Ector County ISD in Odessa, TX shared his thoughts on important considerations for district leaders when implementing an online tutoring program with fidelity. We summarize some of his key points below.
Here are four keys for implementing an online tutoring program:
1. Focus on educational equity.
Online tutoring programs can provide opportunities to students who have never had access to those experiences. One-on-one tutoring is a luxury typically reserved for children whose parents can afford it, but online tutoring implemented at the district level expands access to high-quality tutoring to students across the district. Even if your district doesn’t have the financial and logistical resources to manage one-to-one tutoring internally, there are many sources of funding to implement an online tutoring program that matches students with a consistent tutor. Selecting a partner like FEV Tutor who can fill the gap in what your district can provide helps to create an equitable playing field for all students.
2. Start with a clear structure.
When you’re creating a large-scale tutoring initiative across your district, it’s important that the program is structured and organized. Identifying the critical factors of a successful program is the first step to providing effective online tutoring. It can be helpful to create a list of criteria for your tutoring program, which should include timelines, classroom and teacher requirements, and student expectations. Planning to guide your students through the program by ensuring they have a designated space, time, and supporting in-person instructor for their online tutoring sessions will help keep them connected, focused, and on track with their learning goals.
3. Maintain a consistent approach.
Piloting a tutoring program in your district can help you get an idea of what the best approach will be for the full program. Once you find an approach that works well for your district, maintain a consistent approach for the best results. An online tutoring program is far more than homework help for students; it should be an extension of the classroom curriculum. This type of academic support can play a significant role in accelerating learning and closing learning gaps. Ultimately, these learning gains can only be attained with a consistent implementation, which requires high-frequency tutoring, data-informed instruction, and fidelity to best practices.
4. Ensure teachers and tutors work together.
With FEV Tutor, your district has access to a wide range of student data. Teachers can easily see how their students are performing in online tutoring and where students still need additional help. Instructors are able to communicate and collaborate with tutors based on available data and individualized student goals to further revise and customize student learning plans as they go. Plus, tutors have a background as an educator are professionally trained by FEV Tutor, making them an active part of the learning process.
Sometimes, it can be hard to provide all of the resources students need to be successful at the district level, and finding a collaborative partner to implement an online tutoring program is a practical solution to improve student outcomes. FEV Tutor is committed to being an effective online tutoring partner for districts who need extra support. These four keys will help to guide you in a successful implementation, resulting in accelerated learning for participating students.
And want even more insight into how we work with districts to implement impactful instructional support & tutoring? Schedule a chat with one of our curriculum specialists here.