Time is running out in the battle against pandemic-induced learning loss at America’s schools.
Despite some progress, students continue to struggle with persistently low achievement, chronic absenteeism and poor motivation around learning. The long-term social and economic consequences of this crisis – including lower graduation rates, unemployment and reduced lifetime earning potential – are just now emerging.
School districts have responded with various strategies – including modified curriculum, after-school programing, and supportive technologies like digital platforms and AI-driven tutoring – but research has shown that high-impact, in-person tutoring is one of the most effective interventions. Here’s why:
The Power of Presence
Asynchronous and synchronous online tutoring platforms perform a vital role in today’s K-12 environment and will remain an important part of the overall learning landscape. These platforms also have their limitations.
For many students, gaps in critical concepts or skills represent only part of the problem; the roots of academic challenges go deeper, including “e-learning fatigue,” distractions, limited access to technology, mental health issues like isolation or low self-esteem, and/or entrenched negative ideas around learning. For the most part, e-learning platforms are ill-equipped to identify and address these issues – and, of course, put students on the wrong side of the “digital divide” at a distinct disadvantage.
By contrast, high-quality, in-person tutors are trained to take all these factors into consideration. Tutors are trained to observe students’ body language and different learning styles and adjust curriculum and teaching methodologies accordingly. They bring subject-matter expertise, pedagogical experience, resilience training, behavioral management, and other skills relevant to the specific populations of students they serve, and know when to push, pause, or try a different approach. They also help students develop executive functioning skills that are rarely explicitly taught, like note taking, organization, and time management.
Learning How to Learn
Attitudes about learning are rarely taught and more often absorbed by students early on and over time from family, peers and culture. Still, research has shown that strong relationships between a teacher/mentor and a student can have a profound impact on critical short- and long-term student outcomes including “ engagement, academic grades, school attendance, disruptive behaviors, suspension, and dropout.” In addition, students also appear to benefit when the demographic profile of their tutor or teacher matches their own background. Having a shared language or culture can be instrumental.
That was certainly the case for Luis, a sixth grader from Mexico who had recently emigrated to Los Angeles and was struggling in his new school. He was failing his class and earning the reputation of “troublemaker” from his disruptive behavior.
Fortunately, he was matched with an in-person tutor named Oscar who also grew up in an immigrant family and spoke Spanish. The two met several times a week over a year, and in addition to academic work, they talked about Luis's hobbies and challenges at home. Oscar discovered that Luis loved learning about history and built that passion into their lessons. Over time, Luis grew to trust Oscar – and slowly adopted a more intellectually curious and open attitude toward learning overall. Remarkably, Luis not only managed to get promoted to seventh grade – he achieved straight A’s on his first report card.
Academic turnaround stories like this are common in districts that invest in high-dosage tutoring. At its core, tutors help students learn how to learn, drawing on different threads of training, personal experience, and background to find the key to engaging students while also teaching academic concepts. By taking the time to get to know students as people, not simply a test score, tutors can positively influence a student’s feeling of value and belonging and transform negative beliefs around learning that may be blocking their innate abilities. By giving students the time and the space to make mistakes and try new things, tutors lay the optimal foundation for learning to occur.
Creating a Team of Support
Lastly, in-person tutors often become vital members of the school community. Against a backdrop of chronic teacher shortages nationwide, this can be particularly impactful – filling crucial gaps in staffing and providing an extra layer of support for students, teachers and administrators alike. Many tutors are also aspiring educators seeking their teaching certification who later become full-time staff members; or retired or former teachers who want to apply their expertise in a different format.
In conclusion, in-person tutoring does more than just increase student test scores – it ignites students’ curiosity and reframes the experience of learning in ways that pay dividends down the road. As ESSER funding winds down and school districts seek out ways to close the learning gap, high-impact, in-person tutoring can be a game-changer. It sets students up for both immediate and long-term success and accomplishes what virtual tools alone cannot: foster a personal relationship between student and a trusted adult mentor, identify hidden obstacles to learning, and participate in a team-oriented approach that nurtures students’ development. For more information and resources on how to bring high-dosage, in-person tutoring to your school or district, visit www.heytutor.com.
