High Impact Tutoring isn't anything new to us at FEV Tutor, but it's undoubtedly making a heavy buzz within the education industry. Why isn't it unique to our organization? FEV Tutor has been providing high-impact tutoring as one of our main program models to effect positive change in K-12 education for over 12 years. A key reason why we've been able to do this for so long is that over time, we've made intentional updates and adjustments to our instructional strategies and interactive platform to reflect new and emerging research on how to best tutor and best support students. One of our core goals is to participate in ongoing evaluation and continuous improvement by keeping a pulse on new and emerging research on High Impact Tutoring and implementing product changes to reflect industry-leading research and evidence.
Recently, substantial evidence supports tutoring as an effective strategy for increasing student learning. The Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University defines tutoring as a form of teaching—either one-to-one or in a small group. Their report, Accelerating Student Learning with High-Dosage Tutoring, states, "High-impact tutoring leads to substantial learning gains for students by supplementing (but not replacing) students' classroom experiences. High-impact tutoring responds to individual needs and complements students' existing curriculum."
According to this research, effective high-impact tutoring programs include a specified weekly time commitment, a strong relationship between student and tutor, alignment with the curriculum, progress monitoring of student's knowledge and skills, and oversight/coaching of tutors to maintain efficacy. For tutoring approaches to be effective, students must spend substantial time working with their tutor. High-dosage tutoring, another name for this type of tutoring, is not remedial work. It focuses on scaffolding content so students can access new learning that is built on their knowledge and skills base.
When we first found out about the Annenberg Institute's research on High Impact Tutoring, we were (not so) surprised to see that many of the strategies that FEV Tutor has been implementing in our programs for the last 12 years aligned directly with the Annenberg Institute's research-based recommendations. We continue to use this and other research from Brown University and other research bodies to guide how we structure our programs!
Research also suggests that tutoring programs should be evidence-based and aligned to students' learning needs. FEV Tutor's Live 1:1 Online Tutoring earned the distinguished Research-Based Design Product Certification from Digital Promise, evaluated by third-party institutions for efficacy, and is a Level 2 ESSA Evidence-Based Intervention. FEV Tutor's programs are fundamentally designed to increase the achievement of students who are most at risk for poor learning outcomes. This is how we are able to achieve our goal of making a positive impact on K-12 Education.
Check out our full infographic below, where you will find in-depth information on how FEV Tutor's programs align with the Annenberg Institute's research:
