At the end of the 2021-22 school year, K-12 students were at least seven to 10 weeks behind in their math learning. Institutions such as the Education Trust have found that tutoring programs produce positive and significant learning gains, “particularly for students in need of the most academic supports.” FEV Tutor’s new white paper, “High Impact Math Tutoring as Intervention for Tier2 and Tier 3 Students,” discusses the value of schools supplementing their core math curriculum with a rigorous tutoring program.  

The new white paper provides best practice recommendations for districts launching Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions. It also shares research that indicates the efficacy of conducting tutoring during school hours.  

For example, the white paper cites an Old Dominion University (ODU) study centered on a math intervention for 120 middle school math students who received below passing scores in pretests. The students were in two different schools. After the tutoring intervention, students in one school showed significant improvement in scores for the group of students with a mean improvement of 22.88 points while students in the second school showed significant improvement in achievement and gained 26.26 points.  

“Those study findings exemplify how online math tutoring can effectively improve math achievement for underperforming middle school students, compared to their non-tutored peers,” said Ryan Patenaude, Executive Vice President and Co-Founder of FEV Tutor. “The tutors allowed the data to guide their instruction, and they provided multiple scaffolded opportunities so each student could engage with math at their particular ability level.”  

The white paper also shares examples of academic gains for Ector County Independent School District and Tulsa Public Schools. NWEA MAP Growth data showed that students in both districts demonstrated accelerated growth in math after receiving high-dosage, personalized tutoring support aligned with each district’s academic initiatives and curriculum.  

“One of the interesting findings from third-party researchers as well as in our own studies with NWEA Math data is that fitting tutoring into the instructional day has much more impact on student learning than after-school or home tutoring does,” said Patenaude. “Schools are doing their best to accelerate learning and make up for lost instructional time during the global pandemic, so knowing that the timing around tutoring sessions matters will make a huge difference.”  

Patenaude continued, “FEV Tutor has significant experience helping educators with Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention. We have a proven record of helping those students achieve higher scores on national math assessments, so we have solid evidence that our tutoring works as part of Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention.  

FEV Tutor is a federal Department of Education Level Two Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) research- and evidence-based intervention. The white paper “High Impact Math Tutoring as Intervention for Tier 2 and Tier 3 Students” can be downloaded at: https://www.fevtutor.com/resources/intervention-white-paper/    

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