Overview
As a district-approved virtual tutoring provider at Fulton County Schools (FCS), FEV Tutor has partnered with several FCS Elementary and Middle Schools in the Greater Atlanta area to deliver highly-targeted, live, 1-to-1 Math and ELA Tutoring support. Each tutoring program has been planned collaboratively with school leadership and customized based on the needs of individual school sites. Our classroom-connected tutoring services have been delivered during the school day, after-school, and at-home on nights and weekends to help students to bridge skill-gaps, prepare for the Georgia Milestones assessment, support remediation, and as an in-school suspension support service for FCS students.
In this success story we are profiling the Math student achievement gains attained by 8th grade students at Holcomb Bridge Middle School who participated in an intensive Math skill-building program ahead of the Georgia Milestones Exam. We are pleased to say that after one semester of FEV's tutoring services 70% of participating students went on to exceed their projected gains on the Georgia Milestones Math Assessment. On their seasonal STAR assessments, the average Holcomb Bridge FEV tutor participant grew from the 61st nationwide percentile to the 72nd percentile from Fall to Spring.
Targeted Math Tutoring at Holcomb Bridge Middle School:
Holcomb Bridge Middle School (HBMS) partnered with FEV Tutor to address a gap in support services for their 8th Grade students who would be transitioning to Algebra 1 in 9th Grade. HBMS administrators first identified 8th Grade Math students who did not achieve proficiency on their 7th Grade Georgia Milestones Assessment. The school then gave students the option to opt-into the Online Tutoring program to bridge-skill gaps during an intervention block in which students were already receiving a second period of Math.
Teacher-Led Intervention:
FEV Tutor's Education Team met with Holcomb Bridge teachers and administrators to identify common pain-points and areas in need of improvement among participating students. The FEV instructional team then developed a general learning plan for all participating students that was adapted and differentiated to each student's need level throughout the four month tutoring initiative.
Students met 1-on-1 with their own professional tutor twice a week during the school day throughout the Spring semester to work on lessons designed to boost students' pre-Algebra skills ahead of the Georgia Milestones assessment. Identified Learning Strands included: Slope, Functions, Writing Linear Equations and Functions, and Graphing Linear Equations.
Students did not move onto a new topic until they showed concept mastery. Each virtual tutoring session concluded with a formative exit ticket, if a student scored a 75% or lower on their exit ticket the tutor would re-teach and review the learning strand with students during the next tutoring session. Students were given up to two more opportunities to go through similar problems with their tutor and master the standard.
On average, participating students attended a total of 20 virtual tutoring sessions and worked with tutors for a total of 14 hours.
Results
Holcomb Bridge student growth was measured by analyzing performance on the STAR Benchmark Assessment and on the Georgia Milestones Assessment. The virtual tutoring program was introduced to Special Education, General Education, Remediation, and Gifted students in January 2017.
STAR Assessment Growth
HMBS provided FEV's data analysis team the results from the Fall, Winter, and Spring STAR Benchmarks to measure the impact of FEV's tutoring on student achievement. The results show that students who attended FEV's tutoring an average of two times per week grew 56.9 points on their quarterly STAR assessments. The average Holcomb Bridge FEV tutor participant grew from the 61st nationwide percentile to the 72nd percentile from Fall to Spring STAR results.
The graph below shows average gains from the Fall (before tutoring was introduced), Winter, and Spring STAR exam. Analyzing the data for all students participating in the online tutoring program shows that students, on average, grew 14.4 points on each quarterly STAR assessment.
Growth on the Georgia Milestones
Students participating in FEV's Virtual Tutoring Program showed significant gains on their Georgia Milestone Assessment. These students initially identified for tutoring had scored at a beginning or developing level on their 2016 Milestone assessments. In 2017, 70% of participating students exceeded projected 7th to 8th grade gains on their Math Assessment and 30% of students grew by over 15 points from their 7th to 8th Grade assessments.
The graph below shows gains attained across all students participating in the online tutoring program from their 2016 to 2017 Georgia Milestones Assessment.
“As a middle school teacher leader I am constantly looking for innovative ways to support our students and teachers. We are always looking for instructional support that doesn’t add to the teacher’s workload but supports their efforts to gain academic achievement and our school’s initiatives. We were thrilled to connect to FEV tutoring because it helped support our students on a one-to-one level with real time feedback on the skills we identified. FEV is unlike the “set and get” online academic programs because each student is working with their own live tutor. FEV represents personalized learning at its finest. When educators are asked what they need to help their students grow, they will always say more time to work with students individually and extra hands in the classroom, FEV gives teachers both! Besides great academic support, FEV also gives great service treating school’s like a friend not a customer.”
- Kim Kapella, Graduation Coach & Instruction Advisor
Interested in Offering Virtual Tutoring at your School?
Are you wondering how you can launch a live, 1-to-1 virtual tutoring program to support your students? Speak with one of our Education Consultants to learn how:
